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CHL Mississippi RiverKings

Make Room For Makway

August 26, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


(Southaven, MS) --- The Mississippi RiverKings of the Central Hockey League (CHL) have announced the signing of defenseman Steve Makway for the 2009-2010 season, according to Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Kevin "Killer" Kaminski. It will be a return back to the RiverKings for Makway, who played for two years with the team before spending last season in the ECHL with Cincinnati and Las Vegas.

Kaminski believes Makway has a tremendous amount of potential and can be an impact player in the CHL. "I've coached against him for three years and he is a very good skater for his size," Kaminski said. "He has good puck skills, vision, and is solid defensively. We need him to be a leader in the locker room, on and off the ice."

The RiverKings' coach added, "If he buys into the systems and really pushes himself, I think he can be one of the top defensemen in the league. He can be a physical presence net front and in the corners."

Steve started last season in Cincinnati, where he played 18 games before moving on to finish the year in 47 appearances with Las Vegas in the regular season and 18 more in the playoffs. At Cincinnati, Makway tallied one goal for nine points with 35 penalty minutes. With Las Vegas, the 6-foot-5, 230 pound blue liner netted one goal for six points with 150 PIMS. He added a goal and 53 PIMS for the Wranglers in the playoffs.

The native of Trail, British Columbia played in 126 regular season games over his two-year Memphis/Mississippi career, netting 21 goals and 84 points with a total of 329 penalty minutes. His PIM total included a team-leading 182 PIMS in the 2006-07 season. He added three goals and five points with 43 PIMS in 21 playoff encounters for the RiverKings.

Makway says he's excited to come back. "I had a good two years there and we had a couple of good teams," Makway said. "There's a core group of guys I know there, so I'm excited to be coming back. On the ice, I provide a good first pass and I play pretty good defense by trying to shut down the other team's top line. I'll also get a few points coming back the other way."

Steve was one of the top scoring defensemen in the CHL in the two seasons he was a RiverKing, scoring 11 goals and 43 points in 64 contests of the 2007-08 season and 10 goals and 41 points in the 2006-07 season.

Makway came to the RiverKings from the United Hockey League, where he played 27 games of the 2005-06 season with Flint and another 31 appearances of that same season with the Missouri River Otters. Between the two stops, Makway tallied five goals and 17 points with 158 penalty minutes.

He started his pro career in the 2004-05 season with the CHL's Laredo Bucks, scoring three goals for 12 points and 165 PIMS in 56 games.

Prior to becoming a professional, Makway played junior hockey with Kootenay and Tri-City of the Western Hockey League and Battleford of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

Steve's career statistics can be found here: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=55382.

Season tickets are now available for another exciting season of RiverKings hockey at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, beginning Friday, October 16th against the Tulsa Oilers, and starting at 7:05 PM. Call and reserve your season tickets now at 662-342-1755.



Central Hockey League Stories from August 26, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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