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AHL Belleville Senators

Selleck Relishing Chance to Play Close to Home

March 6, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Belleville Senators News Release


Sometimes you have to wait to get what you want and for the Belleville Senators, that's what they had to do when it came to Eric Selleck.

The Sens acquired Selleck from the Hartford Wolf Pack on Feb. 22 in an AHL deal for future considerations. It came about eight months after they hoped to have him on the team.

"Selleck is a tough, hard-nosed local guy from just down the road and he's the type of guy we considered signing in the offseason," Senators general manager Randy Lee said. "We were interested in him because of his leadership and talent and toughness and we think he'll help us down the road."

Now finally in Belleville, Selleck gets to be close home. A native of Spencerville, Ont., his hometown is a little over 90 minutes away from the Yardmen Arena.

"My family is pretty excited," Selleck said. "They can make it to a few more games now so it's going to be really exciting for all of us."

The 30-year-old brings a wealth of experience as he's played in 475 career AHL games with Belleville, Hartford, Tucson, Springfield, Portland, San Antonio, Chicago and Rochester and has scored 47 goals and added 63 assists. In five games with Belleville, he's pointless with nine penalty minutes.

"I'm a physical guy," Selleck said of his game. "I feel I can skate, I'm good on the penalty kill and in my own zone. I'm going to protect the guys as best as I can."

Despite playing NCAA Division III hockey with SUNY-Oswego, where he was named the NCAA III Player of the Year in 2009-10 after tallying 54 points in just 28 games, Selleck made it to the NHL. He's playing three NHL games with the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes recording one assist and 22 penalty minutes.

"Eric's going to be a nice contributor for us," Sens head coach Kurt Kleinendorst said. "If you take a look at our right side, I think we're pretty solid. If you look at us down the middle, I think we're pretty good, I like our "D". But I think the one area when we lose guys, like Max McCormick, is the left side. Eric will come in and stabilize that left side, but what I really like about Eric is that he's a veteran player and he's a really good individual. I think to have a guy like that come in at this time can help us get through the rest of the season."

And for Selleck, he couldn't be more excited for the opportunity.

"I'm a local guy so it couldn't have been a better fit. I didn't know for sure I was going to be traded, I kind of felt things weren't going so well in Hartford for me, but I couldn't be in a better spot this close to home."

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