Stars assign four, including Hobey Baker winner, to Aeros
September 16, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release
HOUSTON, Texas â The Dallas Stars have assigned goaltender Mike Smith, center Marius Holtet, left wing David Bararuk and right wing Junior Lessard to the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros.
Smith, 22, went 8-11-0 with a 2.83 g.a.a. for Utah last season and missed the final two months of the season due to injury. Aeros fans will remember the big 6-foot-3, 195-pound goalie well â he made a career-best 48 saves in a 2-1 Grizzlies win at Toyota Center last October 26. Smith is ranked as the 10th-best prospect in the Dallas organization, according to The Hockey News.
The 24-year-old Lessard won the 2004 Hobey Baker Award at Minnesota-Duluth with a 63-point (32-31=63) season. The fleet-footed 5-foot-11, 185-pound Lessard hails from St. Joseph de Beauce, Que. and is listed as Dallas' No. 4 prospect. Lessard will be the first Hobey Baker winner to ever suit up for the Aeros.
Holtet is a 20-year-old who totaled 14 points (11-3=14) in 43 games with Bofors in Sweden in 2003-04. Holtet, picked 42nd overall by Dallas in 2002, is the highest drafted Norweigan player in NHL history. The 6-foot, 180-pound Holtet played for Norway in the IIHF World Championships from 2002-2004.
Bararuk, 21, posted 12 points (5-7=12) in 55 games with Utah in his rookie 2003-04 campaign, and upon completion of the AHL season, he helped lead Idaho to the ECHL title. The 6-foot, 180-pound native of Moose Jaw, Sask., was Dallas' fifth-round pick (No. 147 overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.
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