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ECHL Toledo Walleye

Storm Signs Defenseman Matt Eldred

September 26, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Toledo Walleye News Release


(Toledo, Ohio) The Toledo Storm of the East Coast Hockey League today announced that the team has signed veteran defenseman, Matt Eldred. This marks the sixth time in Eldred's six year pro career that he has played under Claude Noel, the Storm's head coach and director of player personnel.

Coach Noel stated that he was glad to have the opportunity to coach Eldred again. "I'm certainly pleased to once again have Matt on my team. I've had the opportunity to coach him at least part of the year for the past five seasons, and he's proven to me that he is a player who comes out every night with a passion to win. Matt is one of those guys who really cares about the outcome of every game, so he plays with his heart on his sleeve. He's basically a solid veteran defenseman who will provide the club with courage and energy. We won't look to Matt to carry our defense or to lead our blue line offensively, but we will expect tremendous contributions from him both on and off the ice."

Eldred, 6'0/195 (28), was born in the Cleveland suburb of Rocky River and had a standout four-year career for Bowling Green State University in the mid-1990's. In 1997-98, Eldred launched his pro career under the watchful eye of Coach Noel, who, at that time, was the head coach of the Michigan K-Wings of the International Hockey League. Eldred was ultimately sent that season to the Jacksonville Lizard Kings of the ECHL, where he racked up seven goals, fourteen points, and 126 penalty minutes. The following season, Eldred started out with the Lizard Kings but was traded in the latter stages of the year to the Johnstown Chiefs. Over the course of that season, however, his play earned him a couple of calls to the IHL-and, specifically to the Milwaukee Admirals, where he played a total of 15 games under Head Coach Al Sims and his assistant, Claude Noel. The next year, Eldred started out with Johnstown, but by November had been called up to Milwaukee (with Sims and Noel), where he stuck for the remaining 64 games of the season. Although he started the 2000-01 season in England, Eldred returned to North America after 19 games and once again joined the Admirals, where he finish out the season, playing 45 games for Head Coach Dave Allison and his assistant, Coach Noel. Last season, Eldred started the year in Milwaukee (of the American Hockey League) and played two games there before being sent to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. While with the Cyclones, Eldred scored two goals-one of which was against the Storm (in a 3-2 shootout win for Toledo on November 17, 2001, in the Toledo Sports Arena). In January, he was traded to the Macon Whoopee, who in turn moved him to the Trenton Titans, where he finished out the season, which included being a part of the Titans' playoff run that ended in the second round when they were eliminated by the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies.

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