Surma Sixth Blade to play in NHL
April 5, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - Florida Everblades left wing Damian Surma became the 253rd ECHL player overall to advance and play in the National Hockey League when he played 9:26 and finished with an assist and a plus-minus rating of +1 in Carolina's 6-6 tie at Florida on Sunday.
Surma had an assist in the Everblades' playoff-clinching 4-2 win against Augusta on Saturday night.
Surma is the 38th player to appear in the NHL after playing in the NHL. The previous high for ECHL players making their first NHL appearance was 27 players in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. Surma becomes the 11th player, including eight goaltenders, to appear in both the ECHL and the NHL in 2003-04, breaking the previous high of five players in 2001-02.
Selected in the sixth round (174th overall) by Carolina in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Surma has scored 15 points (6g-9a) in 18 games with Florida and eight points (3g-5a) in 48 games with Lowell of the American Hockey League in 2003-04.
In his first full professional season in 2002-03, Surma scored 22 points (11g-11a) in 68 regular season games with Lowell and one point (1g-0a) in one game with Carolina. The 23-year-old Surma made his NHL debut and scored his first NHL goal on March 18, 2003 against Ottawa.
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