Training camp opens today
October 8, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
Anchorage, ALASKA - 27 players are expected to line up before head coach Davis Payne this weekend, hoping to land a roster spot as the Alaska Aces embark on their second decade as a professional hockey club.
12 of those 27 players were part of Alaska's first ever division title winners last year, as the Aces finished with a club-record 98 points during the regular season and won two series for the first time in their postseason history before dropping Game 7 of the National Conference finals to eventual Kelly Cup winners Trenton. Goaltender Matt Underhill (who is on a two-way contract with Alaska's American Hockey League affiliate in Peoria), defensemen Keith McCambridge, Louis Mass and Ryan Gaucher, as well as forwards Kimbi Daniels, John Ronan, Mike Scott, Vladimir Novak, Chris Heisten, and Mike Lee all are returning players who have agreed to terms with the club for the 2005-06 season.
Two players from last year's West Division champions who were not expected to be in camp also should skate Saturday, with the recent developments in the Gulf Coast bringing Olivier Filion back to Alaska and an assignment from the Albany River Rats (AHL) allowing the Aces a chance to begin the season with last year's ECHL goal-scoring champ, Chris Minard, who scored 49 goals in his first season in Anchorage.
In addition to Minard, forward Cam Keith also will report to the Aces under an AHL contract (Peoria). He also has ties to Alaska, having suited up for four years alongside new Aces teammate Ryan Campbell at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where he scored 100 points (41g-59a) before scoring 14 goals in his rookie season last year for Pensacola in the ECHL. Alaska's NHL affiliate in St. Louis already has assigned two players to open camp with the Aces, 6-2, 209-pound defenseman Zack Fitzgerald, a third-round pick of the Blues in 2003, and 6-3, 205-pound goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu, St. Louis's fifth-round pick that same year.
For the second consecutive year, the Alaska's first regular season home game will be against San Diego, as the Gulls and Aces begin a three-game series Friday, October 21 at 7:15 p.m. The two teams will square off at Sullivan Arena Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and again Monday, October 24, at 7:15 p.m. All home games will be broadcast live on KFQD 750 AM and can be seen on a pay-per-view basis at www.alaskaaces.com, courtesy of B2 Networks.
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