HARTFORD, October 6, 2011: Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld today announced three player signings by the team.
Forward Scott Tanski signed an American Hockey League Standard Player’s Contract (SPC) with the Whale, and forward Jordan Owens and defenseman T.J. Fast were signed to Professional Tryout (PTO) agreements.
Tanski, 21, a rookie out of the Ontario Hockey League, was the Whale’s leading preseason goal-scorer, with three in four games. In 67 games with the OHL’s Brampton Battalion last season, the 6-1, 192-pound Tanski notched a team-high 47 points in 67 games, with 18 goals and a team-leading 29 assists. In 219 career games with the Battalion over four seasons, the Burlington, Ontario native totaled 53 goals and 80 assists for 133 points, along with 130 penalty minutes.
Owens, a fifth-year pro, is entering his second tour of duty with the Whale franchise. The 6-0, 193-pound winger played 160 games in a Hartford Wolf Pack uniform starting in the 2006-07 season, registering 25 goals and 45 assists for 70 points, plus 163 PIM, before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings for current Whale teammate Kris Newbury March 3, 2010. Since the trade, Owens has been with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s AHL affiliate, to which he contributed six goals and 14 assists for 20 points, while serving 101 minutes in penalties, last season.
Prior to turning pro with the Wolf Pack late in the 2006-07 campaign, Owens, a 25-year-old native of Toronto, spent three seasons in the OHL with the Mississauga IceDogs.
Fast, a 6-0, 194-pound blueliner who hails from Calgary, Alta., split last season between the Rochester Americans of the AHL and the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones. In 13 games with Rochester, Fast posted a goal and an assist for two points and served 12 minutes in penalties. In ECHL action, the 24-year-old led Cyclones defensemen in goals, and finished second among team defenders in points and assists, with 9-18-27 in 58 games.
In a three-year pro career, Fast has logged a total of 77 AHL games with the Americans and Peoria Rivermen, with career numbers of two goals and six assists for eight points, along with 28 PIM. In 113 career ECHL games with the Cyclones and Alaska Aces, he has amassed 21-46-87, with 68 PIM. Fast was a second-round draft pick (60th overall) by the Los Angeles Kings in 2005 out of the University of Denver, where he played a season-and-a-half. Fast also played a year-and-a-half in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans before turning pro.
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The Whale kick off the franchise’s 15th season of action this Saturday night, October 8th at the Glens Falls (NY) Civic Center against the Adirondack Phantoms. Faceoff is 7:00 PM, and all the CT Whale Rockin’ Hockey action can be heard live on “The Rock”, 106.9 FM, WCCC, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com.
The Whale’s regular-season home opener is coming up next Saturday, October 15, a GEICO Connecticut Cup game vs. the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Five-thousand fans at that game will receive a free Whale magnetic schedule, sponsored by Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. Tickets to that game, and all 2011-12 Whale home games, are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.
Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats and mini plans, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.
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