HARTFORD, May 24, 2011: Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the team has exercised its 2011-12 option on the AHL contract of defenseman Jared Nightingale.
Nightingale, a 6-3, 205-pound veteran of five pro seasons, played 71 games in a Whale uniform this past season, scoring two goals and tying his AHL career high with six assists, for eight points, and registering 204 penalty minutes. That PIM total led all Whale defensemen and ranked third overall on the team. Nightingale was scoreless in six playoff contests.
In addition to his on-ice contributions, Nightingale was one of the Whale’s true team leaders, voted by his teammates the winner of the Whale’s Bob Girouard Character Award and chosen by the Whale staff as the recipient of the Mary Lynn Gorman Community Service Award, and as the Whale’s IOA/American Specialty Man of the Year for community service.
A 28-year-old native of Jackson, Michigan, Nightingale has played 173 games with the Whale/Hartford Wolf Pack over parts of four seasons, and has totaled seven goals and seventeen assists for 24 points, along with 485 penalty minutes. He has also seen AHL action with the Springfield Falcons, Iowa Stars and Chicago Wolves, and his career AHL totals show 197 games-played, 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points, and 509 PIM.
Prior to turning pro with Springfield late in the 2005-06 season, Nightingale was a four-year regular at Michigan State University.
Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages. Visit the Whale on the web at www.ctwhale.com.
