Norfolk, Va (Release via Norfolk Admirals) – Norfolk Admirals Professional Hockey Club, proud ECHL affiliates of the Chicago Wolves and Carolina Hurricanes, announced their season-opening roster on Thursday afternoon.
The roster consists of 14 forwards, eight defensemen, and three goaltenders.
To reach the roster limit which was due to the ECHL by 3PM on Thursday, the Admirals announced the following transactions:
— Jason Tackett and Chris Jones were released from their professional tryout contracts.
— Reid Perepeluk, Jeremy Brodeur, Shane Kuzmeski, and Ryan Valentini were released from the standard player contracts.
— Kenny Hausinger and Carter Robertson were placed on the 14-Day Injured Reserve.
— The Milwaukee Admirals assigned defensemen Luke Prokop and Xavier Bouchard to Norfolk.
Prokop, 20, joins the Admirals for his first season as a professional. The Edmonton, AB native recently completed his Western Hockey League career with the Edmonton Oil Kings, where he posted 33 points in 55 games (10g, 23a). His 33 points were the second highest on the team trailing Simon Kubicek with 41. The 6-6, 220-pound defenseman is currently under contract with the Nashville Predators and attended Milwaukee’s training camp this season.
Bouchard, 22, played last season with the Florida Everblades, where he secured a Kelly Cup championship in his rookie season. The Quebec native led the Everblades with a +31 rating and posted 21 points in 59 games. He scored the game-winning goal in the conference finals against Newfoundland to send Florida to the Kelly Cup Finals. He began his major junior career in 2016-17 in the QMJHL with Baie-Comeau Drakkar. From 2017 to 2020, Bouchard would be the team’s assistant captain. In 2018-19, he registered 46 points in 60 games and was a +39.
Here is the 2022-23 season-opening roster:
GOALTENDERS:
Michael Bullion, Cale Morris, Tomas Vomacka
DEFENSEMEN:
Xavier Bouchard, Nick Leitner, Carson Musser, Luke Prokop, Carter Robertson, Nick Schaus, Elijah Vilio, Eric Williams
FORWARDS:
Tag Bertuzzi, Aidan Brown, Todd Burgess, Eric Cooley, Ryan Foss, Kenny Hausinger, Jordan Kaplan, Danny Katic, Liam MacDougall, Cody Milan, Blake Murray, Denis Smirnov, Brett Van Os, Joe Widmar
NOTES:
— 11 players return to the Admirals after spending the 2021-22 season in Norfolk (Bullion, Musser, Robertson, Schaus, Vilio, Williams, Milan, Murray, Van Os, Widmar).
— There are nine rookies on the club (Bertuzzi, Bullion, Cooley, Foss, Katic, Leitner, MacDougall, Musser, Prokop)
— Three players are under contract in the National Hockey League (Murray – CAR, Prokop – NSH, Vomacka – NSH)
— Four players are under contract in the American Hockey League (Bouchard – MIL, Burgess – MIL, Cooley – CHI, Morris – CHI)
The Admirals open up the 2022-23 season on Friday, October 21 against the South Carolina Stingrays. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 PM (EST). The first 1,000 fans upon entry will receive an Admirals soccer scarf. Purchase your tickets today by CLICKING HERE.