EXPRESS MIXLR BROADCAST

Monday, July 22, 2013

ALUMNI OLYMPIC NEWS AND SIGNINGS

4 Express alumni have been in the news recently around the NHL.

Two Express alumni have been invited to Canada's Olympic orientation camp. Two others have signed new deals.

Following the announcement Friday that the NHL reached an agreement with the IIHF for NHL player participation at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Hockey Canada with the wheels unofficially in motion went to work. Monday they announced the list of 47 players that will participate in the orientation camp in August.

Two former Express got invites, Winnipeg Jets captain Andrew Ladd and Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins.

Both players will be trying to make a strong enough impression with the hopes of being selected for the Olympic team when it's announced later this winter.

Ladd is coming off a very productive second season in Winnipeg where he led the team in scoring and finished 19th in NHL scoring with 46 points while dressing for all 48 games.

"I was hoping for it. I don't know if I was completely surprised. I thought I played well at the world championships this past spring and hoped that I had done enough there to showcase that maybe my name could be in this group," Ladd said Monday.

He scored 55 points in 58 games with the Express in 2002-03 season.

Lucic finished his 6th season with the Boston Bruins this year where he had 7 goals and 20 assists for 27 points in 46 games.

He added 7 goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 22 playoff games as the Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup final where they lost in 6 games to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Lucic played 50 games for the Express during the 2004-05 season where he picked up 23 points.

Monday the Ottawa Senators signed defenceman Patrick Wiercioch to a new 3 year contract worth 2 million dollars per season.

The Maple Ridge native is coming off his first full season in the NHL in Ottawa. He picked up 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points. Those numbers ranked him second among NHL rookie defenceman scoring and ninth among all first year players. He has 21 points in 50 career NHL games.

Wiercioch played 42 games for the Express during the 06-07 season when the franchise was located in Burnaby where he had 9 goals and 25 points.

Friday, Brandon Yip signed a one year two way deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. He has 29 goals and 56 points over the course 172 career games in the last 4 seasons split between the Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators.

Yip played 2 seasons for the Express from 2002-04 where he had 51 goals and 131 points in 99 games. He was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche directly out of the Express organization in the 8th round 239th overall in 2004.



No comments: