Steelheads announce Season-Opening Roster

Boise, ID (10/17/13) - Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Brad Ralph announced the Season-Opening roster for the Idaho Steelheads on Thursday, a list that is comprised of 19 skaters and one goaltender.The Steelheads open the regular season on Friday on the road in West Valley City, UT, against the Utah Grizzlies. Game time is 7 PM and can be heard live in the Treasure Valley on KTIK (1350 AM).The roster, as approved by the ECHL:Goaltenders (1): Pat NagleDefensemen (8): Hubert Labrie, Connor Goggin, Etienne Boutet, Dalton Reum, Tyler Elbrecht, Patrick Cullity, James Isaacs, Ryan ButtonForwards (11): Mitch Wahl, Tommy Grant, William Rapuzzi, David deKastrozza, Justin Mercier, Tyler Gron, Gaelan Patterson, Anthony Nigro, Brett Robinson, Jeremy Yablonski, Taylor VauseReum and Yablonski open the season on the team's Reserve List.Of the twenty players on the list, six skated with the Steelheads last season: Labrie, Cullity, Isaacs, Robinson, Gron and deKastrozza. A seventh, Yablonski, has worn the Steelhead jersey before, last playing for the team during the '06-'07 season.Meanwhile, 13 of the twenty have experience in the American Hockey League, the highest level of minor-league hockey in North America: Nagle, Labrie, Goggin, Cullity, Button, Wahl, Grant, deKastrozza, Mercier, Patterson, Nigro, Yablonski and Vause. Yablonski and Mercier have combined for ten games of NHL experience as well.Four players - Boutet, Reum, Elbrecht and Rapuzzi - are first-year rookies and two players - Yablonski and Mercier - meet the league standard for "veteran" status. Five players are currently on assignment from the NHL's Dallas Stars or AHL's Texas Stars: Nagle, Labrie, Button, Boutet and Vause. Cullity is on assignment from St. John's of the AHL.The 17th season of professional hockey in Idaho begins on October 23 when the Steelheads host the San Francisco Bulls at CenturyLink Arena. Season-Ticket packages are available, starting at just $275 per seat for all 36 home games. Partial-season packages are available as well. Contact the Steelheads' front office at 208-383-0080 for more information.