Wahl agrees to terms with Steelheads

Boise, ID (10/4/13) - Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Brad Ralph announced Friday that the Idaho Steelheads have agreed to terms with forward Mitch Wahl.Wahl, 23, split last season between the ECHL's Utah Grizzlies and a pair of American Hockey League teams.  In Utah, he was a teammate of Gaelan Patterson, who has also signed with Idaho.The Seal Beach, CA, product led Utah in scoring with 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in just 45 games last season, a total that ranked second in the ECHL at the time of his recall to the AHL in February.  At that time, Wahl was also leading the ECHL in power-play points (33) and was second in power-play assists (23).In his three professional seasons, Wahl has 99 points in 83 ECHL games and another 19 points in 69 AHL games.  He had been particularly dangerous against Idaho - over the past two seasons, Wahl had 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in just 17 games against the Steelheads.Ralph on Wahl: "We're excited to have a player of Mitch Wahl's caliber leading the way for us offensively. He's very focused and determined to have a successful season."Wahl was a second-round draft pick of the NHL's Calgary Flames in 2008, selected no. 48 overall.  Prior to that, he spent five seasons playing major-junior hockey for the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League, where he was part of the Chiefs' 2008 Memorial Cup championship team.  He was selected to the Memorial Cup All Star team following the prestigious tournament and also competed for the United States at the World Junior Championship's Under-20 tournament.The Steelheads report for training camp Sunday night with the first on-ice practice session coming Monday morning.  Idaho will host its annual "Season-Ticket Holder Only" pre-season game on October 12 at CenturyLink Arena before opening the regular season on the road at Utah on October 18.The 17th season of professional hockey gets underway at CenturyLink Arena on October 23 when the Idaho Steelheads host the San Francisco Bulls.  Season Ticket packages are available now, starting at just $275 per seat for all 36 home games.  Partial-season packages are available as well.  Contact the Idaho Steelheads' front office at 208-383-0080 for more information.