Steelheads add Bell, Kiviaho to training camp roster

Boise, ID (10/10/16) –Steelheads Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Neil Graham announced Monday that the Steelheads have added defenseman Zach Bell and goaltender Henri Kiviaho to the team’s training camp roster. There are now 25 players in camp.

Both Bell and Kiviaho were in training camp with the AHL’s Texas Stars, before Bell was released from his tryout agreement on Sunday and Kiviaho was reassigned to the Steelheads by the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

Bell, 23, joins the Steelheads for his second season in Idaho. Bell agreed to an ECHL contract during the summer and will begin his fourth professional season. The 6-foot-2 native of St. John’s, Newfoundland played 16 games with Idaho last season after arriving in a midseason trade, collecting a goal and five assists, along with 39 penalty minutes and a plus-1 rating. Bell also appeared in all seven of Idaho’s playoff games.

Bell has totaled six goals and 19 points in 91 career pro games, and he scored a goal in two preseason games with Texas.

Kiviaho, 22, returns for his second stint with the Steelheads, last playing in Boise in 2014-15. The former fifth-round draft pick of the Dallas Stars (144th overall in 2012) played 21 games for Idaho that season, going 10-6-2 with a 2.79 goals-against average and a  .899 save percentage. The Finnish goaltender spent last season split between Ilves Tempere of the Finnish Elite League and LeKi Lempaala of the Mestis league.

Kiviaho becomes the third goaltender in Steelheads’ camp, joining Branden Komm and Troy Redmann.

The Steelheads play their first exhibition game on Monday night at the Utah Olympic Oval when they take on the Utah Grizzlies. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7pm. The game will not be broadcasted on KTIK Radio or on ECHL.TV, but fans can follow the Steelheads’ Twitter account for regular updates.