Local Sports
| News | Sports | Prep Sports | Business | Opinions | Columns | Entertainment |
| Science/Technology| Weather | Archives | E-mail Us |

Thursday, April 27, 2000

Seven key IceRays agree to return next season

Tough-guy Bumstead tops list of players who re-sign

By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times

If Geoff Bumstead's not careful, he might destroy his bad-boy reputation.
   "I've just grown in love with the town and the people of Corpus Christi," said Bumstead, one of seven IceRays to re-sign with the team Wednesday. "I'm getting a little older, and it's time to make a home and have some roots out there, and I think Corpus is the place."
   That doesn't sound like the same Geoff Bumstead who has terrorized the WPHL the last two seasons as one of the league's top scorers and fighters.
   "No," the right wing admitted with a laugh. "I guess not."
   This much is sure: The 27-year-old Bumstead will be back at Memorial Coliseum for a third season, as will several other key IceRays.
   Also re-signing on Wednesday were WPHL leading goal scorer Kurt Wickenheiser, and forwards Brad Wingfield, Dustin McArthur, Cory Johnson, Dennis Shiryaev and Quinten Van Horlick.
   Wednesday's announcement that seven players have re-signed with the IceRays - less than a month removed from their second-round playoff loss to New Mexico - came in stark contrast to last off-season, when head coach Taylor Hall had to wait through the team's change of ownership before signing players in late summer.
   "For me, it's so nice to be able to have a place that so many guys want to come to and stay," said Hall, who added that more re-signings are likely. "(In this league), there's a lot of turnover. But we've already signed seven guys, so that's about 40 percent returning already."
   The biggest news Wednesday for IceRays fans were the re-signings of Bumstead and Wickenheiser, the WPHL's top two scorers last season.
   Bumstead led the league with 86 assists and 120 points, finishing runner-up in voting for the WPHL MVP award. The 35-year-old Wickenheiser, meanwhile, took the IceRays by storm in his first season, scoring a league-high 63 goals while totaling 118 points.
   Both are anxious to begin another season, one they hope ends in better fashion, they said.
   "There's some unfinished business here in Corpus Christi," Bumstead said. "I feel the city and the organization, as well as the players, deserve a championship here. And that's the goal with all these guys coming back."
   The opportunity to settle down after bouncing around various hockey leagues in Europe, Canada and the United States for 13 years was a motivating factor for Wickenheiser.
   "I came back to North America last summer, and I was thinking to myself, 'I'm 35 years old. I wouldn't mind being somewhere for a few years and ending my career there,'" Wickenheiser said. "If I ever get traded or anything, this is where I'm going to retire. You won't see me wearing any other team's jersey. If it does happen, I'll probably retire."
   McArthur also made a big splash in his first season with the IceRays. The 25-year-old Ontario native was voted the team's most improved player after scoring 28 goals and dishing out 20 assists in 70 games.
   "I wanted to know what I was doing next season," McArthur said. "Now I can stay here for the summer and set up camp. I really like it here, and I didn't feel there's any need to go anywhere else."
   One of the IceRays' top hitters, Wingfield will return for a third-year after amassing 35 points and 259 penalty minutes last season. His presence will be welcome by at least one longtime teammate.
   "Brad Wingfield, he's my partner in crime out there," Bumstead said. "If he was coming back, I was coming back, and probably vice versa."
   A mid-season acquisition from Lubbock, Johnson had 28 points in only 20 games with the IceRays. Shiryaev, also a mid-season addition, had six points and 105 penalty minutes in 26 games.
   Van Horlick, another big hitter, will be back for a third season. In 87 career games with the IceRays, the 25-year-old forward has five points and 339 penalty minutes.
  

---

Staff writer Mark Zuckerman can be reached at 886-3747 or by e-mail at zuckermanm@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

---

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

---

  © 2000, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.