Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

Published by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY

Thursday, July 19, 2001
IceRays snatch Hamelin
Goalie is reunited with Henry in CHL
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times
In the only two seasons Hugo Hamelin and Dale Henry spent as teammates, they helped lead the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs to consecutive Western Professional Hockey League championships.
   The pair was reunited Wednesday when the Corpus Christi IceRays announced the signing of Hamelin, a six-year veteran goaltender who spent the first half of his career with the old Central Hockey League.
   "During the two seasons I spent with Hugo, he was a difference in many of our games, and I know he'll have that same presence here with the IceRays," Henry said.
   "To win a championship, you need guys that know how to win, and Hugo is one of those guys."
   With the signing of Brad Erbsland in May, the IceRays now have two goaltenders on their roster as the team prepares for its first season as part of the new CHL.
   Erbsland went 6-5-0 with a 3.66 goals against average and a .889 save percentage as a backup to Eddy Skazyk. Henry said re-signing Skazyk still remains a possibility.
   "I've left messages, but I'm still waiting to talk to him," Henry said of Skazyk, who was 21-12-3 with the IceRays last season. "I want to hear his insights and see what his plans for the future are. There's still a lot of time in the summer.
   "For the most part, both Hugo and Brad can do the job," Henry said. "Between the two of them, we'll have two of the top goalies in the league."
   Hamelin finished at the top in the 1999-00 season when he was named MVP of the WPHL playoffs. After going 26-10-4 in the regular season, he went 10-2 in the playoffs, including two shutouts. Hamelin finished with a 1.96 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.
   A native of Grandy, Quebec, Hamelin began his career in 1995 with the CHL's Memphis RiverKings. The next season, he split his time between Memphis, the CHL's Wichita Thunder and Kansas City Blades of the now-defunct International Hockey League.
   Hamelin began the 1997 season with Kansas City before returning to the CHL with the Huntsville Channel Cats and Thunder.
   In 1998, Hamelin posted a regular-season record of 26-9-3 to help lead Bossier-Shreveport to its first of three straight WPHL titles.
   Last season, Hamelin posted a record of 14-21-5 for the Port Huron Border Cats of the United Hockey League.


Contact Javier Becerra at 886-3734 or becerraj@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND