The Newfoundland Growlers might have felt they hit the jackpot last season with the play of goaltender Parker Gahagen.
A Hobey Baker finalist as the top player in U.S college hockey during his senior year with Army (in 2016-17), the 27-year-old from Amherst, N.Y., just outside Buffalo, started in the Southern Professional Hockey League with the Evansville Thunderbolts last season.
The undrafted free agent was brought in by the Growlers in early December, 2019 and along with Angus Redmond, formed a goaltending tandem that helped Newfoundland tie an ECHL record for consecutive home-ice wins (18) while moving near the top of the league's overall standings.
Gahagen finished the year 10-4, with a 1.81 goals against average and .939 save percentage.
Now the Growlers hope to cash in again with another free agent out of Army.
The team signed South Dennis, Mass., native Brendan Soucie to an ECHL contract this week for the upcoming 2020-21 ECHL season.
The 25-year-old forward played four seasons of NCAA hockey with Army at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., where he appeared in 111 games between 2016 and 2020. He scored 33 goals and added 28 assists for 61 points during his college career, including an impressive rookie campaign in 2016-17 when he scored 15 goals in just 35 games and won AHA Conference Rookie of the Week honours on three separate occasions.
The ECHL is planning to get under way Dec. 4 this season, for a full 72-game schedule.
