17 Former Elis in Pro Hockey

Feb. 14, 2008

Seventeen former Yale players have been employed by professional hockey clubs during the 2007-08 season. Seven forwards, seven defensemen and one goalie comprise the Bulldog pro players, while there are two coaches who turned in their skates for bench jobs.

Yalies are on National, American, East Coast and Central Hockey League rosters with others earning paychecks in Russia, Austria and Italy and have combined for 56 goals.

Here is a breakdown of all the Bulldogs in pro hockey this year.

BULLDOGS PLAYING PRO HOCKEY, 2007-08

Forwards

Jeff Hamilton '01 Carolina Hurricanes, NHL (49, 5-12-17)

Nick Deschenes '03 Cortina SG, Italy (17, 4-3-7)

Vin Hellemeyer '04 Wheeling Nailers, ECHL (1, 1-0-1) #

Ryan Steeves '04 Albany Rivers Cats, AHL (9, 1-1-2)

Chris Higgins '05 Montreal Canadiens, NHL (53, 16-18-32)

Joe Zappala '06 Reading Royals, ECHL (23, 5-12-17)

Brad Mills '07 Trenton Devils, ECHL (16, 6-4-10) #

Defensemen

Ray Giroux '98 Kazan Ak Bars, Russia (49, 12-18-30)

Stacey Bauman '03 Oklahoma City Blazers, CHL (44, 0-10-10)

Jeff Dwyer '04 Utah Grizzlies, ECHL (43, 2-10-12)

Bridgeport Sound Tigers, AHL (3, 0-0-0)

Joe Callahan '05 Portland Pirates, AHL (39, 1-11-12)

Chris Brooks '06 Wheeling Nailers, ECHL (50, 1-6-7)

Bill LeClerc '07 Trenton Devils, ECHL (40, 1-2-3)

Matt Cohen '07 Trenton Devils, ECHL (48, 1-7-8)

Goalies

Alex Westlund `99 Ljubljana Olimpija HK, Austria (42, 2.50, .931)

Coaching

Dave Baseggio '89 Peoria Rivermen,AHL, Head Coach

Jason Cipolla '95 Rochester Americans, AHL, Assistant Coach

# no longer active

as of 2/12/08

Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publcity Director