Elson inks deal
St. Albert hockey product Turner Elson signed a two-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.The deal, with a reported cap hit of $700,000, runs through the end of the 2019-20 season.
Elson, 26, is in his second season with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the American Hockey League and is fourth in team scoring with 28 points (12-16-28) in 45 games. He is also plus-14, with 54 penalty minutes and three-shorthanded goals.
Elson’s career totals with the Griffins are 49 points (21-28-49), 96 penalty minutes and a plus-26 rating in 102 games.
In 277 AHL games, the six-foot, 190-pound left-winger has compiled 115 points (55-60-115) and 240 penalty minutes with the Abbotsford Heat, Adirondack Flames, Stockton Heat, San Antonio Rampage and Griffins since 2011-12.
The 2006-07 bantam AAA St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabre, 2007-08 midget 15 St. Albert Flyer and 2008-09 midget AAA St. Albert Raider spent four seasons with the Red Deer Rebels in the Western Hockey League, including a stint as team captain, and recorded 151 points (72-79-151) and 337 penalty minutes in 254 games.
Elson was signed as a free agent by the Calgary Flames on Sept. 22, 2011, and made his NHL debut on April 9, 2016, and was credited with an assist in the 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild.
As a first-year pro, Elson won the 2014 Kelly Cup with the Alaska Aces in the East Cost Hockey League. He totalled 15 points (5-10-15) in 18 regular-season games and added 11 points (7-4-11) in 21 playoff games.
Elson also inked free-agent deals with the Colorado Avalanche in 2016 and Detroit in 2017.
Slash host Pandas
The next home game for the midget AAA St. Albert Slash is Sunday against the Edmonton Pandas in the Alberta Female Hockey League.Faceoff is 8 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
The Slash (21-2-1) are the runaway leaders in the AFHL and the Pandas (8-18) are fifth in the six-team standings.
The Slash skate into today’s contest against the Calgary Fire (14-7-3) at 4:45 p.m. at Max Bell Centre with back-to-back shutouts last weekend by 4-0 scores against the Pandas (8-18) and Rocky Mountain Raiders (5-19-2) after losing to the Fire 3-2 Jan. 27 in Calgary.
Holly Borrett (11-0, 0.73 GAA) has posted six shutouts and Brianna Sank (10-1-1, 1.00 GAA) has five shutouts as the Slash have allowed only 21 goals in 24 games.
Madison Willan, a third-year player with the two-time defending Esso Cup national champions, is the AFHL’s top scorer with 22 goals, including six on the power play, and 43 points.
Jaden Bogden is second in points with 27 and Mackenzie Kordic is third with 24.
Kordic’s 17 goals are ranked second in the AFHL.
Merchants update
The St. Albert Merchants gained a point in the Capital Junior B Hockey League standings when the glass broke in Wednesday’s game against the Edmonton Royals and couldn’t be repaired.The score was tied at one when the game was called a draw at Confederation Arena.
No ice is available to make up the game before the playoffs.
League play ended Friday for the Merchants (14-18-5) against the Beaumont Chiefs (27-8-2) at Akinsdale Arena. The score was unavailable at press time.
The CJHL regular season wraps up Sunday.
The Merchants (14-18-5) are now fourth in the west division after the Edmonton Mustangs (14-21-2) were docked three games by the CJHL due to an ineligible player. Depending on the weekend results, the Merchants could play the fifth-place Stony Plain Flyers (15-20-2) or the sixth-place Mustangs in the best-of-three division qualifying round.
