Players To Watch

Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Neil Graham made it official and announced the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads have agreed to terms with defenseman Cole Martin and forward Chance Braid.

Both were teammates last season with the WHL Champion Kelowna Rockets and runner-up at the Memorial Cup tournament.

“Cole is a smart hockey player who possesses good mobility, a player that takes pride in the defensive side of the ice,” Graham said. “And Chance is a big, strong power forward that plays with speed and creates space for himself and his linemates and brings physicality to the lineup every night.”

Martin (21) posted a plus/minus rating over the past three seasons (including playoffs) of a plus-163 over 262 games, including last spring’s Memorial Cup.

In his final season with the Rockets, he ranked third in the regular season among the team’s defensemen with 29 points (seven goals, 32 assists).

During the 2013-14 regular season, the Texas native posted a plus-61 rating, tops in the entire WHL.  Only one North American player, major-junior or pro, had a higher plus/minus rating that season.

The Rockets acquired Braid mid-season from Prince George of the WHL and in 65 (combined) regular-season games, he posted up 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) and 78 PIM’s.

He appeared in all five games for Kelowna in the Memorial Cup, scoring a goal and adding an assist.

The 20-year-old winger had 31 fighting majors to his credit in the WHL, winning 24 and losing just once (six draws).

The Steelheads open the regular season schedule on Friday, October 16, at home against the Rapid City Rush.

It is the first of 36 home games, each of which will be played at CenturyLink Arena.