Twenty-nine amateurs with a dream strapped on the skates and hit the ice at the Independence Events Center this past weekend for the first Missouri Mavericks Free Agent Showcase.
One skated away with a contract to join the Central Hockey League team for its upcoming tryout sessions leading into the Oct. 15 season opener at the Events Center.
Forward Jeff Broekema, 22, a native of Belleville, Ontario, joined five other rookies in signing contracts Tuesday afternoon.
The other rookies, including four forwards, are Matthew Brenton, Marco Guercio, Ryan Sparling and Myles Stevens along with goaltender Bobby Jarosz.
This is the first professional contract for each player.
“Nine rookies have signed contracts for the 2010-11 season including Chris Mifflen, Mike Wakita, Derek Knowles and the six we have signed today,” Hillman said. “Jeff Broekema separated himself from the crowd in the free agent camp by playing with incredible intensity and effort every shift,” Hillman said.
“He was the one guy you kept watching out on the ice. He didn’t go to college and took last year off, but you couldn’t tell it by watching him at camp.
“Although he is not a big guy (5-foot-7, 181 pounds) he plays much larger than his size and showed good vision and touch in the offensive zone. There are a few other players that may join Jeff from the free agent camp but Jeff is the first player in Mavericks history to be invited to our main camp through a free agent tryout.”
The other rookies were all scouted last season and Hillman believes they could make an impact on his team.
“This talented crop of first year players show the diversity of our recruiting efforts this season,” the coach said. “Two players are from Division I NCAA hockey (Wakita, Jarosz), three from Canadian University (Sparling, Knowles, Mifflen), one from Canadian College (Guercio), one from Canadian Major Junior (Brenton) and one from tier-2 hockey in western Canada (Stevens).”
Broekema scored 40 points (17-23–40) in 47 games played with the Pickering Panthers of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 2008-09.
Brenton, 21, comes from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) where he played the previous four seasons and final two seasons with the Montreal Juniors. In 265 games in the QMJHL, the Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, native finished with 40 goals and 69 assists for 109 points and 126 penalty minutes.
Guercio, 26, is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound forward from Kelowna, British Columbia. He most recently played for South Alberta Institute of Technology where he averaged over a point per game with 28 points (18-10–18) in 27 games to go along with 97 penalty minutes.
Sparling, 22, played the 2009-10 at Saint Francis Xavier University where he finished with 11 points (2-9–11) in 25 games. Prior to playing at St. Francis, the Sydney, Nova Scotia, native played four seasons with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. The 5-foot-11, 186-pound forward finished with 217 points (83-134–217) in 247 games played over four seasons and is the all-time leading scoring in Sea Dogs history
Stevens, 20, is the youngest player to sign with the Mavericks. The Norway House, Manitoba, native played the previous four seasons with the Swan Valley Stampeders of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL). The 6-foot-0, 195-pound forward averaged well over a point per contest with the Stampeders with 224 points (79-145–224) in 190 games played. Stevens also has 442 penalty minutes and has over 160 in each of his last two seasons.
“These four forwards have all put up nice numbers in their respective leagues,” Hillman added. “All of them play with grit and have offensive numbers to round out their game. Each of them are very excited to prove that they are ready to take their game to the next level.
“Guercio and Stevens will look to add another element of toughness to our squad. Sparling and Brenton put up very solid offensive numbers in the QMJHL, and we believe they are the types of players that can transition to the CHL and make an immediate impact.”
Hillman said the team is also looking at a “couple of other” veteran forwards, plus the Mavericks are still in negotiations with Nick Sirota, who played for the team last year and was on the CHL All-Rookie Team.
One newcomer who will get a lot of attention is Jarosz, since the Mavericks will not have top-rated goaltender Charlie Effinger back this season.
Jarosz, a Crystal Lake, Illinois, native, played the past three seasons with Michigan State University (NCAA). In his final season, the 6-foot, 172-pounder finished 4-3-1 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.
After his collegiate career ended, Jarosz played one game with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers last season and stopped 21 of 22 shots in his first professional victory.
“Jarosz is a very exciting goalie,” Hillman said of the second goaltender signed by the Mavericks. “Although he has not logged a lot of ice time, he has excelled nearly every minute that he has been between the pipes. We are very pleased to have Bobby on our roster. We believe he will compete very hard with Gerry (Festa) to earn playing time with the Mavericks this season.
“And we’re looking at another goaltender, too. We would like to have three guys in camp battling for a spot on the roster.”
