Storm to sign 2 defensemen
7/28/2006The Toledo Storm is expected to sign two 25-year-old defensemen to contracts today.
Tim Songin returns to Toledo after playing in 14 games for the Storm late last season. Troy Barnes will embark upon his first year of professional hockey with Toledo after a four-year career at the University of Maine.
Songin, 6-5, 230 pounds, recorded two assists in 12 regular season games for Toledo last year. He did not register a point while appearing in two playoff games. He totaled 21 penalty minutes.
"He is a good all around defenseman," said Storm coach Nick Vitucci, who also is the organization's director of player personnel. "He has good size and he is a big presence on the ice.
"We brought him in last year because we knew we wanted him this year and we wanted him to get a taste [of the ECHL]. He played very well for us. He should have played more in the playoffs, but none of the other players warranted coming out of the lineup."
Barnes, 5-11, 185 pounds, joins the Storm after four years with the perennially strong Black Bear program, Barnes posted 41 points (5 goals, 36 assists). As a senior, he recorded 14 points, including 13 assists. The native of Pembroke, Ont., also collected 50 penalty minutes in 148 career games.
"Troy is an offensive-minded defenseman," Vitucci said. "We tried bringing him in last year, but we had some problems with immigration. He came highly recommended from [Storm forward] Todd Jackson, who played with Troy at the University of Maine."
The Storm added instant size when it signed Songin in mid-March shortly after he finished a career at Canisius College. Songin scored 13 goals and collected 29 assists in 135 games over four years.
Songin, a native of Hamburg, N.Y., tallied his first professional point with an assist and also got into his first fight in a game on March 25.
Vitucci said Songin has already shown "great potential to be a performer" in the ECHL.
Contact Mark Monroe at:
mmonroe@theblade.com
or 419-724-6110.