INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — The ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks announced Wednesday the signing of forward Eric Freschi ’17 for the upcoming hockey season. With Freschi’s signing, seven graduating seniors from the 2016-17 Cornell men’s hockey team have signed their first professional contracts.
Freschi wrapped up his collegiate career with 126 games— the most among his classmates on East Hill. He received the team’s Cornell Hockey Association Award after his senior season for a second straight year. The award is given annually to the player whose contributions to the team don’t show up in the box score, but rather are in the form of energy, heart and hustle.
True to form, Freschi was a fixture on the Big Red’s penalty kill and led the team with a plus-14 rating last year. He accumulated 14 points on two goals and 12 assists while playing all 35 games, including a stretch of four games in which he posted six points during the Big Red’s six-game winning streak during the latter part of the fall semester. He scored the winning goal Nov. 29 at Colgate before doling out a pair of assists three days later in the first of two victories over Miami. His final collegiate goal was the icing on the cake of the Big Red’s ECAC Hockey Championship semifinal victory over Union in Lake Placid, N.Y.
“Speaking with Eric, he’s is looking to come in, compete and do whatever it takes to help his team win,” Mavericks head coach John-Scott Dickson said. “He’s a guy who is coming in to make an impression, and I know we’re all excited to see him at camp in October.”
Among the other seniors from last year’s Cornell squad already under professional contract for this season are Holden Anderson with the Herlev Eagles (Denmark); Matt Buckles with the Springfield Thunderbirds; Jeff Kubiak with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL); Patrick McCarron with the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) and Jake Weidner with the Iserlohn Roosters (DEL). Alongside Kubiak, goaltender Mitch Gillam participated in an NHL rookie camp with the New York Islanders earlier this month and will now attend training camp in Bridgeport. Gillam made his professional debut last season with the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears.
