Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ontario) and Chris Rumble (Seattle, Wash.) of the Canisius College hockey team both signed contracts with the Evansville IceMen, announced by the organization on Saturday. The first Griff defender to earn first-team all-conference honors in 16 years, Rumble will forego his final year of collegiate eligibility to join the IceMen.
Freeman set a career high with 26 points during his senior campaign, scoring 10 goals to go along with 16 assists. During his four-year collegiate tenure, the Toronto native totaled 75 points, 33 goals, 42 assists and nine game-winning tallies.
The senior helped lead the Griffs to Atlantic Hockey Championship weekend in each of the last three season and owns the program’s record for career postseason goals with 10. During the Griffs’ title run in 2013, Freeman led all players in the country with eight goals during the month of March.
The first Canisius defender to collect first-team all-conference accolades since Derek Gilham during the 1998-99 season, Rumble led all Canisius blueliners with 20 points, seven goals and 13 assists as a junior. He also helped anchor the top scoring defense in Atlantic Hockey, allowing a school-record low 2.24 goals per game. The Griffs currently own the nation’s 11th-ranked scoring defense in addition to the 11th-ranked penalty kill (87.2 percent).
In just 84 collegiate games, Rumble totaled 46 points, 14 goals and 32 assists. He finishes his career ranked fourth in school history among defenders in points, third in goals and fifth in assists.
Freeman and Rumble are the third and fourth Griffs to sign a professional contract after the 2014-15 season ended, joining Doug Jessey (Indy Fuel) and Keegan Asmundson (South Carolina Stingrays).
Evansville is the ECHL affiliate with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL and the Binghamton Senators of the AHL.
Canisius ended the 2014-15 season with an 18-12-7 record and matched the program’s best Atlantic Hockey finish with a two seed for the conference tournament.
