Panthers sign new netminder

The GMB Panthers have signed highly-rated American netminder Craig 'K-Wall' Kowalski.

The five feet eight inch Carolina Hurricanes draft pick (2000) comes to the UK after a season in Italy. Before that he played at North Michegan University and then had four years of successful professional ice hockey in the competitive ECHL and he had three spells at the even higher level of the AHL.

Throughout his years at university, ECHL and at AHL level, Craig also nicknamed "Killer" posted a save per centage in excess of 90.

In 2008-9 at Phoenix in the ECHL his numbers stood at 91.8 and at Norfolk Admirals in the AHL in the same season he was rated at 92 per cent.

The GMB Panthers were forced to seek a new netminder after last year's starter Kevin St Pierre at first signed a contract for a second season in Nottingham but later changed his mind and opted to stay with his family in North America and retire from the sport.

As ever in sport, one door closes and another opens, Kevin's decision gives the club the opportunity to sign 29-year-old Kowalski and Panthers head coach Corey Neilson is pleased with the news:
"Craig was one of my top targets when I was recruiting in my first year in charge here and he has stayed on my radar ever since. At that time he was playing some great hockey and he was regularly in demand from the higher level AHL.

"I have played against him and he has the ability to win games for his teams almost single-handed.

"He has proved he can stand the pressure of facing a lot of rubber whilst also being able to maintain his concentration in games where he only has around 25 shots to deal with. His numbers are fantastic. He had a tricky start to his European career on an expansion team in Italy last year but even there his stick-handling skills shone through and he even scored a goal!

"He's desperate to win, wants to get that winning feeling back and he wants to be part of a good team with big ambitions. His save per centage was still as high as 89.7 last year and yet he says he wants to prove himself all over again and that fits with what we're aiming for this year, every guy is going to earn what he gets, every night we play.

"All the reports on him are good. His stick-handling will help us break up opponents'  forechecks. A former coach of mine (and Craig's) said 'I'd take him on my team any day, in the ECHL or the AHL' and David Beauregard who is coming to us this year played on the same team in Italy last year and he said the same thing too!"

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