CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Former Canisius forward Ryan Schmelzer has agreed to terms with the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL, the team announced Thursday.
The Thunder are the affiliate of the New Jersey Devils and the American Hockey League’s Binghamton Devils.
With Thursday’s announcement, Schemelzer joins defenseman Jack Stander as the second member of the Class of 2018 to sign a professional contract. Stander agreed to terms with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators on Wednesday.
The signing also reunites Schmelzer with former Canisius linemate Shane Conacher, who leads the Thunder in scoring this season with 55 points (15 G, 40 A) in 49 games played.
Schmelzer appeared in 143 games during his four seasons with the Golden Griffins. He finished his career ranked among the top-10 players in the Division I era of the program in career goals (40/T-10th), assists (66/10th) and points (106/T-10th). Schmelzer also finished his career tied with former standout Cory Conacher ’11 for first place on the program’s career game-winning goals chart with 12.
Serving as team captain for the 2017-18 season, Schmelzer was an All-Atlantic Hockey Third Team selection after finishing third on the team in scoring with 30 points (13 G, 17 A). A Senior CLASS Award Finalist, Schmelzer ranked second on the squad in both plus/minus (+11) and game-winning goals (4) during his senior campaign.
