CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte Checkers have been assigned forward Cedric McNicoll from the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters head coach and general manager Derek Wilkinson announced today.
McNicoll, 21, has five goals and eight assists in 39 games for the Monsters this season, his first as a professional. He notched his first career goal on Oct. 30 against Peoria and collected seven points in seven games between Dec. 26 and Jan. 5.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound center from Longueuil, Quebec enjoyed a successful four-year junior career with the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League where he tallied 110 goals and 154 assists in 249 games.
In 2008-09, McNicoll led the Cataractes in scoring with 104 points (38g, 66a) in 65 games and led the entire QMJHL with an impressive +61 rating. He helped Shawinigan to the QMJHL finals with 31 points in 21 games before losing in seven games to the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
He was twice named winner of the Frank J. Selke Award as the QMJHL’s most sportsmanlike player and participated in the 2009 QMJHL All-Star Game.
McNicoll attended training camp with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008 and was signed by the Colorado Avalanche in 2009. He is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the Checkers host the Florida Everblades.
Charlotte (24-15-5) will host two important games with potential playoff implications on Thursday, Feb. 4 and Friday, Feb 5 against the Florida Everblades. Ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4-ICE or visiting www.gocheckers.com.
Notes: Charlotte is 13-3-1 in its last 17 home games…Andrew Carroll has 10 goals and six assists in his last 13 games and his five game-winning goals are the second highest total in the entire ECHL…David Marshall has three goals in his last four games…Tyler Doig ranks fourth in ECHL scoring with 52 points (13g, 39a)…T.J. Reynolds leads the ECHL with 199 penalty minutes and is fifth in overall plus-minus with a +16 rating…Julien Brouillette, Derek Couture, Kenny Roche and Kevin Schaeffer are with Hartford (AHL) while Matt Ford and Randy Rowe are with Lake Erie (AHL)…Trevor Glass, Chris Snavely and Chris Chappell are on the 21-day injured reserve.
