GREENVILLE QUALIFIERS

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors announced today that they have issued qualifying offers to eight players from the 2010-11 season. The Road Warriors qualified five forwards, two defensemen, and one goalie.

The following players received qualifying offers from the Road Warriors:

Forwards

• Marc-Olivier Vallerand – Led all Greenville skaters in goals (28) as a rookie. Represented Road Warriors at 2011 ECHL All-Star Game.
• Sean Berkstresser – Third year pro registered 21 points (8G, 13A) in 55 regular season games. Scored winning goal in double overtime of Eastern Conference quarterfinal series clinching win against Elmira.
• Andrew Carroll – Produced 15 points (10G, 5A) in 17 games with the Road Warriors. Spent 52 games at the AHL level splitting time between Abbotsford (13 games), Peoria (14 games), and Hershey (25 games).
• Brendan Connolly – Set career highs for points (50), goals (22), and assists (28) in second pro season. Earned first career AHL call up and played three games with the Adirondack Phantoms.
• Justin Bowers – Led Greenville with 13 points (1G, 12A) in 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Scored eight of 16 regular season goals on the power play.

Defensemen

• Wes Cunningham – Named an All-ECHL First-Team defenseman. Finished second among ECHL defensemen, and set a career high, with 36 assists.
• Julien Brouillette – Seven power play goals ranked fourth among ECHL defensemen. Spent 50 games in the AHL including 49 with the Lake Erie Monsters.

Goalie

• Dov Grumet-Morris – Named All-ECHL Second-Team goalie. Won award for Connecticut Whale team MVP after going 13-5-1 with Road Warriors’ AHL affiliate.

Players who had already signed a contract by July 1 did not need to receive a qualifying offer.

Each team was entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight qualified players. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four could be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2011-12 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded.

The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until Aug. 1 at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season.

A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player will retain the rights to that veteran until Aug. 1. After Aug. 1, if the veteran player is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams. Restricted free agents may not be traded. When a restricted free agent receives a contract offer from a team other than the team with the player’s rights and the restricted free agent wishes to accept the contract offer, the restricted free agent and the offering member must, within 24 hours, notify the ECHL, the team with the player’s rights and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association. The member with the player’s rights shall have seven days after the date it is notified to exercise its right to match the contract offer.

If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by Aug. 31, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.

Don’t miss a minute of action with the Road Warriors this season! 2011-12 season ticket packages and half-season ticket packages are on sale right now. Fans can call 864-674-PUCK (7825) to speak to a Road Warriors ticket representative. Season tickets start as low as $300 and can be reserved with a deposit of just $100.