Ever since the end of the 2013-2014 AHL regular season, one of the bigger thing fans in Syracuse have been waiting on and hoping for was the re-signing of Crunch captain Mike Angelidis. Angelidis has been the top leader on the Crunch since Tampa Bay and Syracuse joined forces two years ago. Before he came on, his was well-known to Syracuse fans due to his tenure with Norfolk and Albany.
Angelidis himself once said that his career tended to run in four-year cycles, and as this past season was his fourth in the Tampa Bay organization, it wasn’t a guarantee that he’d be returning. When July 1st came with no signing news, Crunch fans started to get a little nervous that maybe the hard-nosed forward was going to end up elsewhere for the 2014-2015 season.
Well, with the way Tampa Bay recently cleaned house, Angelidis still might end up somewhere other than Syracuse. The good news is that, barring any other changes from here on, he’ll still be within the Tampa Bay organization.
LIGHTNING RE-SIGN FORWARD MIKE ANGELIDIS
TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed forward Mike Angelidis to a one-year, two-way contract today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.
Angelidis, 29, skated in 75 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League last season, recording 12 goals and 33 points to go along with 161 penalty minutes. He ranked second on the Crunch for penalty minutes and fifth for points. Angelidis has been captain of the Crunch since the beginning of the 2012-13 season.
The Woodbridge, Ontario native has skated in seven career NHL games, all with the Lightning, posting one goal and five penalty minutes. Angelidis scored his first career NHL goal in his NHL debut on January 24, 2012 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
The Woodbridge, Ontario native has played in 515 career AHL games with the Norfolk Admirals, Albany River Rats and Crunch, collecting 99 goals and 207 points, to go along with 1,079 penalty minutes. In 2012 he was a member of the Admirals team that captured the Calder Cup Championship, skating in 18 games and recording a goal and six points.
Whether he’s up in Tampa on their 4th line or captaining another year with the Crunch, Angelidis is certainly a welcome return!
