According to the ECHL Transactions page, the Reading Royals of the ECHL have loaned forward Olivier Labelle to the Syracuse Crunch. With the number of injuries the Tampa Bay Lightning organization has endured all season at forward, Labelle will be a welcome addition to the Syracuse Crunch roster.
Labelle is no stranger to the Syracuse Crunch or head coach Benoit Groulx. When Groulx was the head coach of the Hull/Gatineau Olympiques, he was Labelle’s head coach for three years from the 2002-03 season through the 2004-05 season. The Olympiques won two QMJHL championships while both were there. Labelle was also an Alternate captain during his last two seasons. After spending his last year in the QMJHL with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, also as an Alternate captain, he made his professional debut with the Syracuse Crunch. He played in 74 games and had 31 points for the Crunch.
Labelle is in his eighth professional season in the AHL and ECHL. Following the 2011-12 season, Labelle spent two seasons in Austria playing for the Graz 99ers. He returned to the Reading Royals in the ECHL for 2014-15 and then went back to Europe to play in France last season where he won a championship. At the beginning of this season, he returned to the Reading Royals. He hasn’t played in the AHL since the 2011-12 season when he played two games for the Providence Bruins.
In 126 career AHL games, he has 39 points and also has 313 points in 371 ECHL games. Labelle has a decent amount of offense to his game and should provide a nice boost to the bottom six of the Crunch roster at right wing.
