More general hockey-related stuff for your Wednesday afternoon:
- The Toledo Walleye helped address the loss of defenseman Matt Register by signing a European Pro player with Michigan ties today:
Toledo, OH – Defenseman Mark Auk has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2019-20 season.
Auk, the native of Grosse Point Park, Michigan, has a year professional under his belt after spending this past season with Lukko Rauma in Finland. The 24-year-old appeared in 47 games with one goal and nine assists with 12 penalty minutes. Prior to turning professional, Auk spent four years at Michigan Tech, skating in 150 games with 21 goals, 63 assists, 49 penalty minutes while playing as a plus 54.
“Mark brings one year of experience with him from the top Finnish League,” said Head Coach Dan Watson. “He had a great college career and we look forward to helping his development in Toledo.”
As a senior in the 2017-18 season, Auk set career bests with nine goals and 22 assists. The 6’0”, 194-pound defenseman was a plus player in all four years for the Huskies and was part of the 2015-16 WCHA regular season championship team.
2. And, from Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples:
Didn’t take long for the video to blow up, that’s for sure.
MiHockey had a GoPro on the helmet of Dan Oleksy, one of the referees filming the Eastside Elite All-Star Challenge last night at the Mt. Clemens Ice Arena. That’s where Oleksy, brother of Eastside Elite Hockey League founder and commissioner Steven Oleksy, captured a remarkable shootout goal by Plymouth native Antonio Stranges.
Before we could get the GoPro footage shared, another video went viral of the moment. What that video isn’t sharing, however, is what the event is, and why it takes place.
The Eastside Elite Hockey League brings together some of the top players in the state of Michigan and beyond for a summer hockey league. There, Oleksy and his wide-ranging group of friends keep in shape, meet other hockey players and help lead the younger generations of elite hockey players in the area.
The All-Star Challenge is there to both celebrate the league and support charitable causes in the area. This year, they were raising funds for the Cassie Hines Shoes Cancer Foundation, which has a mission “to guide young adults with cancer, to social support programs and services that can help them manage their mental healing as well as their physical battle.”
Continued, and here’s the “Strange” goal:
