For Immediate Release:
February 10, 2017
DE MELO RETURNS, THREE SIGN CONTRACTS
Jeremy Beirnes, Mike Donnellan and Maxim Chegrintsev inked
ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs have announced transactions in advance of Friday night’s game against the Fayetteville FireAntz. Goaltender Ryan de Melo has been returned from loan to the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits, Jeremy Beirnes, Maxim Chegrintsev and Mike Donnellan have been signed to contracts and David Gandara has been placed on injured reserve.
de Melo was loaned to Greenville on Wednesday and served as the Swamp Rabbits backup goaltender later that night. He is the reigning SPHL Player of the Week, having stopped 98 of the 103 shots he faced during Roanoke’s weekend sweep of the Pensacola Ice Flyers.
Beirnes was acquired from the Huntsville Havoc for future considerations on January 21. He appeared in 53 games for the Havoc in 2015-16, notching seven goals and two assists to go with his league-leading 275 penalty minutes. Beirnes has not yet appeared in a game in 2016-17 due to an offseason injury.
Roanoke received Donnellan’s rights from the Evansville Thunderbolts on Monday in exchange for Tyler Gjurich. The Baltimore, Maryland native had totaled two goals and three assists over 24 games while serving as Evansville’s captain.
Chegrintsev has been with the Dawgs since January 21 and has played on two separate three-game tryout contracts. He has two goals and one assist over six games played. Gandara has five goals and ten assists over 33 games during his rookie season.
Roanoke begins a stretch of three games in three nights on Friday in Fayetteville. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM at the Crown Coliseum.
2017-18 Rail Yard Dawgs season tickets are on sale now! Seats can be reserved by visiting the Rail Yard Dawgs office inside of the Berglund Center or over the phone at 540-344-3294.
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