ROANOKE, Va. – The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs have announced the team’s protected list for the upcoming 2021-2022 season.
In a normal season, the SPHL allows each team to protect 13 players who finished the previous season on their roster. Only five of the 2019-2020 SPHL teams were able to compete in the 2020-2021 season due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions differing from state to state. Thus, each previously inactive team’s protected list for the 2021-2022 season is built based on their 2019-2020 final roster and players who were signed to a tryout agreement prior to the team opting-out of the 2020-2021 season. Players claimed on protected lists are only able to sign tryout agreements with the SPHL team that has protected them.
Two goaltenders, Jake Theut and Austyn Roudebush, made the list for Roanoke this year. Theut was named to the All-League First Team and was awarded Goaltender of the Year after a successful 2020-2021 season in Macon. Theut led all SPHL goaltenders in wins with a record of 16-1-2. Roudebush was named to the 2020-2021 All-League Second Team after spending time in both Birmingham and Knoxville.
Roanoke’s protected list also includes former Dawgs captain Travis Armstrong, who spent a handful of games in both Knoxville and Pensacola during the 2020-2021 season. In 2019-2020 Armstrong played 46 games with the Dawgs and led the team in penalty minutes with 106 minutes total, notching 6 goals and 16 assists on the season as well. Jeff Jones led the team in scoring with 17 goals and 20 assists in 47 games played for the Dawgs in 2019-2020. Second to Jones in points for the Dawgs was CJ Stubbs with 9 goals and 19 assists in 39 games played. Stubbs played for the FPHL Columbus River Dragons in 2020-2021.
The Rail Yard Dawgs full protected list is below:
FORWARDS
Nick Devito
Logan Fredericks
Lincoln Griffin*
Brady Heppner*
Jeff Jones*
Matt O’Dea*
Brant Sherwood*
CJ Stubbs*
DEFENSEMEN
Travis Armstrong*
Nate O’Brien*
Jake Schultz
GOALTENDERS
Austyn Roudebush
Jake Theut*
*Notes players that were also on Roanoke’s 2020-2021 protected list