ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs announced on Tuesday that defenseman C.J. Valerian has returned from his ECHL call-up with the Bloomington Bison. Additionally, the team has placed forward Hunter Godmere on waivers.
Valerian is in his fourth season with the Dawgs after initially starting in training camp with the ECHL’s Reading Royals. After he was released back to Roanoke prior to the season opener, Valerian was called back up to the Royals on December 10, notching two assists, 25 penalty minutes, and a plus-three rating in Reading before he was placed on waivers in early February. The veteran blue-liner returned to the Dawgs on February 5, and has tallied one goal, five assists, and a plus-14 rating in 12 games played for the Dawgs this season, including a whopping plus-10 rating in his last five games for the Dawgs after returning from his first ECHL call-up. Valerian was called back up to the ECHL’s Bloomington Bison, notching a plus-one rating in one game before returning to Roanoke. The six-foot-two defenseman missed extended time last season after a long stint on the injured reserve, but appeared in 15 combined regular season and postseason games for Roanoke. In those 15 games played, Valerian tallied one goal, six assists, and a plus-three rating from the blue line. The 29-year-old initially joined the Dawgs in February 2022, starting his pro career by netting his first goal less than three minutes into his debut game against Knoxville. In the 2022-2023 season, Valerian put up one of the stronger campaigns among all SPHL blue-liners, with six goals, 16 assists, a team-best plus-22 plus/minus (fourth among all SPHL defensemen), and 88 penalty minutes. Valerian went on to record one assist and a plus-five plus/minus during the 2023 President’s Cup Playoffs. As a rookie, the Gates Mills, Ohio native notched two goals and three assists in 17 regular season games and appeared in all nine of Roanoke’s games during the 2022 President’s Cup Playoffs. Prior to signing with Roanoke, Valerian played four seasons at New England College (NCAA-DIII) after transferring from Hobart College (NCAA-DIII) after one season.
Godmere is in his second full professional season and fourth overall, beginning this year in Slovakia’s second division with HC TEBS Bratislava before recently joining the FPHL’s Blue Ridge Bobcats. The 23-year-old dominated in his first weekend with the Bobcats, tallying the franchise’s first official hat trick as he recorded four goals, three assists, and a plus-seven rating across just two games. That performance led him to a call-up with the Dawgs back on February 15, and he played in five games for Roanoke. For TEBS Bratislava at the beginning of the season, Godmere played in four games and had one assist and four penalty minutes. Last season while playing in Hockey Ettan (Sweden third division), the six-foot-two forward had 14 goals, six assists, and 45 penalty minutes in 27 combined games between Kalix HC and Falu IF. Godmere also previously played in Sweden’s fourth and fifth levels of professional hockey from 2021-2023 between stints in the GMHL and a Swedish junior league. The New Lowell, Ontario native also has prior junior experience in the GOJHL and PCJHL.
The Rail Yard Dawgs are back at home on Friday, February 28 against the Pensacola Ice Flyers at Berglund Center. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 P.M. EST in the Star City. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: David Ingraham
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