Sproat Remains in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The Cincinnati Cyclones announced tonight that they have agreed to terms with former Princeton forward Dustin Sproat. The Cyclones are the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators.

Sproat, 28, enters his second season as a professional after splitting last season between Fresno and Cincinnati. Starting the season with Fresno, Dustin played in 16 games and collected a pair of goals and four assists for six points with the Pacific Division leaders. When the Falcons folded on December 22, he signed as a free agent with Cincinnati. He appeared in 39 games with the Cyclones and picked up 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points. Dustin collected nine multiple point games for the club and was the second-leading scorer on the squad in the postseason with seven goals and eight assists in 15 games. He also had a pair of two goal games in the Kelly Cup playoffs.

The six-foot, 190 pounder from Red Deer, Alberta earned three varsity letters at Princeton, where he led the ECAC in scoring (15-12-27 in conference games) his junior year (2004-05). In his three years at Princeton, Sproat played in 92 games and collected 28 goals and 29 assists for 57 points. A two-time All-Academic ECAC selection, he also captured the Tigers' Blackwell Trophy (sportsmanship 2005) and Hobey Baker Award (top freshman) during his career.

"Dustin Sproat proved to be a valuable contributor for us last season," Cyclones Head Coach/Vice President of Hockey Operations Chuck Weber said. "He is a solid two-way hockey player and an excellent contributor on special teams. Having averaged nearly a point per game with us last season, we are expecting a big year from him."

Sproat has been active in the community helping to found HP4K (Hockey Players For Kids - www.hp4k.org) and is a frequent visitor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House. He is the second player (of three) that joined the Cyclones after Fresno folded at Christmas last Christmas to re-sign with Cincinnati (Jamie Coghlan is the other).

The Cyclones addition of Dustin Sproat brings the number of players to agree to terms for 2009-10 to six. Forwards Jonathan Duchesneau, Barret Ehgoetz and Mark Voakes and defensemen Coghlan and Jason Woll are the others.