July 28, 2009

Bates Signs with Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, MA - The Springfield Falcons, in conjunction with their National Hockey League affiliate the Edmonton Oilers, announced today that they have signed former Quinnipiac forward James Bates to a standard American Hockey League contract.

Bates will be entering his second professional season after spending the 2008-09 season with Springfield's ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound native of Toronto, Ontario played in the preseason with the Falcons last year before totaling 16 goals and 32 assists for 48 points and 84 penalty minutes in 63 games with Stockton.

Bates' 13 points (6g-7a) in 14 Kelly Cup Playoff games ranked second on the team for postseason scoring and he buried an overtime, game-winning goal in Game 4 of the Pacific Division Semifinal against the Ontario Reign, leading to a seven-game series win for Stockton.

Bates played his college hockey with Quinnipiac University where he averaged a-point-a-game during his senior year collecting 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points in 34 games played. In 143 career games with Quinnipiac, Bates tallied 52 goals and 77 assists for 129 career points. On November 16, 2007 against Princeton, Bates became the 26th player in Quinnipiac men's hockey history to score 100 career points.

Bates finished his career ranked 11th all-time at Quinnipiac in scoring.