Springfield, MA - The Springfield Falcons, proud members of the American Hockey League, announced today that they have signed forward Derek Bekar to a standard American Hockey League contract.
Bekar
is entering his 11th professional season after spending the 2007-08
campaign with Acroni Jesenice in the Austrian Hockey League where he
collected nine goals and 21 assists for 30 points in 36 games played.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Burnaby, British Columbia has spent
his last three pro seasons playing professionally in Europe. This will
be Bekar's second stint with the Falcons as he spent the majority of
the 2004-05 season with Springfield collecting eight goals and 14
assists for 22 points in 51 games.
Bekar has played in
450 career AHL games collecting 139 goals and 121 assists for 260
points and 261 penalty minutes. He has reached the 20-goal plateau four
times in his pro career, including a career high 27 markers with the Manchester Monarchs during the 2001-02 campaign. Bekar was originally drafted by
the St. Louis Blues in the eighth round (205th overall) in the 1995 NHL
Entry Draft. He has played in 11 career NHL games, one with the Blues,
six with the Los Angeles Kings and four with the New York Islanders.
Prior
to turning pro, Bekar played his college hockey with the University of
New Hampshire from 1995-1998. In 108 career games with the Wildcats, he
registered 65 goals and 67 assists for 132 points.