Armstong 40th Anniversary Team

The Armstrong Falcons are celebrating their 40th Anniversary and named a 40th Anniversary Team that included some impressive recognizable names. Two defensemen that were named are Jordan Leopold of the Florida Panthers and Derek Peltier of the Colorado Avalanche.

Leopold has five goals and seven assists in 39 games this year. Unfortunatley the former Gopher captain is a -6, but so far he has been pretty healthy and is looking like the reliable defenseman the Calgary Flames were happy to have early in his career. In 2003-2004 Leopold played in 82 games scoring 33 points and was +8 on the season. In the 2006-2007 season injuries started to slow his career down and he only played in 15 games and 43 the next.

Peltier has been called up two separate times to the Avalanche's NHL roster but he has yet to get any playing time. He played in 11 games last season. Peltier deserves a lot of credit for his growth because although he was more than a solid WCHA defenseman he wasn't touted as a for sure NHL prospect and has done enough to keep Colorado very interested.

Last year Thomas Fallen was the best player on Armstrong's roster and now he's an undersized defenseman in the rugged USHL. At 5'8", 161 pounds Fallen uses his skating ability and great hockey sense to play at such a high leve. He's still looking for his first goal but he does have seven assists in 18 games. Two of the assists are on the power play and one is a short-handed assist.

Corey Thorson was the best player on Armstong's team in 2007-2008 and is making a nice bid to catch a college team's attention late in the recruiting process. Thorson was named to the NHL Central Scouting Bureau's "Players to Watch" list for 2009 draft-eligibles released on Oct. 20 as a "C" rated player. Thorson is first on Owatonna Express team in points and second on the team in plus/minus. In 29 games he has 32 points with an even 16 goals and 16 assists. Three of his goals have been game-winners as well as three of them being on the power play. He has added five power play assists and is a +8.

Another former Gopher on the list that college hockey fans would recognize is Evan Kaufman who is playing professionaly in Germany. Kaufman has three goals and 14 assists in 29 games. Last year he had 26 points.

Goaltender Mike Zacharias played three years of juniors, four yeas of college at Minnesota-State Mankato and now is in his first professional season so it may seem like a lot of time has passed since he wore a Falcons uniform despite only being 24 years old. He is currently in the ECHL playing for the Ontario Reign. He has a record of 3-4-1, a 3.37 GAA and save percentage of 88.8%.