ICEHOGS AND PAILLE AGREE TO TERMS ON AHL DEAL

Left winger nears 750th professional game

Rockford, Ill. – The Rockford IceHogs, proud American Hockey League affiliate of the 2015 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, announced today that they have released left wing Daniel Paille from his PTO and signed him to an AHL contract.

Paille, 31, notched his first point of the season with an assist on Jake Dowell’s shorthanded goal to help the IceHogs to a 3-1 victory over the Lake Erie Monsters on Sunday afternoon. He has skated in 13 games with the IceHogs this season, and is five games shy of his 750th professional contest.

The veteran forward has skated in 570 NHL games since the 2005-06 season with the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres, totaling 85 goals and 87 assists for 172 points to go along with 135 PIM. He captured the Stanley Cup as a member of the Boston Bruins in 2011 and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013 before the Bruins fell to the Blackhawks. Last season, he appeared in 71 games with Boston, posting 13 points (6g-7a).

A native of Welland, Ont., Paille was drafted in the first round (#20 overall) by the Sabres in the 2002 NHL Draft and notched 77 points (35g-42a) in 153 AHL games with the Rochester Americans from 2004-07. Prior to turning pro, he won an OHL Championship in 2003-04 with the Guelph Storm and two silver medals (2002-03, 2003-04) as a member of Team Canada at the World Junior Championships Under-20 Tournament.

Next Home Game: Friday, November 27 vs. Chicago Wolves at 7 p.m. The IceHogs play the Wolves for the second time this year in an Illinois Lottery Cup showdown. Rockford will wear specialty “Ugly Holiday Sweater” jerseys with an in-game auction for select game-worn sweaters with proceeds benefitting the University of Illinois College of Medicine and prostate cancer research. The IceHogs will also try to set a Guinness World Record for most mustaches in one location when they invite all fans with facial hair onto the ice for a group picture after the game.