Saturday, July 4, 2009

Rangers sign Chappell

Press Release

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with free agent forward Chris Chappell.

Chappell, 21, skated in 68 games with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) last season, registering 38 goals and 38 assists for 76 points, along with 88 penalty minutes. He established career-highs in games played (68), goals (38), assists (38), points (76), and penalty minutes (88). Chappell led Saginaw in goals and points, and tied for second on the team in assists.

He also led the team and tied for third in the OHL with 18 power play goals, while his 38 goals tied for eighth in the league. Chappell was selected to represent the Western Conference in the OHL All-Star Classic, and collected one assist in the contest. He posted two, seven-game scoring streaks – from November 7 vs. Ottawa to November 22 at Barrie (three goals and 10 assists) and February 25 vs. Plymouth to March 12 vs. Owen Sound (four goals and four assists) – and recorded 21 multi-point efforts, including his first career hat trick and four-point performance on February 16 at Oshawa (three goals and one assist).

In addition, the Pickering, Ontario native recorded two goals and six assists for eight points in eight playoff contests with Saginaw. He tied for the team lead in postseason assists (six) and ranked fourth in postseason points (eight).

The 6-4, 209-pounder has skated in 248 career OHL games with Saginaw, recording 70 goals and 84 assists for 154 points, along with 243 penalty minutes. In 2007-08, Chappell ranked fifth on the Spirit in goals (14) and points (34), and tied for sixth on the team in assists (20). He made his OHL debut against Plymouth on September 21, 2005, and registered his first point with an assist on October 15, 2005, against Owen Sound. Chappell has also tallied four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 22 career postseason contests with Saginaw.

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu
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1 comment:

Brock Otten said...

An excellent signing. Not sure if you read it or remember it Nathan, but Chappell topped my list of available overages from the OHL.

He's a big guy, but his skating has come a long way. Moves well for a big man and has the ability to take the puck to the net. Good hands, good leader, responsible defensively, protects his teammates. Just a really solid hockey player and a late bloomer.

By all accounts, he's had an excellent Development Camp with NYR too. Has a good chance to develop into a quality NHL player, in my opinion.