The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs have begun building a team for the 2016-17 Southern Professional Hockey League season. The SPHL held an expansion draft yesterday allowing the Rail Yard Dawgs and the Evansville Thunderbolts to select 6 players from the unprotected lists of each SPHL team. Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs selected the following six players:
- Travis Armstrong – 6’5”, 220 lbs Defenseman, Played most of last year with the Louisiana IceGators of the SPHL with a brief stint with the Brampton Beast of the ECHL
- Steve Mele – 5’11”, 175 lbs Left Wing/Right Wing, Split time last season between the Huntsville Havoc and the Macon Mayhem of the SPHL as well as the Norfolk Admirals and Brampton Beast of the ECHL
- Jackson Brewer – 6’1”, 185 lbs Right Wing, Played for Knoxville, Huntsville and Macon of the SPHL last year as well as a short stint with the Evansville Icemen of the ECHL
- Massimo Lamacchia – 5’8”, 170 lbs Forward, Played with the Manchester Monarchs and the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL before finishing this past season with the Louisiana IceGators of the SPHL
- Tim Boyle – 6’3”, 215 lbs Defenseman, Played the past season with the Mississippi Riverkings of the SPHL
- Ryan de Melo – 6’2”, 200 lbs Goalie, Played the past season with Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL With their picks, Evansville selected: Luke Sandler (Louisiana), Nick Lazorko (Fayetteville), Pat Murphy (Columbus), John Daniels (Louisiana), Steven Hoshaw (Fayetteville) and Mike Hill (Knoxville).
Season tickets for the inaugural season of Rail Yard Dawgs hockey are available now. Contact the Dawgs ticket office at (540) 344-DAWG (3294) to purchase or for more information.
