The Hershey Bears, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the South Carolina Stingrays, announced the recall of defenseman Joey Leach Saturday. Leach, who signed an AHL contract with Hershey on March 14, has split time between the Bears and Stingrays this season, playing 17 games with the Chocolate and White as well as 38 regular season games and two postseason contests with South Carolina.Leach began the year on an ECHL deal with the Rays, but signed a professional tryout contract (PTO) with Hershey on Dec. 18. While in the AHL, the defender posted one assist and a +1 rating in his 17 outings. Before his promotion, Leach, who is serving as team captain in South Carolina this season, recorded 20 points on two goals and 18 assists in 28 games as well as a +8 rating. He returned for SC’s final 10 games and added another eight points on a goal and seven helpers to help the Stingrays qualify for the 2019 Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by SmileDirectClub.
The Wadena, Saskatchewan native is in his sixth professional season and entered the year after posting 26 points (five goals, 21 assists) in 61 contests as well as a +18 rating with the Rays during 2017-18. Leach also saw action in five games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack during late February and early March last season.
Leach, 26, has played a total of 41 games with Hershey in his career during three different seasons (2015-17, 2018-19) and has suited up for a total of 62 AHL games with four different clubs in Hershey, Hartford, the Lake Erie Monsters and the Oklahoma City Barons. Previously a third-round selection of the Calgary Flames in the 2010 NHL Draft, Leach played four years of junior hockey in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Kootenay Ice where he totaled 134 points in 274 games.
After splitting the first two games of their South Division Semifinals series with the Orlando Solar Bears, South Carolina returns home for Game 3 on Wednesday night at the North Charleston Coliseum at 7:05 p.m.
Single-game tickets for Games 3 and 4 are on sale now at the North Charleston Coliseum Box Office and Ticketmaster.
Sign up for our ‘Pay For Play’ package now and get tickets to every home game throughout the postseason! For more information head to StingraysHockey.com.
To bring your group to the game, call the Stingrays Front Office at 843-744-2248! For single game tickets, visit ticketmaster.com.
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