Coventry Blaze Head Coach, Paul Thompson has today announced that he has completed the signing of Canadian defenceman, Brad Zanon from the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League.
The 6'2" blueliner hails from Port Moody in British Columbia and is the first new face signed by Thompson as he looks to build a roster to defend the club's Elite League Champions crown next season.
After a junior career with the Tri City Americans and Kootenay Ice, Zanon then had an outstanding four years with the University of British Columbia between 2004 and 2008, where in 137 games he racked up a highly impressive 84 points and 324 penalty minutes.
After suiting up for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the East Coast League for 24 games at the end of the 2007/08 season, Zanon signed his first professional contract with the Florida Everblades the following season. In his first season, he recorded 12 points and 147 penalty minutes in 75 games and earned two call ups to the American Hockey League, playing for both Albany River Rats and Milwaukee Admirals. He joins the Blaze on the back of a 14 point, 139 penalty minute, 77 game season with the Everblades.
"Where ever he's played, junior, university or pro, Brad's had a reputation of giving nothing less than one hundred percent effort every night and has been noted for his physical play all over the ice," said Thompson of his latest capture to the Blaze website.
"He's big, strong, tough and a real no nonsense style of player which is exactly what I believe this team benefits from. In the last couple of years, he's been used very much as a defensive defenseman, great at blocking shots, throwing big hits, strong on the penalty kill and generally doing whatever it takes to keep the puck out of the net.
"But if you look back just a couple of seasons to his University career, he's definitely a player who has an eye for goal and has good offensive upside. He was the first defenceman in the history of the University of British Columbia to lead his team in goal scoring for a season which says a lot about the tools he has in his kit bag."
Zanon, who turns 27 today, will be taking advantage of the club's excellent links with Coventry University and will combine his playing duties with a further education course.
"The opportunity to attend a world class University was a big attraction for me," said Zanon. "It's a huge opportunity for a professional hockey player like myself, to be able to combine playing for a top notch hockey club and at the same time, securing my long term future through getting a first class education.
"All of that made coming to Coventry a really easy decision for me. If you speak to other players, you hear nothing but good things about the club and I'm looking forward to coming over to help the team be champions again. I can't wait."
Brad's brother, Greg has played over 300 games in the NHL and is currently icing for the Minnesota Wild.