Eight former Steelheads on NHL Opening rosters

Boise, ID (10/1/13) - Eight former members of the Idaho Steelheads are listed on NHL Opening-Night rosters, including the 2004 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs MVP Dan Ellis with the Dallas Stars.Dallas is the NHL affiliate of the Steelheads. Ellis will team up in net with Kari Lehtonen for the Stars this season after another former Steelhead - Richard Bachman - held the backup job last season. Bachman now plays in the Edmonton Oilers organization.Besides Ellis, here are the other seven:- Zenon Konopka (Minnesota), key member of Idaho's '04 championship team- Richard Clune (Nashville), played in Idaho during '07-'08 season- BJ Crombeen (Tampa Bay), played on Idaho's '07 championship team- Jay Beagle (Washington), Crombeen's teammate on '07 title team- Steve Oleksy (Washington), played parts of three seasons with Idaho, starting during '09-'10 campaign- Luke Gazdic (Edmonton), two short stints in Idaho between '09 and '11- Jeremy Blain (Vancouver - Injured Reserve), skated in 47 games with Idaho last season.Of the eight, only Gazdic and Blain haven't played in the NHL before.A total of 18 players have played in the NHL after advancing from Idaho. Along with the six listed above (not including Gazdic/Blain), they are: Nick Johnson, Greg Rallo, Richard Bachman, Matt Climie, Matt Zaba, Francis Wathier, Aaron Gagnon, Tom Wandell, Jeremy Yablonski, Warren Peters, Gavin Morgan and Ben Ondrus.The Steelheads open up training camp on October 6 and will host its annual "Season Ticket Holder Only" pre-season game on October 12 at CenturyLink Arena. The regular season opens on October 18 with a game at Utah and the team will play its first home game on Wednesday, October 23, against the San Francisco Bulls.The 17th season of professional hockey gets underway at CenturyLink Arena on October 23 when the Idaho Steelheads host the San Francisco Bulls. Season Ticket packages are available now, starting at just $275 per seat for all 36 home games. Partial-season packages are available as well for fans who want a little more flexibility. Contact the Steelheads front office at 208.383.0080 for more information.