Allen Americans Goalie Chris Whitley – NHL Camp Progress

Goaltender Chris Whitley has solid showing for Red Wings at NHL Prospects Tournament

ALLEN, Texas – Allen Americans goaltender Chris Whitley made his National Hockey League camp debut Wednesday night at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich., during the NHL Prospects Tournament hosted by the Detroit Red Wings.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound goaltender played in net for the Red Wings against the New York Ranger rookies.

“I was pretty nervous. It’s the first game I’ve played in five months or so, but I was looking forward to getting back on my feet,” Whitley said Thursday afternoon.

Whitley graduated in May from Lakehead University after leading the Thunderwolves to a Queen’s Cup championship in 2005-06. The 26-year-old left Lakehead with almost every goaltending record including most career overall wins (82), best goals against average for an overall season (2.34 in 2007-08) and best save percentage for an overall season (.917 in 2007-08).

The game against the Rangers ended in a 4-3 loss, but Americans Head Coach and General Manager Dwight Mullins was pleased with Whitley’s play. “He made nice saves at key moments. For his first pro experience, he looked good,” Mullins said.

With Whitley’s first game under his belt, he’d like to pick up momentum. “The first game is hard to judge. I’d like to get on a roll from here.”

The Ontario native is staying in Traverse City, commonly referred to as Camptown, for Detroit’s main camp that begins Sept. 13 after the NHL Prospects Tournament concluded yesterday.

A few of the household names Whitley’s looking forward to skating with are Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom. “It’ll be a good experience for me to see how they play on the ice.”

The Americans, the Dallas Stars’ CHL affiliate, begin play this fall in the newly built Allen Event Center. Season tickets, partial plans and group tickets are on sale now, and corporate partnerships are also available. For information, call 972.912.1000 or visit allenamericans.com. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday.