For Immediate Release
Contact Dave Geringer, Sports Information Director, (508) 990-9651                      [log in to unmask]
Monday, June 25, 2007					 

UMASS DARTMOUTH’S KYLE MCCULLOUGH SIGNS WITH SEA WOLVES OF ECHL

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA– Senior forward Kyle McCullough (Danvers, MA/Boston Jr. Blackhawks) of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s hockey team will get a chance to continue his hockey career.

McCullough has agreed to a contract with the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the East Coast Hockey League and is scheduled to report to Biloxi, MS for training camp on October 1st.

“I’m on Cloud Nine right now,” said McCullough. “I thought I might go play somewhere, but not in the East Coast Hockey League. I got someone who took a chance on me.”

McCullough said that the agreement came after he got together with agent Tom Blackington. "After our season ended, I e-mailed him,” said McCullough. “He is from where I’m from, he knew who I was, and I put together a little highlight tape, and they liked it. They faxed me a contract, and I’ll be going there for training camp.”

As a senior, McCullough helped lead the Corsairs to a second consecutive ECAC Northeast title and the top seed in the East for the NCAA Division III tournament. McCullough finished the season with 17 goals and 31 assists for 48 points. For his career, McCullough had 65 goals and 91 assists for 156 points.  He ranks seventh on the Corsairs’ all-time scoring list, and he and fellow senior Jim Foley (Brockton, MA/Catholic Memorial HS) finished tied for first at UMass Dartmouth with 111 games played apiece. 

As a freshman, McCullough was named to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast All-Rookie Team, and earned UMass Dartmouth’s Seventh Player Award. He was named an ECAC Northeast All-Star and a New England Hockey Writers’ Association in both his junior and senior seasons, was named to the ECAC Northeast All-Tournament Team in 2006, was a semi-finalist for the Joe Concannon Award presented annually by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston to New England’s best American-born NCAA Division II or III hockey player as a junior, and was a finalist for the award as a senior.

The Sea Wolves are resuming operations this season, after being out of action for two seasons due to damage to the area caused by several hurricanes. Affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mississippi is coached by Steffon Walby.

“The coach was straightforward with me,” said McCullough. “He said to come down with a good attitude, and come down in shape, and he’ll be patient and give me a chance to play myself into the lineup.”

“Kyle, along with Jeff Grant and Jim Foley, comprised arguably the best line in the ECAC Northeast and one of the top lines in the country last year,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli. “Kyle is a complete player in that he’s very skilled with the puck, makes good decisions, and is a great finisher. He is an all-around very good hockey player who had an outstanding career at UMass Dartmouth.”

UMASS DARTMOUTH HOCKEY