Triton
05-23-2006, 08:03 PM
Tampa Bay Lightning sign left-winger Justin Keller to entry-level deal
TAMPA, Fla. (CP) - The Tampa Bay Lightning signed left-winger Justin Keller, the Western Hockey League's leading goal-scorer this season, to a three-year, entry-level contract Tuesday.
Keller, 20, scored 51 goals in 72 games for the Kelowna Rockets, leading them to a 46-22-1-3 mark.
The native of Summerland, B.C., scored the goal that won the 2004 Memorial Cup for Kelowna. The Rockets beat the Gatineau Olympiques in the final, 2-1, and it was Keller's third-period goal that broke a 1-1 tie.
"Justin Keller is a pure goal scorer," Lightning GM Jay Feaster said. "He has a skill that cannot be taught. He gets himself into open areas and when he gets the puck, he buries it, and that is a skill this organization is lacking in terms of our depth."
Keller, selected by the Lightning in the eighth round, 245th overall, at the 2004 draft, played three seasons with Kelowna, recording 107 goals and 187 points in 216 games.
"While we believe Justin must continue to work on his skating and find a way to get quicker in order to play in Tampa," said Feaster, "we really like his scoring touch, his overall hockey sense and his defensive awareness, and we are very pleased to get him started on his professional career
TAMPA, Fla. (CP) - The Tampa Bay Lightning signed left-winger Justin Keller, the Western Hockey League's leading goal-scorer this season, to a three-year, entry-level contract Tuesday.
Keller, 20, scored 51 goals in 72 games for the Kelowna Rockets, leading them to a 46-22-1-3 mark.
The native of Summerland, B.C., scored the goal that won the 2004 Memorial Cup for Kelowna. The Rockets beat the Gatineau Olympiques in the final, 2-1, and it was Keller's third-period goal that broke a 1-1 tie.
"Justin Keller is a pure goal scorer," Lightning GM Jay Feaster said. "He has a skill that cannot be taught. He gets himself into open areas and when he gets the puck, he buries it, and that is a skill this organization is lacking in terms of our depth."
Keller, selected by the Lightning in the eighth round, 245th overall, at the 2004 draft, played three seasons with Kelowna, recording 107 goals and 187 points in 216 games.
"While we believe Justin must continue to work on his skating and find a way to get quicker in order to play in Tampa," said Feaster, "we really like his scoring touch, his overall hockey sense and his defensive awareness, and we are very pleased to get him started on his professional career