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ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Solar Bears have announced that the club has signed defenseman Nolan Valleau and forward Owen Robinson to ECHL Standard Player Contracts. Additionally, the club has added goaltender Craig LeVasseur as an emergency backup goaltender.
Valleau (vah-LOO), 29, returns for his fourth season with the Solar Bears after last skating with Orlando during the 2020-21 campaign, in which he recorded 19 points (4g-15a) in 45 games.
The veteran blueliner has played the entirety of his ECHL tenure with the Solar Bears, where he has logged 57 points (14g-43a) in 93 games. During the 2017-18 campaign, his .83 points per game (34 points in 41 games) set the current club record for average point production by a defenseman in a single season, and he represented the Solar Bears at the 2018 ECHL All-Star Classic in Indianapolis, where he won the hardest shot competition with a 97-mph slap shot.
Valleau has played the majority of his professional career in the American Hockey League with Rockford, Chicago, Milwaukee, Utica and Syracuse, where he has amassed totals of 46 points (9g-37a) in 227 games.
Prior to turning pro, the Novi, Mich. native played one season of college hockey at Bowling Green State University. In 39 games for the Falcons program, the redshirt freshman collected 19 points (2g-17a) and 35 penalty minutes and was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team.
Valleau played junior hockey for the Des Moines Buccaneers and Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League, where he put up totals of 26 points (8g-18a) and 38 penalty minutes in 64 games. Prior to that, he posted 31 points (6g-25a) and 52 penalty minutes in 53 games with the North American Hockey League’s Port Huron Fighting Falcons and New Mexico Mustangs.
Robinson, 21, joins the Solar Bears after skating in six games with the University of Toronto this season, where he has recorded four points (2g-2a).
The 6-foot, 179-pound forward previously spent the last three seasons with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League, where the Orangeville, Ontario native tallied 87 points (24g-63a) in 124 games.
NEXT GAME: The Solar Bears are back on home ice when they host the Atlanta Gladiators for Teddy Bear Toss Night, presented by Janney Roofing, tonight at 7 p.m. at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center.
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