ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Solar Bears, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning, announced Thursday (Feb. 6) the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL) have recalled goaltender Ryan Fanti from loan to the Orlando Solar Bears and signed rookie forward Spencer Kersten to a professional tryout contract (PTO).
Fanti, 25, has appeared in 25 games this season for Orlando, posting a 12-10-2 record, with a 2.85 Goals Against Average (GAA) and a .906 save percentage (SV%). The Thunder Bay, Ontario native is unbeaten in his last 10 ECHL starts posting a 9-0-1-0 record and was named ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the week of Jan. 6.
The former Minnesota-Duluth Bulldog has spent the past three seasons in the Edmonton Oilers organization with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL and Fort Wayne Komets in the ECHL. In 75 ECHL games, Fanti has posted a 35-32-3 record, a 3.12 goals against average (GAA), and a .902 save percentage (SV%). Fanti signed a One-Year, AHL contract with the Crunch in the summer of 2024.
Kersten, 24, was named ECHL Rookie of the Month on Wednesday following a torrid scoring pace in the month of January that led him to the top spot in the ECHL in both rookie points (46) and goals (22).
The Waterloo, Ontario native was signed by Orlando following the completion of his college season in 2024 and went on to score six points in 10 games in the regular season and nine points in 11 games in the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs. His six goals scored in the playoffs were the second-most in a single playoff year in Solar Bears history.
Prior to his professional career, Kersten appeared in 36 games during the 2023-24 season at Bowling Green State University, scoring 16 points (9g-7a). The 5-foot-10, 187-pound forward played at Princeton University from 2019-2023, scoring 38 points (15g-23a) in 93 games, while captaining the 2022-23 team.
During his time at Princeton, Kersten was a three-time Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) All-Academic player.
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