The season-ending rosters will include up to 20 players and can’t include anybody who didn’t sign an ECHL Contract in the 23-24 season. The Orlando Solar Bears announced that 12 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies made the roster.
FORWARDS: Darik Angeli, Kelly Bent, Tyler Bird, Alexandre Fortin, Alex Frye, Jesse Jacques, Spencer Kersten, Brayden Low, Aaron Luchuk, Ryan Mahshie, Tanner Schachle, and Jake Smith.
DEFENSEMEN: Ben Caroll, Kurt Gosselin, Chris Harpur, Jimmy Mazza, Robbie Stucker, and Avery Winslow.
GOALTENDERS: Franics Boisvert and Brandon Halverson
Some of this roster includes fan favorites such as Tyler Bird, Aaron Luchuk, Jimmy Mazza, and Brandon Halverson, just to name a few. Let’s break down on how some of these players performed last season:
Darik Angeli: In the 2023-24 season, Angeli played 35 games, playing very well, collecting 31 points (10G,21A). Last year was his second partial season for the Bears, as in the 2017-2018 season, he was on the Bears for the previous 36 games of the season in which he had 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. He spent the other seasons elsewhere across the league as well as in 2022-23, Angeli played across the ocean with the Belfast Giants and the Vienna Capitals, where he played 35 games, grabbing just 17 points, along with 60 penalty minutes. Angeli is one of those key offensive guys who can provide scoring depth but has great defensive skill.
Kelly Bent: Bent is not known for his scoring; however, he is a very physical forward who can help lay the body on his opponents; playing 63 games last year between the Wichita Thunder and the Solar Bears, he tallied seven points, which were six goals and one assist, including a bunch of trips to the penalty box as he racked up 174 penalty minutes.
Tyler Bird: Bird, a native of Boston, MA, has spent all of part of the last five seasons for the Bears, as he is starting to become one of the heavy fan favorites in Orlando. Bird was an Iron Man last year, playing all 72 games of the regular season, racking up 17 goals and 25 assists, good for 42 points. This was Bird’s first season playing every game, which is an incredible milestone and not something you see very often in the ECHL.
Spencer Kersten: Kersten was signed on March 14, 2024, and instantly became a fan favorite, playing 10 games this season for the Bears while grabbing two goals and four assists and then becoming a playoff master, scoring six goals, adding three assists in just 11 games played. Before getting signed, Kersten finished his schooling at Bowling Green University, where he played 34 games this past year, scoring 16 points (9G,7A). If Kersten can become a well-known scorer and player for the Bears, it will be easy to see why fans like him.
Aaron Luchuk: Luchuk will be the last forward I will break down before moving on to defensemen. Luchuk rejoined the Bears last season after taking the 22-23 season to play overseas, where in 44 games, he tallied just 24 points. In the 2020-2021 season, Luchuk played all 72 games, scoring 28 goals and 46 assists. Last season, the native of Kingston, Ontario, played 61 games, grabbing 22 goals, adding 27 assists, and only getting eight penalty minutes.
Ben Carroll: One of the great all-around guys on the defensive core, as he racked up five goals and 30 assists in 67 games played last year, as well as five assists in 11 playoff games. He spent the 2022-23 season overseas in Denmark, beforehand he played two full seasons in 2020-2022 with the Allen Americans, he also played two games with them in the 19-20 season before Covid shut the season down.
Jimmy Mazza: Mazza has played the last two seasons with the Solar Bears, last season he was able to play all 72 games, however this season, he played 69 games for Orlando, while grabbing 24 points. Mazza is well known for his enforcing skills, which is a lot of help for Orlando when they have to play physical teams such as Florida and Jacksonville.
The goaltenders don’t have much to talk about. Boisvert didn’t play at all, as he was a playoff backup while Halverson was in the AHL. Halverson has a contract with the Syracuse Crunch for the upcoming 2024-2025 season, joining defenseman Chris Harpur. Boisvert played 13 games last season at Robert Morris University. He had one shutout, a 3.13 goals-against average, and a .926 save percentage, going 3-4 on the year.
