ECHL: Rapid City Rush Callup SPHL Defenseman

Photo: Michael King | Inside the Rink

The Rapid City Rush have announced that they have called up Dalton Skelly from the Knoxville Ice Bears in the SPHL. Skelly is a 5’10” defenseman from Keller, Texas.

Skelly has spent the entirety of his 2024-25 season in the SPHL, where he has played in 39 games with the Knoxville Ice Bears. He has ten goals and 19 assists for 29 points with seven penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -8.

Prior to this season, Skelly spent some time in the ECHL, where he played for the Wichita Thunder and Allen Americans. Through his three ECHL seasons, Skelly has played in 114 games where he has three goals and 20 assists for 23 points. He has 22 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -23. One of Skelly’s three goals came against the Rush when he was playing for Wichita on January 14, 2022.

The Rush also announced that they have traded forward Dustin Manz to the Bloomington Bison in order to complete the trade which saw the Rush acquire defenseman Mitchell Smith from the Bison earlier in February. In 20 games with the Rush, Manz had one goal and two assists for three points. As well as nine penalty minutes and a +2.

Defenseman Joni Jurmo and forward Trevor Janicke have been called back up to the Calgary Wranglers, and defenseman Chase Pauls has been called up to the Henderson Silver Knights.

In his short stint back with the Rush, Jurmo played in three games where he had three assists with two penalty minutes and a +6. This season, Jurmo has played in 12 games for the Rush, where he had two goals and eight assists for ten points with four penalty minutes and a +2. With the Wranglers, Jurmo has played in ten games where he has four penalty minutes and a +1. Jurmo has yet to register a point in the AHL this season.

In six games with his return to the Rush, Janicke had four goals and five assists for nine points. He had a +3 and two penalty minutes. Janicke has played in a total of 24 games with the Rush this season, where he has ten goals and nine assists for 19 points with 12 penalty minutes and a -2. In eight games with the Wranglers, Janicke has two penalty minutes and a +1. He has yet to register a point in the AHL.

Pauls was traded to the Rush earlier in the season in a two-for-two trade with the Bloomington Bison, where the Rush traded away defenseman Zack Hoffman and forward Patrick Bajkov for Pauls and forward Jackson Leppard. In 16 games with the Rush, Pauls had three assists with a +7 and eight penalty minutes.

The Rush will hit the road this week to head to West Valley City, Utah, to take on the Utah Grizzlies. They will start their series on Friday, February 21st, and continue it on Saturday, February 22nd. Their series will wrap up on Sunday, February 23rd. Puck drop will be at 7:10 pm MT on Friday and Saturday and 3:10 pm MT on Sunday.

ITR 45: Everything Is Happening Inside The Rink

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  4. ITR 42: Ripe For Repeat?
  5. ITR 41: Stanley Cup Final – The Rematch

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Felicity Harding

Hello! I'm Felicity and I mainly cover the Rapid City Rush in the ECHL here at Inside the Rink. You can find me on Instagram and X/Twitter at @fharding05

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