On August 28th, 2024, Savannah Ghost Pirates announced they have acquired forward Devon Paliani in a three-way trade. Savannah has also signed Paliani to a contract for the 2024-2025 season.
Throughout Paliani’s ECHL career, he has played for Maine Mariners, Worcester Railers, Toledo Walleye, Reading Royals, and now the Savannah Ghost Pirates. In the span of his career thus far, he has tallied 34 goals and 46 assists. In the 2023-2024 season alone, he surpassed his career high of 30 points with 43 points total.
Before coming into the pro ranks, Paliani completed 4 years at Ryerson University, of USports. For 98 games in college, Paliani tallied 34 goals and 38 assists. In the 19-20 season, Paliani scored a goal in overtime that took the team to the second round of playoffs. Ryerson finished that playoff series before the COVID pandemic halted everything in contact sports.
(The goal was originally credited to Tyson Fawcett, and then credited to Devon Paliani)
During the 2023-2024 season, Paliani was wearing the “A” on his sweater and has served acting Captain duties on and off the ice.
“It means alot. Anytime you get chosen to lead a group of professional athletes, it’s a big honor. It comes with alot more responsibilities. You kind of feel like your first few years in the league, you worry about yourself and the team’s winning. Now, you gotta worry not only about your own game, but all the other guys in the room. I want to lead by example. Sometimes when the guys need a spark, you have to put your own accolades aside and kind of do stuff for the team. I would say probably one of the best things is never get too high, never too low. You know, during the season, you play 72 games. So much can go on. You can have one week where your team is winning, and you’re playing really good, and scoring, and you feel confident. The next week, you are minus three and three games. You lose all three games, you don’t score and it feels like the world is ending. I would say, just for a long season, alot of travel, alot of bumps and bruises, you can never let yourself get too high or too low. You have to try to stay even keel.”
Paliani is a gritty player that can provide needed leadership and mentorship on the ice for the Ghost Pirates.
