8th year, undrafted veteran center Yannick Tifu(10) captured his first Kelly Cup Championship as team captain with Reading Royals after 400 regular and 57 postseason ECHL games.
He was only ever close to grabbing a title back in 2007, when he was a first year player in the league and went to the Finals with Dayton Bombers.
The 28-year old forward has spent 7 seasons with 7 different ECHL teams and scored over 500 points (170 goals and 342 assists) with an astonishing +62 rating. He was the leading scorer in the 2013 playoffs with 25 points.
Although he has appeared in 81 AHL contests, he’s never had any luck sticking despite putting up decent numbers with 9 goals and 23 assists and signing a one-year deal with Binghamton Senators in 2010.
He ended up skating most of that season with their affiliate, Elmira Jackals.
He’s not the biggest skater at 5’11” 203 lbs. but easily effective enough to get the job done quite well.
Chances are he’ll re-sign for a third season in Reading but it could also be time for him to earn some better money by moving his game to some European ice.
Original story: 5/28-13
After winning the ECHL title he went on to re-sign with Reading Royals to resume as team captain.
He didn’t have as stellar a season and for the first time playing in the league failed to be a point-per-game guy and was a quick exit with the team from the playoffs.
Quite possibly he felt that was an indicator, so he signed for the first time in his pro career to play hockey in another country.
Not quite sure why he chose France but he once again upped his average and had plenty of success with Les Ducs d’Angers scoring 14 goals and 21 assists in 26 games and added another 7 points (3-4) in 10 playoff contests.
For his 11th season, he will turn 31-years old when it starts, he returns to North America signing for 2015/2016 with Brampton Beast.
We’ll see how he fares on the score sheet with this still developing 2nd year group. You can just about bet he’ll be pegged to captain the young squad though.
And you know you’ve had a long career when 5 of the teams you’ve played for don’t exist anymore.