Kinrade takes his game to Czech Republic
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Fresh off winning the 2011 Calder Cup, Nelson’s Geoff Kinrade is taking his game across the big pond to Czech Republic after inking a deal with HC Plzen 1929 of the Czech Elite league.
No terms of the deal were released.
Kinrade, 25, spent that last two seasons with the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators, Binghamton Senators.
The team ran the table to win the Calder Cup, the American Hockey League championship over the Houston Aeros. Binghamton won the series 4-2.
Kinrade played all 23 playoffs games for the Sens finishing with one goal and four assists. In two seasons in the Ottawa system, Kinrade never was called up by the parent club.
Prior to joining the B-Sens for two one-year deals, Kinrade graduated from NCAA Division One Men’s Hockey in Michigan Tech in 2009.
That same year the Nelson Minor Hockey product was signed to a free agent contract by Tampa Bay of the NHL.
The undrafted defenceman, assigned to the AHL Norfolk Admirals, made his NHL debut on April 9, 2009 against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
Before getting a scholarship at Michigan Tech, Kinrade played two seasons for the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the BCHL after starting his junior hockey career with the Nelson Leafs of the KIJHL.
He was also on a Bantam Rep team from Nelson that won a provincial title.
HC Plzen 1929, located 45 minutes west of Prague, finished fifth in 2011 in the Czech Elite league.
Another Nelson hockey product to ply his trade in Europe after being shunned by the NHL is former Nelson Leaf coach Simon Wheeldon who played in Austria and Germany.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
