The Adirondack Thunder made a very surprising and shocking move on Thursday afternoon as they announced the signing of goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulus. Alex returns to the Thunder after spending last season with the Norfolk Admirals and Rapid City Rush. “He did a great job for us a couple of years ago,” said head coach Alex Loh during the announcement on Facebook Live.
Goaltending Situation Starting To Form
This is a massive signing for the Thunder as the goaltending situation was the biggest hole that needed to be filled heading into this season. Not only do the Thunder fill the need, but they find a guy who’s been a success in the past and can be a number one goaltender all season. In his first stint with the Thunder, Sakellaropoulus went 19-6-2 with a 2.51 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and three shutouts. During his four-year ECHL career, Sakellaropoulos has appeared in 75 games and put up a record of 31-31-5 with a 3.06 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and three shutouts.
In a statement from Sakellaropoulus upon the announcement on Thursday afternoon, he said, “The moment I became a free agent, my first thought was the Adirondack Thunder.”
It comes as no surprise that this is a lot more stable of an option than what Eamon McAdam did with the Thunder last year. McAdam struggled all year and never seemed to get into a groove. He would have a few solid games, but when it came to putting together a solid stretch, that’s where the issues began to arise.
Adirondack may look to add one more goaltender to the roster knowing the uncertainty of who will get called down from Binghampton and how long of a stint they will have here. Evan Cormier bounced up and down last year, and at times, the Thunder were stuck with only one goaltender during a three-game weekend. It will be interesting to see who and if the Thunder decide to sign to backup for Sakellaropoulos.