The Hershey Bears announced today that the club has signed defenseman Lawrence Nycholat.
A member of the 2006 Calder Cup champion Bears, Nycholat returns to Hershey for his second tour of duty. He skated in 73 regular season games for the Bears in 2005-06, scoring career highs in both goals (13) and points (57). Nycholat also notched 14 points in 16 postseason games, helping the Chocolate and White win the 2006 title.
He ranks 30th all-time in Bears history in points by a defenseman (85) and posted the ninth-best single-season point total by a rearguard in 2005-06.
Nycholat, 31, has 50 games of NHL experience with the New York Rangers, Washington, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Colorado. He played in 18 games for the Capitals in 2006-07, scoring two goals and assisting on six others, and played five games with Colorado during the 2008-09 campaign.
Nycholat spent the 2009-10 season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, scoring five goals and assisting on 17 others for 22 points while playing just 37 games due to injury.
A Calgary native, Nycholat has appeared in three AHL All-Star Games (2005, 2006, 2008) and shows 394 points (60-334-394) in 523 career AHL contests for Hershey, Manitoba, Binghamton, Hartford, and Houston.
“Lawrence proved to us long ago that he’s a winner in every sense of the word” said Bears President/GM Doug Yingst. “We are very pleased to have his leadership and playmaking abilities back with our club.”
