The Tampa Bay Lightning, parent club of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, have signed free agent center Mike Angelidis to a one-year, two-way contract, Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced, while the Admirals also re-signed forward Matt Fornataro to a one-year AHL deal.
Angelidis, 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, has played in 235 career AHL games, all with the Albany River Rats in the Carolina Hurricanes organization. During that time he has amassed 42 goals and 85 points with 456 penalty minutes. In 2008-09 Angelidis led the River Rats in penalty minutes with 142 and was also tied for fifth in goals with 15.
During the 2007-08 season he was second on the team in penalty minutes, tied for sixth in goals with 11 and sixth in points with 27.
A native of Woodbridge, Ontario, Angelidis spent his junior career with the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League, where he amassed 78 goals and 132 points in 240 contests. He had his best junior season in 2005-06 when he ranked third in the OHL for goals with 53 while being named to the league’s First All-Star Team.
Fornataro, 25, a 6-foot-0, 190-pound forward from Calgary, Alberta, appeared in 45 games for the Admirals last season, scoring 11 goals and 18 points. He also appeared in one game with the Houston Aeros to start the season and was scoreless. Despite appearing in only 46 AHL games last season, Fornataro’s 11 goals were an AHL career high.
The second-year pro has appeared in 98 career AHL games between Norfolk, Houston, the Worcester Sharks and the Syracuse Crunch, scoring 22 goals and 44 points.
Fornataro appeared in 156 games in a four-year collegiate hockey career with the University of New Hampshire scoring 44 goals and 118 points.
