PRESS RELEASE
CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Monsters, proud American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, announced Sunday that the Monsters signed veteran goaltender Brad Thiessen and defenseman Garret Cockerill to one-year AHL contracts for the 2018-19 campaign. Last season, Thiessen posted a 4-2-3 record with a 2.86 goals-against average (GAA), and .884 save percentage (S%) in nine appearances for Cleveland while Cockerill supplied 3-11-4 with 32 penalty minutes and a -4 rating in 40 appearances for the Monsters and added 1-5-6 with 11 penalty minutes and a +5 rating in eight appearances for the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings in the professional action of his career.
A 6’0”, 181 lb., left-catching native of Aldergrove, BC, Thiessen, 32, notched a 3-1-0 record with a 3.72 GAA and a .858 S% in five NHL appearances for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2011-12 season, and contributed a record of 127-83-15 with 26 shutouts, a 2.49 GAA, and a .910 S% in 244 career AHL games played spanning parts of nine seasons from 2009-18 with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Norfolk Admirals, Adirondack Flames, and the Monsters. In 2010-11, Thiessen was named to the AHL’s First All-Star Team and claimed both the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s Goaltender of the Year and the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award as a member of the league’s top goaltending tandem. Thiessen again claimed a share of the Holmes Award in 2013.
In 33 ECHL appearances for the Wheeling Nailers and Cincinnati Cyclones spanning parts of the 2009-10, 2015-16, and 2016-17 seasons, Thiessen supplied a record of 18-7-4-2 with one shutout, a 2.29 GAA, and a .923 S%. In three collegiate seasons with Northeastern University from 2006-09, Thiessen supplied a 52-46-12 record with nine shutouts, a 2.40 GAA, and a .922 S% in 111 appearances for the Huskies and maintains career program-record marks in GAA, S%, and shutouts (T1st). A Hobey Baker Award Finalist in 2009, Thiessen also competed for HIFK Helsinki in Finland’s Liiga during the 2013-14 season and spent three seasons in the BCHL during his junior career from 2003-06.
A 6’0”, 201 lb., right-handed native of Brighton, MI, Cockerill, 24, is entering his first full professional season in 2018-19 and contributed 19-65-84 with 106 penalty minutes and a +10 rating in 122 NCAA appearances for Northeastern spanning four seasons from 2014-18. Prior to his collegiate career, Cockerill supplied 12-22-34 with 194 penalty minutes and a -24 rating in 103 USHL appearances for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, the Des Moines Buccaneers, and the Sioux City Musketeers spanning parts of four seasons from 2011-14.
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