MOLINE, Ill. (October 1, 2013) - The Quad City Mallards have signed centers Gergo Nagy and Gabriel Levesque, the Mallards announced today.
Nagy, 23, has already played six games this season in the MOL Liga- which consists of teams in Slovakia, Hungary and Romania- for Slovak club HK Nove Zamky. He produced one goal and nine assists in those six outings.
"Gergo is a very good-sized centerman who skates well and is a really good playmaker and goal scorer," said Mallards coach and general manager Terry Ruskowski. "With his size and experience in pro leagues in Europe, we look forward to him having a great season with us and being a player we can count on."
A native of Dunaujvaros, Hungary, Nagy last season played in his homeland with Miskolci Jegesmedve JSE, for whom he ripped off 16 goals and 42 assists for 58 points in 38 games. Nagy first joined Miskolci Jegesmedve JSE midway through the 2011-12 campaign after spending the prior three and a half seasons with Szekesfehervar, a Hungarian club in the Austrian Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. Nagy also played for the Hungarian national team at the 2009, 2010 and 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships.
Levesque, 23, last season scored nine goals and totaled 31 points in 65 games with the ECHL's Stockton Thunder. The 5' 6", 160-pound Levesque broke into professional hockey with the Thunder in 2012-13, scoring nine times and notching 23 points in 26 games.
"Gabriel is a smaller center who is quick, smart and sees the ice very well," said Ruskowski. "He's a great playmaker who in his last year in the Quebec [Major Junior Hockey] League was second in scoring."
Levesque played four seasons in the QMJHL. The Montreal product capped off his junior career in 2010-11 with a superlative season that saw him play 68 games with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and lead the league in assists (70) and finish tied for ninth in goals (37) in addition to finishing second in point scoring (107). Levesque, who spent his first three junior campaigns with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, recorded 78 goals, 167 assists and 245 points in 253 career QMJHL games. He helped Rouyn-Noranda to a first overall finish and a berth in the President's Cup Finals in 2007-08 and to a Western Division title in 2009-10.
The Mallards will open their seventeenth season- and their fourth in the CHL- when they host the Rapid City Rush on Saturday night, October 19 at 7:05 p.m. Tickets for the season opener and all other Mallards regular season home games are now on sale at Ticketmaster outlets, through ticketmaster.com, through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000 or at the iWireless Center ticket office. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period.
Mallards season tickets as well as half season tickets and flex packs are also still available. The Mallards offer ticket packages to meet any budget and season ticket holders also receive a host of additional benefits, including a unique season ticket holder Mallards jersey. More ticket package information is available by calling the Mallards at 309-277-1364 or emailing info@myqcmallards.com.
About the Quad City Mallards
A proud affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild, the Quad City Mallards are approaching their seventeenth season and their fourth in the Central Hockey League. One of the winningest teams in all of minor league hockey, the Mallards competed in the United Hockey League from 1995 through 2007 and in the International Hockey League in 2009-10. The Mallards' proud history has seen them capture the UHL's Colonial Cup Championship three times (1997, 1998, 2001) and secure that league's Tarry Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) for the best overall regular season record. In 2001, the Mallards made professional hockey history, recording their sixth consecutive season with 50 or more wins, a feat that has yet to be matched. The i wireless Center provides a unique environment for hockey and features one-of-a-kind seating areas such as the Nest for groups and functions and the exclusive Drake Club. For more information on the Quad City Mallards or for Mallards tickets go to www.myqcmallards.com. Fans can also follow the Mallards via Twitter at twitter.com/myqcmallards
