FLAMES INK FERLAND
Calgary, AB — The Calgary Flames have announced that Brandon Wheat Kings’ left-winger Michael Ferland has agreed to an Entry Level contract with the National Hockey League club.
A fifth round draft choice of the Flames in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the 6’2″ 206 lb Brandon product is currently sitting in a tie for ninth place in the Western Hockey League scoring race with 42 points, including seventeen goals. As well, he has accumulated 36 penalty minutes and has registered a +7 plus / minus ranking.
A former member of the Brandon AAA Midgets, Ferland becomes the second Wheat King to sign an NHL deal this year. In September, captain Mark Stone inked an Entry Level contract with the Ottawa Senators.
Both Stone and Ferland will be representing the Wheat Kings at this year’s National Junior Selection Camp, scheduled to get underway this weekend in Calgary.
Since joining the Wheat Kings in the fall of 2009, Ferland has 49 goals and 126 points as well as 231 penalty minutes in 146 career WHL games.
“We are very pleased to have Michael under contract and look forward to watching his continued development in Junior Hockey,” said Flames general manager Jay Feaster. “Having this important career milestone behind him will enable him to focus on the upcoming Team Canada World Junior Selection Camp as well as building upon the excellent season he is having in Brandon. Michael looked good in our Development Camp in July, and had a very solid Rookie Tournament and NHL Training Camp in September.
“We were impressed that he continued to build on those experiences with the Wheat Kings and played his way into the Subway Series last month and ultimately into the Team Canada Selection Camp. Having both Michael and Max Reinhart, our other invitee to Team Canada’s Camp, and two of our most promising prospects, under contract and in the fold is an important step for our organization and the future success of our hockey club.”
After coming to terms with the Flames, Ferland says he knows that he’ll need to continue to work hard in order to make the jump to the NHL.
“This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Ferland said earlier this year. “This is something I enjoy and love so I want to keep doing it for as long as I can.”
Financial terms of the contract have not been disclosed by the NHL club.
