Stars Announce the Signing of Cvilikas and Van Oekel
The NSC Minnesota Stars announced the return of two more players on Thursday: forward Brian Cvilikas and goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel. The Stars also announced the return of assistant coach Carl Craig.
Cvilikas, who has signed a one-year contract with an option for 2012, had 4 goals and 2 assists for 10 pts in 1,310 minutes played in 2010. While the Colorado native was always active on the field, made good runs and had plenty of scoring chances, he often did not convert those chances. His time-on-field to goals ratio needs to improve this year if he is to help the team and find himself in the starting 11. On average, Cvilikas played 327 minutes for each goal scored or over 3.5 games played per goal which was still 3rd best on the team. Only Neil Hlavaty (202 minutes played-per-goal) and Simone Bracalello (209 minutes played-per-goal) were better. Cvilikas led the teams in shots last year with 36. With some more composure near the goal he has the potential to be the Stars’ leading scorer.
Van Oekel has been a backup keeper for the last two years for Minnesota, first with the Thunder under Nic Platter and last year for the Stars under Joe Warren. The Chesapeake, Va., native played six games for the Stars in 2010, logging in 474 minutes. He looked solid when called on to take his place between the pipes for Minnesota and his physical size and command of the box left no gaps if Warren was not in goal.
Craig returns to the Stars in the same assistant coach role he played in 2010. The Newcastle, England native gave support to head coach Manny Lagos on game days and ran many of the training sessions for the Stars in 2010.
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You’ll never beat Van Oekel!