ECHL’s Grizzlies name blueliner Wesley captain for 2023-24 season

Defenseman Josh Wesley has been named captain of the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies for the 2023-24 season.

Keoni Texeira and Kyle Betts will be the alternate captains for Grizzlies home games, and Tyler Penner and Dylan Fitze will be alternate captains for away games.

Wesley is entering his eighth full season as a professional. He has 163 games of AHL experience with five different clubs.

He has also spent time with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, Tulsa Oilers and Maine Mariners.

His best statistical season in the ECHL was with Florida, where he scored 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) and was plus-19 in 48 games in the 2016-17 season.

Texeira brings leadership and experience to the club for the 2023-24 campaign. Texeira was the captain of the ECHL’s Indy Fuel in the 2021-22 season. Last year with Indy, he led the club in plus/minus at plus-19. He is entering his sixth season as a pro- fessional.

Betts was a standout performer in the 2023 Kelly Cup Playoffs for Utah as he scored six points (three goals, three assists) in six games.

Last year, Betts spent the majority of time with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, where he appeared in 40 games.

Penner has appeared in every game for the Grizzlies since the start of the 2021-22 season. Penner led all Grizzlies forwards in plus/minus in the 2021-22 campaign at plus-22. In 144 regular-season games with the Grizz, he has 24 goals and 32 assists.

Fitze and Penner were each the only Grizzlies skaters to play in all 72 games in the 2022-23 season.

Fitze had 17 goals and 21 assists last season. In the last 27 games of the regular season, he scored 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists).

Continued from Page 1 focus on the little systematic details Dru and myself expect.”

As a team, Butler said getting to the USA Hockey National Tournament, “and winning it,” is the goal.

“Along the way as a coaching staff, our goal is to continue to get better,” said Butler. “We want to be taking steps forward, making each of the girls better hockey players in any way possible, and have as much fun as possible along the way. It’s hard to say the one thing that will make a season successful because we are going to have lots of successes and maybe a few setbacks along the way this season. Ultimately, if the girls are getting better, enjoying hockey, working hard and finding wins, that’s a successful year for me as a coach.

“The next few weeks, we will focus on some areas of our game from Dallas that need work. We have another tournament coming up in Arizona pretty quickly, so we have a things we need to get figured out before then. We’ll also focus on getting more team time off the ice.”

Individually, Butler said this team has many players she can see advancing up the ladder after this season.

“I absolutely see a large portion of this team continuing on with highlevel hockey,” Butler said. “Most likely, a few of these girls could make our AAA team next season, and many of them could find themselves in college hockey. Like I said earlier, these tryouts were some of the most competitive I’ve seen in a while, and the level of talent for girls hockey in Colorado right now is really amazing to see.

“This team is filled with talented and strong hockey players, and I can’t wait to see where they all end up.”