News

MALLARDS SIGN MCGRATH, POHLKAMP

By: Mallards Communications Staff
Photos: UMass-Lowell Athletics/BGSU Athletic Communications

The Quad City Mallards have signed forwards Ryan McGrath and Matt Pohlkamp for the 2017-18 season, the Mallards announced today.

McGrath, 26, scored 25 goals and collected 33 assists for 58 points in 42 games as a rookie with EC Harzer Falken in the German Oberliga last season. The 5-foot-7, 175-pound O’Fallon, Missouri native broke into professional hockey when he played four games- and scored one goal- for the Manchester Monarchs late in the 2015-16 campaign immediately after wrapping up his senior season at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

“Ryan is a highly competitive player who has the skills to match that competitiveness,” said Mallards coach Phil Axtell. “He was part of a program at Lowell that took great pride in winning and paying attention to details. Ryan can play both wing and center which is always a great asset to have.”

McGrath recorded 25 goals, 35 assists and 60 points in 139 games in his four years at Lowell. As a freshman, McGrath scored seven times and set collegiate career highs for assists (14) and points (21) while helping the River Hawks reach the Division I Frozen Four for the first time in school history after also claiming the Hockey East regular season and tournament titles. McGrath and UML would return to the NCAA tournament in two of the following three seasons.

Before arriving in Lowell, McGrath played two seasons in the junior ranks for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League and helped Cedar Rapids to a first overall finish in 2010-11.

Pohlkamp, 24, got his first taste of the pro game when he scored once and added two assists in nine games with the Toledo Walleye last spring. The 6-foot, 200-pound Baxter, Minnesota product turned pro just after completing his collegiate career at Bowling Green by scoring 13 goals and picking up 10 assists for 23 points in 40 games last season. Pohlkamp last season was also named to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic team for the third year in succession. He won BGSU’s Most Improved Player award as a sophomore after scoring eight goals and notching 17 assists for a collegiate career high 25 points. In all, Pohlkamp produced 38 goals, 50 assists and 88 points in 160 games while helping Bowling Green to four consecutive winning seasons after the Falcons had failed to top the .500 mark for 16 straight years before his arrival.

“Matt is a workhorse. He’ll be the first guy on the ice at practice and the one being chased off the ice by the Zamboni afterward,” said Axtell. “He has a team-first mentality and will add depth to the Flock. He is also one of a number of players we’ve signed who have played a part in turning a program around over their four years in college hockey.”

Pohlkamp headed to Bowling Green after splitting the 2012-13 season between the USHL’s Fargo Force and the North American Hockey League’s Bismarck Bobcats.

The Mallards will open their twenty-first season- and their fourth in the ECHL- on Friday, October 13 against the Toledo Walleye at the iWireless Center. Mallards 2017-18 season tickets are now available. Season ticket holders enjoy significant savings of the walk-up ticket price and receive a host of exclusive benefits. For more season ticket information, fans can contact the Mallards at 309-277-1364 or info@myqcmallards.net.



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