The Quad City Mallards have re-signed forwards Pearce Eviston and Anthony Collins, the Mallards announced today.  

Eviston, 22, scored 12 goals and picked up 15 assists to total 27 points in 60 games as a rookie last season.  The Mallards acquired the 6’ 1”, 195-pound Vancouver native in a trade with the Idaho Steelheads just before the start of last season.
 
“Pearce adapted well to the pro game last year especially considering he was coming back after a year out,” said Mallards coach and general manager Terry Ruskowski.  “He’s a skilled player who should be able take another step forward in his second season.”
 
Eviston returned to action last season after missing the 2013-14 campaign while recuperating from a hip injury.  In 2012-13 he scored 12 goals and added 20 assists for 32 points in 50 British Columbia Hockey League games.  He split his final junior season between the Vernon Vipers and Victoria Grizzlies.
 
Eviston spent parts of two years in the major junior ranks with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks.  He scored once in 18 games with the Winterhawks in 2011-12.  Eviston suited up twice for Portland in 2010-11 but spent the bulk of that campaign in the BCHL with Victoria, for whom he recorded 18 goals, 20 assists and 38 points in 44 games.  Eviston got his first taste of junior hockey in 2009-10 when he skated in three games for the Grizzlies and played 13 times for the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
 
Collins, 25, scored five goals and added four assists while piling up 151 penalty minutes in 48 games for the Mallards and South Carolina Stingrays last season.  The 6’ 4”, 215-pound product of Surrey, British Columbia, produced five goals and a pair of assists and registered 83 penalty minutes in 29 games after arriving in the Quad Cities following a February trade with the Stingrays.
 
“Anthony was an important addition for us last season.  He’s a gritty, hard-working player who can handle the physical side of the game really well,” said Ruskowski.  “For an enforcer he has very good hands and understands the game pretty well.  He’s someone who’s always there for his teammates and off the ice is a strong presence in the locker room.”
 
In 2013-14 Collins notched four assists and was assessed 109 penalty minutes in 32 games with South Carolina.  He broke into the pro game in 2012-13 with the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Mississippi Surge, for whom he scored two goals and added four assists while recording 130 penalty minutes in 35 outings.

Collins played junior hockey in the British Columbia, Kootenay International, Manitoba and Saskatchewan leagues and also for Thompson Rivers University before turning pro.
 
The Mallards will begin their nineteenth season- and their second in the ECHL- on the road against the defending champion Allen Americans on Friday, October 16 before returning to the Quad Cities to play their home opener on Friday, October 23 at 7:05 p.m. against the Tulsa Oilers.  Mallards 2015-16 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.com.