High-scoring Luciani signs with Steelheads

Boise, Idaho – Idaho Steelheads Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Neil Graham announced that the team has agreed to terms on a contract with forward Anthony Luciani for the 2016-17 season.

The Steelheads are the ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League's Texas Stars.

Luciani joins the Steelheads for his sixth professional season, having played in the American Hockey League, the ECHL and in Europe during his career. The Maple, Ontario native split the 2015-16 campaign in Europe between Sparta Sarpsborg of the GET League in Norway and Asiago HC in Italy, collecting 47 points (21g-26a) in 34 games between the two clubs. He also added 13 points (7g-6a) in 11 playoff games.

The 26-year-old winger last played in the ECHL during the 2014-15 season, when he totaled 69 points (28g-41a) in 65 games with the Toledo Walleye and Greenville Road Warriors. In 198 career ECHL games with the Walleye, Road Warriors and Cincinnati Cyclones, Luciani has registered 187 points (87g-100a).

Luciani was named the ECHL’s Rookie of the Month in December of 2011 with the Cyclones and the ECHL’s Player of the Month in January 2014 with the Walleye.

A former member of the Florida Panthers’ organization, Luciani has played 19 career AHL games with the Rochester Americans and San Antonio Rampage, notching seven points (5g-2a). Luciani played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League before turning pro at the end of the 2010-11 season. In 181 games with the Erie Otters, Luciani scored 160 points (73g-87a).