Stingrays add veteran forward Florek

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — The South Carolina Stingrays, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals and American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears, have agreed to terms with forward Justin Florek for the 2020-21 season.Florek, 30, is set to begin his ninth season of professional hockey, which has included a stint in the NHL with the Boston Bruins and over 500 combined games in the AHL, DEL and EBEL. Most recently, he spent the 2019-20 season in Austria with EHC Linz of the EBEL and recorded 25 points (8g-17a) in 48 games.The Marquette, Michigan native played collegiately for his hometown team, Northern Michigan University, from 2008-12 along with Stingrays captain Andrew Cherniwchan. During his senior year in 2011-12, he served as team captain, while Cherniwchan was also part of the leadership group as an alternate captain. The two also played together for the Providence Bruins in the AHL during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.Florek was selected by the Bruins in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and signed an entry-level contract with the club at the conclusion of his college career. From 2012-15 he remained with the Bruins organization, where he suited up for 221 games with Providence during four different seasons and totaled 104 points (43g-61a). Florek then spent one year in the New York Islanders organization with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers during 2015-16 before joining the Milwaukee Admirals for the 2016-17 campaign.He has spent his last three seasons playing professionally in Europe. He had a two-year stint in Germany with the Iserlohn Roosters of the DEL where he served as team captain during the 2018-19 campaign before playing in Austria during 2019-20.