WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester Railers Hockey Club (@RailersHC), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the New York Islanders (@NYIslanders), and General Manager and Head Coach Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman announced today that the club has signed defenseman Zsombor Garat to an ECHL contract for the 2023-24 season.
Garat, 26, comes to Worcester after playing in 36 games for Budapest Jégkorong Akadémia HC of Erste Liga in 2022-23 where he was an assistant captain. Garat totalled 15 points (5-10-15) in 36 games played last season. The 6'1", 198lb defenseman has represented Hungary in international play for eleven seasons, including time spent with the Hungarian U18, U20, and international teams. He spent time in Erste Liga in five of the past six seasons.
The Budapest, Hungary native is entering his first full season in North America since playing for the Austin Bruins of the North American Hockey League during the 2016-17 season. With the Bruins, Garat scored 4 points (1-3-4) in 30 games played to go with 37 penalty minutes and a +5 rating.
The Railers have announced twenty-three players officially signed for the 2023-24 season as Garat joins Jake Schultz, Jack Quinlivan, Chris Ordoobadi, Connor Welsh, Myles Abbate, Todd Goehring, Ryan Verrier, Andrei Bakanov, John Copeland, Zach White, Quinn Ryan, Brendan Robbins, Mike Higgins, Blake Christensen, Blade Jenkins, Max Johnson, Nick Fea, Artyom Kulakov, Anthony Callin, Keeghan Howdeshell, Adam Goodsir, and Anthony Repaci as the twenty-three signees. This concludes the Worcester Railers signings ahead of the 2023-24 season. The team's 2023-24 training camp opens on Saturday October 7th at 10:30 a.m.
The Worcester Railers HC 2023-24 Opening Weekend at the DCU Center is Sat., Oct. 21st and Sun., Oct. 22nd vs. the Adirondack Thunder & Trois-Rivieres Lions. Season memberships, mini-plans, and group packages for the 2023-24 season are on sale now by calling the Railers front office at 508-365-1750 or by visiting RailersHC.com.
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