The South Carolina Stingrays, ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Washington Capitals and AHL's Hershey Bears, announced today that the club has signed defenseman Blake Thompson to an ECHL contract for the 2024-25 season.
Thompson, 31, is entering his seventh full season of professional hockey and fifth in the ECHL. The veteran blue-liner has 240 career games of ECHL experience, but he has spent the past two seasons in the EIHL, the top hockey league in the United Kingdom. Thompson played for the Cardiff Devils in 2022-23 and the Coventry Blaze in 2023-24 and appeared in 54 games in each season. He has 48 points (10 goals, 38 assists) and 123 penalty minutes in 108 career EIHL games.
"When I watched some of Blake's games, the first thing I noticed is that he's a reliable defender who can play big minutes," said Stingrays Head Coach Jared Nightingale. "He's a puck-moving defenseman, and he skates very well. To add a veteran like Blake, who's high in character and has invaluable experience at 31 years old, our whole team will lean on that."
Thompson has spent the majority of his professional career with the ECHL's Adirondack Thunder. In four seasons with the Thunder, he has skated in 227 regular season games for the franchise and tallied 65 points (14 goals, 51 assists). He helped Adirondack reach the playoffs twice and served as an assistant captain for the team in the 2021-22 season. Thompson has played at the North Charleston Coliseum as a member of the Thunder and is looking forward to playing there as a Stingray this season.
"I'm excited to play for South Carolina," Thompson said. "I was fortunate enough to play against the Stingrays a few times, and I loved how energetic the fans were at the Coliseum. They have a good history of winning teams, which is important to me. I know Coach Nightingale wants to get this team back to where they were, and I'm looking forward to competing for a Kelly Cup with this group this season."
Before turning pro, Thompson played four seasons of NCAA Division III hockey for St. Norbert College. He tallied 73 points (19 goals, 54 assists) in 112 NCAA games.
Thompson becomes the third defenseman to sign with South Carolina for the 2024-25 season, joining Jacob Graves and Andrew Perrott.
The Stingrays 2024-25 season begins on Saturday, October 19, with the Home Opener against the Savannah Ghost Pirates at 6:05 p.m. The full schedule can be viewed here.