I was already on YouTube looking up something else, so I decided to search for him and discovered this, which seems to have been made by a Mulhouse fangirl:
Interesting music choice. That obviously isn't very informative, but hey, it's something. In case you're like me and are wondering what the French comment says, it roughly translates to "Best player who I have had the luck to play with." I think.
For a bit more live action, you can watch this dizzying clip:
And for a bit more information, you can read my story that ran in yesterday's Times:
Bucks sign forward
By JOY LINDSAY
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The Laredo Bucks added to their training camp roster on Thursday, signing 26-year-old forward David Croteau.Croteau, a native of Gatineau, Quebec, spent the past two seasons with the Mulhouse Hockey Club in France, posting impressive numbers while staying hidden from North American attention.
"He kind of intrigues me," Ruskowski said.
"I was talking to his agent, and he's been playing over in France, so he wants to come make a name for himself in North America.
He's kind of an unknown over here, so this will be a chance for him to prove himself as a Laredo Buck."
The Scorpions compete in France's Division 2 league and play only 18 games each regular season.
In his two seasons with Mulhouse, Croteau played in 35 of their 36 regular season games, scoring 40 goals and handing out 59 assists to fall just shy of 100 points with 99.
In just six playoff games, he had eight goals and 10 assists for an average of three points per game.
"He put up pretty good numbers, but I don't know the quality of the league he was playing in," Ruskowski said.
"But if you look at his stats from over there, it's obvious he can score and play.
He's very fast but has a little bit of grit and will stand up for his teammates."
Ruskowski and his scouts have yet to see Croteau in action, as he had no competitive hockey experience prior to signing with the Scorpions, but the 5-foot-10, 167-pound lefty was recommended by a trusted source.
"I went with an agent who I know, who has brought me some good players before," Ruskowski said.
"He said, 'Take this one here, trust me,' so I'm giving him a shot."
Training camp will be Croteau's chance to prove himself to Ruskowski and maybe earn the right to compete in the Central Hockey League.
"I'm curious and interested to see him play," Ruskowski said.
"This will be a good opportunity for him to earn a spot here, but it will also be a good opportunity for me to see what he can do."
(Joy Lindsay may be reached at 728-2576 or jlindsay@lmtonline.com)
All in all, it seems no one knows too much about this kid other than that he's fast and can score... but probably not nearly as much when he's playing against a different caliber of competition.
For someone to have only two years of competitive experience at the age of 26 is pretty rare in the world of hockey, but I guess Coach Ruskowski trusts his agent and is willing to give Croteau a shot, which is definitely all he has at this point.
As you can see here, Croteau was the second-leading scorer in his conference last season but had a heck of a lot more penalty minutes than any of the other high-scoring guys. The North had four guys who finished up ahead of him in points, but it seems he led the league's high scorers in PIMs.
In other news, former Bucks defenseman Devin Featherstone has been signed by the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings. What is with everybody losing their stay-at-home d-men this season?
Featherstone was obviously one of the Bucks' best rookies last year, and I guess he believed playing in the ECHL, even with a team that had just left the IHL, would give him a better shot at making it up to the AHL eventually.
Meanwhile, I have finally gotten a working link to the CHL's list of offseason transactions, so I will now post at the end of most of my blogs.
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