Back For Another Trophy?

With NHL free agency slowing down, NHL teams are now looking to fill out depth charts for minor-league affiliates in both the AHL and ECHL. There should be no surprise that this is where we are on the hockey calendar timeline, but it means that I now will keep a closer eye on who is signing where when it comes to former Canada West hockey stars. While former Golden Bears netminder Zach Sawchenko already found a home with the Carolina Hurricanes who will likely have him assigned to AHL Chicago when the season starts, there was another Golden Bear who signed with an ECHL team where he's already been crowned a champion!

The ECHL's Florida Everblades captured the Kelly Cup this past season, and they had a former Alberta Golden Bear on the team as we mentioned a couple of times on The Hockey Show. That player was the man pictured above in Levko Koper who re-signed for a fifth season with the Everblades on Tuesday as he looks for a second Kelly Cup to add to his growing collection of accolades!

Koper was a solid contributor for the Everblades this past season, amassing 12 goals and a career-high 29 assists in 57 games. He followed up that solid season with five goals and six assists in 20 Kelly Cup playoff games in helping the Everblades capture their second Kelly Cup in franchise history! The 31 year-old scored the game-winning goal in Game Five of the Kelly Cup Final against Toledo at 11:04 of the first period as Florida won the Kelly Cup in five games! In total, Kovar had three goals and three assists in the final as he saved his best hockey for the final series, it seems!

Koper joined the Everblades for the Kelly Cup Playoffs in 2016-17 where he scored ten points in nine games after putting up eight points in the final 13 regular season games. Koper played most of the '16-17 campaign with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers where he scored 18 points in 56 games before jumping over to Germany's Straubing Tigers for 45 games of DEL action in 2017-18 where recorded 12 points. Koper would continue his European tour in 2018-19 with Austria's Innsbruck HC where he scored eight points in 27 games before finishing the season in Slovakia with Banska Bystrica HC 05 where he scored eight points in 20 games.

Koper, a native of Edmonton, decided to return to North America for the 2019-20 season by signing with the ECHL's Everblades, a place he's called home ever since. Over the past three seasons, Koper has recorded 36 goals and 70 assists in 163 ECHL games, and Florida has been a fan of Koper's work as they continue to offer him contracts to return. As stated above, the relationship will continue as Koper will return to the Everblades again this season!

If you were wondering, Koper's time at the University of Alberta was also beneficial to his career. Koper spent five seasons with the Spokane Chiefs where he was selected 185th-overall in the seventh round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. While he opted not to turn pro, he finished his WHL career with 97 goals and 129 assist in 330 games. Looking to continue his career, he opted to use his WHL scholarship money as he enrolled with the University of Alberta where he joined the Golden Bears!

In five seasons of Canada West play, Koper showed a knack for the net in being a point-per-game player as he scored 51 goals and 88 assists in 140 games. That scoring helped the Golden Bears win two Canada West titles in 2012-13 and in 2014-15, and he was instrumental in powering the Golden Bears to back-to-back U SPORTS championships in 2014 and 2015. After graduating from the University of Alberta in 2016, he was off to Charlotte and Estero, Florida!

Congratulations go out to former Golden Bear Levko Koper as he seems to have found a home just south of Fort Myers, Florida. While terms were not disclosed on his new deal, the money and term may not even matter as much as just finding some permanency in his residence for the last few years. As we know, minor hockey players can often be nomads, so it's nice to see a former Canada West player find his "home" while being a solid contributor on the ice.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!