Byron Froese is closing in on a decade playing professional hockey.

The 28-year-old Winkler product was chosen in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks and since 2015 has been signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers and this past July signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Calgary Flames worth $700,000.

Froese’s American Hockey League career has included stints with the Rockford IceHogs, San Antonio Rampage, Toronto Marlies, Syracuse Crunch, Laval Rocket, Lehigh Valley Phantoms and currently he’s playing for the Flames AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat.

The former Garden Valley Zodiacs and Pembina Valley Hawks forward, who made it all the way to the ECHL’s Kelly Cup final with the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2014 and the AHL’s Calder Cup final with the Syracuse Crunch in 2017, was named the captain of the Heat at the start of the 2019-2020 season. He previously wore the C with Laval.

88.9/93.5 Program Director Tyler Hildebrand tracked down Byron Froese who has four goals and two assists in six games with Stockton this season