SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The San Francisco Bulls Professional Hockey Team, proud affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, announced today its inaugural 2012-13 regular season roster. Justin Bowers was named captain, while Scott Langdon, Jordan Morrison and Hans Benson will serve as alternate captains during the 2012-13 season. In addition, defenseman Tim Buttery was signed by the Bulls. The Bulls roster begins the 2012-13 campaign with 24 players: two goalies, eight defensemen and 14 forwards.

Bowers, 27, is coming off of a career-year with the Greenville of the ECHL. His 78 points (19 goals, 59 assists) ranked first on the team and third in the league. The Halifax, Nova Scotia native has 55 games of American Hockey League playing experience. In 157 career ECHL games with Dayton and Greenville, Bowers has compiled 175 points (50 goals, 125 assists).

Langdon, 27, enters his fifth year of professional hockey, having most recently skated for Allen of the Central Hockey League (CHL) and Lake Erie of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2011-12. The 6-foot, 2-inch, 215-pound defenseman has 26 points (5 goals, 21 assists) in 115 career games in the ECHL with Reading. He also 24 points (6 goals, 18 assists) and 187 penalty minutes in 91 career games in the CHL.

Benson, 28, enters his ninth season of professional hockey, most recently playing for Bakersfield of the ECHL last season, where he ranked second on the team in penalty minutes with 144 in 58 games. Benson has skated in 105 American Hockey League (AHL) games with Peoria, Springfield and Portland, totaling eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) and 452 penalty minutes. He captured a Kelly Cup Championship with Cincinnati of the ECHL in 2009-10, leading the team in penalty minutes with 154.

Buttery, 25, makes his professional debut with the Bulls. He spent the past four years manning the blue line for Michigan State. In two out of four seasons he played in all of his team’s games, missing only one in his junior year. The 5-foot, 11-inch 175-pound Northville, Michigan native  was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team in 2010-11.

Morrison, 26, enters his fifth season of professional hockey. In 2010-11, the Uxbridge, Ontario native, led Ontario with 55 points in 71 games. Morrison, 6-feet, 170-pounds, set career highs in his first professional season in 2008-09 with 26 goals, 48 assists and 74 points with Wheeling of the ECHL. A seventh-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in in 2004, Morrison also suited up in 2008-09 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, earning an assist in seven games.

Here are your 2012-13 San Francisco Bulls.

Goalies (2): Taylor Nelson and Thomas Heemskerk; Defensemen (8): Martin Lee, Mikael Tam, Scott Langdon, Sacha Guimond, Chris Frank, Trevor Hendrikx, Dylan King and Tim Buttery; Forwards (14): Jordan Clendenning, Kris Belan, Justin Bowers, Peter Sivak, Kevin Baker, Matt Carter, Jordan Morrison, Alex Tuckerman, Dean Ouellet, Hans Benson, Thomas Beauregard, Chris Lawrence, Jonathan Lessard and Keaton Turkiewicz.

The Bulls’ Home Opener is tonight at the Cow Palace at 7:15 pm. Individual tickets are on sale now by visiting sfbulls.com/tickets or by calling 855-SF-BULLS.

Tickets
SF Bulls Season Tickets start at less than $12 a seat and include the first four games of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, savings on parking and special invitations to “Meet The Team” and Chalk Talk Events. Individual tickets are now on sale. Click here to find out more or call 415-469-9843.

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About the ECHL:
The ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states.  Today, the league has 23 teams in 16 states. The ECHL celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2012-13 and is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League. The ECHL has had 234 players reach the NHL over the last seven seasons. It’s the primary developmental league for the NHL and the AHL. On opening day of the 2011-12 season, 83 former ECHL players were on NHL rosters. The ECHL teams are divided into the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. All teams play a 72-game schedule. For more information please visit http://www.echl.com/