Wildcatters sign veteran forward for playoff push

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Wildcatters sign veteran forward for playoff push

Another clue is in an ECHL record book that lists the 32-year-old among all-time leaders in several statistical categories.

The newest and eldest member of the Texas Wildcatters, Sirois will play in a 681st league game Friday when the team opens a two-game home series against Gwinnett.

"I see the talent on this team," said Sirois, signed to give the Wildcatters another veteran player for their playoff push. "With two good goalies, all-around defensemen, good forwards, you can write up any lineup you want. I'm really excited to have a chance."

The 6-foot-1 forward arrived in Beaumont at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, practiced later in the morning and has hopes of eventually hoisting the league's championship trophy for the first time in a 12-year career.

Sirois joins a team that is third in the South Division points race with 81, two fewer than Gwinnett and one less than Florida. Texas follows this weekend's series against Gwinnett with two home games against Florida.

Sirois played two road games with the Wildcatters in January when coach Malcolm Cameron needed an extra forward. This time around, Sirois said he hopes to be with Texas until June, when the Kelly Cup championship series ends.

With seven regular season games left, Sirois will play more than the five needed to be eligible for the team's playoff roster.

Sirois is third all-time in games played, eighth in points with 591, 11th in goals with 248 and 13th in assists with 566.

"He's been in a lot of games, so he's not going to panic out there on the ice by any stretch," Cameron said.

Until now, Sirois had played most of this season in the Southern Professional Hockey League. He is that league's fourth-leading scorer with 78 points (30 goals, 48 assists) in 53 games for the Pee Dee Cyclones.

Eliminated from playoff contention with three games left, the Cyclones let Sirois out of a contract to join the Wildcatters. He'll spend at least few weeks away from a wife and 3-year-old daughter in Florence, S.C., to be with the team.

"I'm really excited that (Cameron) asked me to join the team for the playoffs and have a shot at a championship," said Sirois, the second player to join the team within the last week.

Ben Thomson, 24, was assigned to Texas by the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros. He scored three goals in his first game with the Wildcatters, a 6-4 victory Friday against Augusta.

Cameron said the Aeros sent Thomson to the Wildcatters to gain playoff experience. Sirois has playoff experience, just not the kind he wants.

Sirois said he last played on an ECHL title-contending team in 1999 with the Pee Dee Pride, which won a then-record 51 games but flamed out in a 4-1 series loss to Mississippi in the Southern Conference finals.

"We won the first couple of rounds," said Sirois, a first-team all-ECHL player that season. "And in the third round, we got hit a little hard. Guys weren't as committed as I thought they were and we ended up losing.

"It kind of hurt, because after that I was thinking, 'I've got plenty of years to play.' I've never had a team since then that was that good."