Flags sign defensemen Fatticci, Mahon

Having added two more solid defensemen to the roster, Port Huron Flags head coach Stan Drulia is confident that the team is “two high-end forwards away from being ready.”

After a year-long absence from Port Huron, defender Rico Fatticci is back in the Blue Water area, and has signed to play with the Flags for the upcoming season.

In the 2004-05 season, Fatticci played with the Port Huron Beacons. When the team changed locations and became the Roanoke Valley Vipers, he followed, because the team held legal rights to him. When the Vipers folded at the end of 2005-06, the Flags selected him in the third round of the dispersal draft in June. His contract was finalized at the end of August.

“I definitely wanted to play in Port Huron,” said Fatticci. “That’s my residency now, and it was my number one choice for where to play. Everything I know about Stan leads me to believe that he’s going to be a great coach and I’m excited to play for him.”

The Hibbing, Minn., native played in 60 games last season and earned 10 points and 105 penalty minutes. Fatticci is a 5-foot-11, 190 pound left-handed shooter, who played two years with the Division I program at Bemidji State University at the beginning of his career.

“I just want to win. The bottom line is winning. I have always been a team player and that’s the way I like to approach the game,” he said.

Craig Mahon, a native of Woodslee, Ont., bulks out at 6-foot-2, 209 pounds. He will bring size and strength to the Flags' defense. He has spent the last three years with the University of New Brunswick, last year as team captain, and the previous five as a member of the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires. While in college, Mahon recorded eight goals, 27 assists and 194 penalty minutes across his career.

“Craig is physical and punishing. He’s a stay-at-home defenseman,” said Drulia. “You can’t have enough of these guys. This will really solidify our already good defense.”`