Fury loads up with toughness and grit

The Muskegon Fury yesterday signed defenseman Ryan Bartle and forwards David Segal, Kyle Sheen, Tyler Summerfield and Paul Yovanic.

Bartle, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound native of Winnipeg, has seen action most recently at the University of Minot following two seasons in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Winnipeg South Blues. In the 2005-06 season, he amassed 303 penalty minutes in 61 games while collecting 18 points.

Segal was a teammate of Bartle in 2005-06 prior to going to the SPHL with the Knoxville Ice Bears. Last season in 50 games with Knoxville, he registered 273 PIMs and finished second in the SPHL in fighting majors with 25. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Segal was a member of the MJHL champion Winnipeg South Blues squad of 2005-06 when he compiled 168 PIMs in just 26 games. For two consecutive seasons, in 2003-04 and 2004-05, playing for the Port Coquitlam Buckeroos, he led the PIJHL in PIMs with 285 and 368 respectively, winning the Team’s Fan Favorite Award as well as the Most Inspirational Player Award.

Sheen will be making a pro comeback of sorts after an inactive season of 2006-07 and one collegiate campaign at Mount Royal College of the ACAC in 2005-06. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Strathmore, Alberta native’s lone pro action came in the 2004-05 campaign when he plied his craft in the UHL with the Kalamazoo Wings, Richmond Riverdogs and Port Huron Beacons. In 72 games that season, he recorded 215 PIMs and 20 points. Sheen played juniors in the Western Hockey League with the Kootenay Ice and won a Memorial Cup championship in 2002.

Summerfield played in the Superior International Junior League with the Fort William North Stars. In 2006-07, the rugged 6-foot-2, 205-pound center tallied 330 PIMs in 40 games while averaging 1.38 points per game on 14 goals and 41 assists. The Toronto native's Fort William team captured the league championship with a mark of 41-6-3. Summerfield finished third on team with 14 playoff points and added 42 PIMs. He produced 130 PIMs in 15 games with the MJAHL Amherst Ramblers in 2005-06 and another 239 PIMs in 52 outings with the Portage Terriers of the MJHL in 2004-05.

Yovanic, who will turn 20 on October 2, hails from Highland. In the 2006-07 season, playing in the North American Hockey League with the Texas Tornado, the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder rang-up 153 PIMs in 40 games and added two goals and two assists.

“All five of our newest signees fit the mold of what we are looking for as far as our team toughness is concerned," Fury head coach Bruce Ramsay said. "We feel that each one of these players will provide some real positive things for the overall betterment of our hockey club. With each of these players, Bartle, Segal, Sheen, Summerfield and Yovanic in our lineup, it should make the Fury one of the more feared teams around our league.”

Muskegon now has 19 players under contract for the upcoming season.