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Heat sign Kolanos

The Abbotsford Heat made a pair of roster moves on Wednesday, signing forward Krys Kolanos to a professional tryout contract (PTO) and re-assigning defenceman Patrick Cullity to the ECHL's Utah Grizzlies.

The Abbotsford Heat made a pair of roster moves on Wednesday, signing forward Krys Kolanos to a professional tryout contract (PTO) and re-assigning defenceman Patrick Cullity to the ECHL's Utah Grizzlies.

Kolanos, a 30-year-old Calgary native, is making a comeback from microfracture hip surgery which sidelined him for the better part of two seasons. He had been with the Heat on a tryout basis, and excelled during an exhibition game against the UBC Thunderbirds on Sept. 25, scoring a goal in Abbotsford's 3-1 win.

Kolanos accrued the bulk of his 136 NHL games with the Phoenix Coyotes between 2001 and 2004. In the years since, he's had stops in Finland, Germany and Switzerland; eight AHL cities; and brief NHL stints with the Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers in 2005-06.

Kolanos will wear No. 8 with the Heat.

Cullity, a Tewksbury, Mass. native also on a tryout with the Heat, survived the first round of roster cuts. But when the Calgary Flames sent Jordan Henry to Abbotsford last week, it left the Heat with eight defencemen – head coach Troy Ward's preferred roster number – and paved the way for Cullity's demotion to Utah.