Two time prohockeynews.com NIHL South Division 1 netminder of the season, 2016/17 NIHL Southern Playoff champion and club number one Damien King will return to the Invicta Dynamos in 2017/18 after penning a new deal for the upcoming campaign.
Following stints in the EPL with the Peterborough Phantoms and NIHL with the Milton Keynes Thunder, Damien King first iced for the Dynamos in October 2015 and he has been the club’s first choice netminder ever since.
An excellent debut term in Kent saw the shot stopper record 5 shutouts in 41 outings and a save rate 92.85% – his efforts not going unnoticed by the remainder of the division who voted him into the NIHL South Division 1 all-star line-up come the close of the campaign.
Having also been selected as the club’s Defenceman of the Year after his first season, King stayed put for 2016/17 but after a solid start his hockey was interrupted not once, but twice due to serious leg injury.
The goalie was forced to hobble from home ice against Streatham in mid-October and, determined to be back with his teammates, rushed his comeback only to suffer a reoccurrence on the road against Chelmsford in early January.
However, ever defiant, King recovered and was back to his best in the post season as he backstopped the team to the NIHL Southern Playoff title – the club’s 19th honour in its 20th year. In all he featured 22 times throughout the campaign and denied 746 of 804 shots on his net for a save rate of 92.79%.
Now the 26 year old goalie returns for a third year ready to add to the 63 appearances that he has already tallied in a Dynamos jersey.
Speaking on Damien King’s return Head Coach Kevin Parrish said, “Damien is arguably the safest pair of hands in the division so we’re delighted to have him back. He was very unfortunate with injuries last term yet still fought hard to return for the post season and was a major factor in the side winning the NIHL Southern Playoff title.”
“He’s an excellent shot stopper, a great guy to have in the changing room and he loves playing the game. Following the league reshuffle we’re sure to face some tougher challenges in 2017/18 but Damien is definitely the man we’d want between the posts to give us the best chance possible to compete.”
“After he completes a summer in New Zealand I look forward to working with him again as the new campaign gets underway in September”.
Damien King will once again don the number 1 jersey for the Mos and is the second name to make the roster this off-season after Ondrej Zosiak as Head Coach Kevin Parrish tweaks his team ahead of the restart.
More player signings are set to follow over the course of the summer.