ITHACA, N.Y. — Former Cornell men's hockey players
Jack Malone '23 and
Zach Tupker '23 have both recently signed professional contracts, their respective organizations have announced.
Malone, who spent his post-grad year at Boston College, signed an amateur tryout contract (ATO) with the American Hockey League's (AHL) Utica Comets on Wednesday afternoon while also inking a two-year AHL pact with the Comets that will begin next season.
While enrolled at Boston College and playing for the eventual national runner-up, Malone posted a career-high 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 41 games. During his tenure on East Hill, Malone accrued 35 points (18 goals, 27 assists) across 93 appearances with the Big Red.
Malone's signing marks the 16th former Cornell player to have played or is currently playing in the AHL this season.
Utica (31-27-5-6) is currently in last place in the North Division of the AHL standings, but is three points out of a playoff spot with three games remaining. The Comets will play a pair of games against first-place Syracuse (38-23-4-4) on Friday and Saturday before concluding the season on Sunday against second-place Rochester (37-23-6-3).
Tupker, who played his post-grad year at ECAC Hockey rival Quinnipiac, signed with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL last week, the team announced last Tuesday (April 9).
So far in three games with the Swamp Rabbits, Tupker has two points (one goal, one assist). Greenville, which won the South Division title after posting a 44-23-4-1 record, will open the Kelly Cup Playoffs with a series against the Orlando Solar Bears in its divisional semifinals. The best-of-seven-game series begins on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. in Greenville, S.C.
While at Quinnipiac, Tupker registered a career-high 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in 39 games with the Bobcats. At Cornell, Tupker had 21 career points behind eight goals and 13 assists in 86 career outings.
