ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Anaheim Ducks announced Thursday that the club has signed Orange County native Ryan Lasch to a two-year contract (right wing). Per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Lasch, 25 (1/22/87), who completed four years of college hockey at St. Cloud State of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) from 2006-10, recently represented Team USA at the 2012 IIHF World Championship in Helsinki and Stockholm. Appearing in seven tournament contests, Lasch collected 0-2=2 points. He also won the Finnish Elite League (SM – liiga) scoring title last season with Lahti (24-38=62).
Born in Lake Forest, CA, Lasch becomes the first player from Orange County to join the Ducks organization. In addition to his league-leading 62 points, the 5-9, 175-pound right wing led the league with 5-11=16 points in 17 postseason contests. The Pelicans earned a spot in the league championship before falling to JYP Jyvaskyla. Lasch was named to the 2011-12 SM – liiga’s First All-Star Team with fellow Ducks prospect Sami Vatanen (Ducks 2009 fourth-round pick, 106th overall). He played his first season overseas in 2010-11 with Sodertalje SK of the Swedish Elite League (Elitserien), scoring 12-18=30 points in 55 contests.
Lasch collected 79-104=183 points in 161 career collegiate contests with St. Cloud State from 2006-10, becoming the university’s all-time leading scorer. A Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist (top collegiate player) in 2007-08, Lasch scored a collegiate career-high 25-28=53 points in 40 contests that season. Additional honors while with St. Cloud State included WCHA First Team All-Star honors in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 and the WCHA’s scoring title in 2007-08. Lasch was also named a Second Team NCAA All-American for the 2007-08 season.
