Now ready to return from a lengthy injury absence, center Sean Dolan is joining the Florida Everblades.
The Checkers assigned Dolan, who has missed the last 21 games since suffering an injury on Nov. 30, to their ECHL affiliate on Friday. The Everblades are scheduled to play home games against Greenville on Friday and Saturday, two of three games they will play over the course of the Checkers’ current four-game road trip.
Dolan, a 25-year-old on an AHL contract, is in his third season with the Checkers since originally joining the team on a professional tryout in his rookie season out of the University of Wisconsin. His next ECHL game will be his first since suiting up for the South Carolina Stingrays on Dec. 31, 2011.
With his injury of the upper-body variety, Dolan had been skating either on his own or with the team for over a month, with the Checkers clearing him for contact and full practices earlier this week. Along with Nicolas Blanchard and Jared Staal, he was one of three injured forwards on the team’s roster.
For the time being, Dolan essentially replaces A.J. Jenks, who the Checkers signed from Florida on a tryout agreement in the days following Dolan’s injury. Jenks is 20 games into his 25-game PTO, meaning a decision on how to proceed further will have to be made soon after the team returns from its trip.
Dolan has 21 points (7g, 14a) in 36 career ECHL games with South Carolina. A defensive and penalty-killing specialist with Charlotte, he has 20 points (9g, 11a) in 111 career AHL games.