Storm pick up two from Central Illinois in Dispersal Draft

KEARNEY, Neb. — The Tri-City Storm have acquired defenseman Michael Ferrandino, and defenseman Trevor Griebel in today’s USHL’s Dispersal Draft for the Central Illinois Flying Aces. On February 28th, the Central Illinois Flying Aces announced a temporary withdrawal from on ice competition in the USHL to focus on the future of the organization. Today, the USHL’s Member Clubs completed a dispersal draft of players from the Flying Aces’ roster and affiliate list who had remaining eligibility for the 2019-2020 season.

Michael Ferrandino, 19, of Lisle, Illinois skated in 49 games this season with Central Illinois. He scored his 1st Career USHL goal on April 5th in a 5-1 Flying Aces road win over the Lincoln Stars. He also provided the Flying Aces offense with 7 assists during the 2018-2019 season. Ferrandino was acquired by Central Illinois on November 6th in a trade with the Waterloo Black Hawks. Ferrandino is a USHL veteran with over 150 games of experience over three seasons. He was selected in the 5th Round of the 2016 Phase I draft by the Waterloo Black Hawks and provided Waterloo with 26 assists in 123 games played for the organization during the 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 seasons. Prior to his time in the USHL, Ferrandino skated for the Chicago Young Americans youth program.

Trevor Griebel, 18, of Glendale, Arizona spent the 2018-2019 season on the Central Illinois affiliate list and played in 54 regular season games and 16 postseason games with the Wenatchee Wild of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). Griebel was drafted 100th overall in the 6th round of the 2018 USHL Phase II draft by the Central Illinois Flying Aces. This season, Griebel provided the Wild with one goal and three assists during the team’s postseason run. Wenatchee was eliminated in the conference finals, one year after winning the Fred Page Cup. Griebel scored two goals and recorded five assists in 54 regular season games this year. Prior to skating with the Wenatchee Wild, Griebel played in the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes youth program.

“Michael is a guy with three years of experience playing in the USHL, and we felt that his experience carried an extremely high amount of value in this draft. Experience is really important, and with the defenseman we have leaving next season, it was important for us to get someone with his experience in this league. We feel that his skill set fits our style of play. Trevor is a player who we scouted going into last year’s draft, he is an elite puck moving defenseman, who comes from a really good Phoenix Jr program and who gained experience playing for a strong Wenatchee team in the BCHL this season. We feel that he will be able to make the jump to the USHL level and become an impact player for our organization.” – GM/Head Coach Anthony Noreen

Courtesy Tri-City Storm Media Relations