Beast Captain and All-Time Leading Scorer Marino Back in Brampton for 2017-18
Brampton Beast Media Release
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO – The Brampton Beast, ECHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, are proud to announce that longtime captain and all-time franchise points leader Brandon Marino has signed a Standard Player Contract to return to the club for the 2017-18 ECHL season.
Marino, a Riverside, California native, is coming off another sensational year in the ECHL. In 72 games played with the Beast, Marino reached the 20-goal plateau for the third time in his ECHL career, netting 20 goals while adding a sizzling 52 helpers for 72 points in 72 games.
The 5’9” winger enters the new season as the club’s all-time points and assists leader and will be looking to pad those numbers when the season opens for Brampton on October 14 in Adirondack.
Marino became the club’s all-time points leader in a contest against the Orlando Solar Bears at the Powerade Centre on March 23, recording an assist on Connor Crisp’s goal for his 101st point in a Beast uniform, one more than reigning points leader Jason Pitton.
The Beast captain was instrumental in the club’s success in their inaugural run through the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Playoffs last season. In a decisive Game Six against the Reading Royals in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Marino let his leadership do the talking as he put the team on his back with two goals in the third period to lead Brampton to a 3-1 victory and their first ever playoff series victory.
Marino will once again bring immense leadership and pedigree to the Beast lineup. Prior to joining the Beast, Marino found himself atop the ECHL’s scoring race in 2013-14 as a member of the Fort Wayne Komets, putting up 30 goals and 58 assists for 88 points.
Coming off another, solid point-per-game season, Marino is excited to see the Beast take the next step next season and build off a successful 2016-17 ECHL campaign. “I’m extremely excited to be back,” Marino said.
“We had a big turnaround last year from the previous seasons and I’m looking forward to building off of that. We have established a solid group and a good gameplan for where we want to be and how we want to play hockey. We have some key guys coming back that know the system and hopefully we will be bringing in some new guys that are going to adjust well. I’m just looking forward to getting going. You always think your team is going to be great at the start, so I’m excited to put it to the test and see how we do.
Beast Head Coach Colin Chaulk has relied upon the veteran Marino for leadership, poise and production and has no reason to believe things will be any different for his captain in 2017-18. “Brandon Marino does it all,” Chaulk said. “He’s the kind of guy who plays the right way, eats the right way and lives the right way. He is the model of a Brampton Beast player. He is our captain because he believes the team has to succeed before the individual player.”
Marino has been a point-per-game player in each of his four ECHL seasons spanning 255 regular season games with the Beast and the Fort Wayne Komets from the 2012-13 season to present day and Beast President and General Manager is thrilled to bring Marino’s stability and leadership back to Brampton’s locker room for another season.
“Brandon is simply the most consistent player that has ever played for the Beast,” Kaplan said. “He is an elite ECHL player and as we retool for the upcoming season, our goal remains for Brandon to captain the Beast to a Kelly Cup Championship”