IceMen Add Four European Players to the Fold

Evansville, IN – The Evansville IceMen and Head Coach Al Sims have announced the addition of four European players to the IceMen roster, including Jonathan Carlsson and Sebastian Strandberg from Sweden, Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel from France, and Radoslav Illo from Slovakia.

Defenseman Jonathan Carlsson comes to Evansville from the Allsvenskan Swedish Professional League, where he logged six points (3/3/6) in 44 games for Södertälje in 2014-15. The 27-year-old from Uppsala, Sweden has played the past five seasons in his home country, since last appearing in the ECHL in 2009-10, when he logged ten points (4/6/10) in 27 games for the Toledo Walleye. The 6’1, 198 lbs. blueliner was drafted in 2008 by the Chicago Blackhawks in the sixth round of the NHL Entry Draft, and skated in 19 games for Chicago’s AHL affiliate Rockford IceHogs in 2009-10.

Visingsö, Sweden native Sebastian Strandberg competed in the same Swedish Professional League as Carlsson last season, where he appeared in 24 games for the Malmö Redhawks. The 5’10, 181 lbs. forward tallied five points (2/3/5) for Malmö after starting the season with HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League, where he had played since 2010-11. The 2015-16 season in Evansville will be the 23-year-old’s first in North America.

French-born defenseman Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel joins the IceMen after spending the 2014-15 season up and down from the ECHL’s Quad City Mallards and the AHL’s Iowa Wild. The 29-year-old from Bordeaux, France has been playing professional hockey in the United States since 2009-10, when he skated for the Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League. Dieude-Fauvel played two seasons in Laredo before joining the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals, where he played for two years. The 6’2, 220 lbs. defenseman picked up nine points (4/5/9) in 31 games with the Mallards, while tallying one assist in 20 games for Iowa last season.

Center Radoslav Illo returns to North America after one year playing professionally in his home country of Slovakia, where he had 13 points (5/8/13) in 37 games for MHC Martin in the Slovak Extraliga. The 5’11, 199 lbs. native of Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia is no stranger to hockey in the United States, where he played junior, collegiate and professional hockey for six years. Illo spent two seasons in Kearney, Nebraska where he played juniors for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, before joining Bemidji State University, where he skated in 135 NCAA games for the Beavers. After his senior season in 2013-14, Illo appeared in three games with the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals. The 25-year-old was a fifth round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2009.