NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Purple Eagles hockey team and head coach David Burkholder announced the signing of forward Christian Cakebread on Thursday. A 6-foot, 195-pound forward from Gilbert, Arizona, Cakebread will join the Purple Eagles in Massachusetts as the team takes on Holy Cross this weekend.
“Christian comes to us with a ton of experience at the junior level, and he will add high-end speed and skill to our roster,” Burkholder said. “We welcome him to our program and we are excited to see him play tomorrow.”
Cakebread comes to Niagara from the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) where he played 70 games in two seasons with the Vernon Vipers, scoring 50 points (21+29). In 35 games with Vernon this season, Cakebread accumulated 20 points on nine goals and 11 assists. He tied for the Vipers team lead with seven power-play goals.
Prior to Vernon, Cakebread played two seasons in the United State Hockey League (USHL) with the Fargo Force. Cakebread played 90 games with Fargo from 2013 to 2015, scoring 11 goals and adding eight assists for 19 points.
Cakebread becomes the tenth member of a successful Purple Eagles freshman class. Freshmen forwards Derek Brown and Kris Spriggs and freshman defenseman Noah Delmas are three of the team’s top six scorers. Brown leads Niagara in scoring and is tied for seventh among Atlantic Hockey rookie skaters with 10 points, while Delmas is tied for the lead among rookie defensemen in the conference with eight assists.
The Purple Eagles face off against Holy Cross at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. at 7:05 p.m.
