Former Blade cut by Ice Pilots

Former Everblades rookie forward Jonathan Lehun was released Tuesday by the Pensacola Ice Pilots and became eligible for waivers, meaning any other ECHL team except the Florida Everblades can claim him. The only way Florida can re-sign him is if he clears waivers and becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Lehun, who turns 22 on Feb. 22, was traded to Pensacola along with rookie defenseman Nick Vukovic on Jan. 8 in exchange for veteran defenseman Corey Neilson. He played in two games for the Ice Pilots before leaving the team to look at resuming his college education, scoring no points after putting up 31 (11 goals, 20 assists) in 31 games for Florida.

"It's probably just a wait-and-see type of thing," Lehun said by cell phone from Canada. "I haven't heard from my agent yet but right now the plan still is go back to school. They're in the middle of the semester right now up here but they have something in Canada called inter-session, where classes can start up in May, so I'll probably do that. But if another team claims me, I'd have to see who it is and where they are first."

Vukovic never reported to Pensacola, signed a player tryout agreement with the Lowell Lock Monsters, then had his rights traded to the Reading Royals last Tuesday and has played in three games for them, recording six penalty minutes.

He had 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 32 games for the Everblades.

Neilson broke out Saturday night in a 4-3 Everblades win over the Idaho Steelheads, scoring two goals. He has eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in 12 games with his new team and 33 overall (10 goals, 23 assists).

"I still follow the Everblades and I saw they were in a little slump," Lehun said. "But it looks like they got out of it and they should have a big weekend this weekend."

The Everblades play back-to-back games at Pensacola on Friday and Saturday nights, both starting at 8:05. They can be heard on WWCN/AM-770 and simulcast on the Internet at www.floridaeverblades.com.