Hockey Club Lugano reports that it has signed a contract valid for the 2023/24 season with forward Michael Joly, born 05.05.1995 in Gatineau, Quebec.
After training in the youth sector of his city, Joly (180 cm x 79 kg, "left") played from 2012 to 2016 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he played 268 games, scored 285 points and in 2015 won the title of this important Canadian youth league with the Rimouski Océanic jersey.
The offensive skills also emerged in the next step of Joly's career when, between 2016 and 2021, he alternated periods in the American Hockey League (137 games, 69 points with the Hartford Wolf Pack, San Antonio Rampage and Colorado Eagles) with periods in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) where he collected 148 games and 177 points.
Just in the ECHL, in the 2017/2018 season, Joly was the player to score the most goals and the MVP of the playoffs, thus dragging the Colorado Eagles to the title (Kelly Cup Champions).
HPK of Hämeenlinna, a club in the Finnish Liiga in which he played in the last two championships with a haul of 48 goals and 68 assists in 120 games, then set its sights on him.
Although starring for a team that failed to qualify for the Post Season, Joly notably finished first in the 2022/23 season in the Liiga's top scorer ranking with 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 60 games.
Now for him the new challenge in the context of National League.
These are the words of Hnat Domenichelli, HCL General Manager, on the sixth foreign player currently under contract withHockey Club Lugano:
"Michael is an offensive right winger who can bring energy and speed. We look forward to seeing him on the ice with the colors bianconeri".