Rays sign defenseman Romfo

When South Carolina Stingrays coach Jared Bednar thinks about defenseman Scott Romfo, two words come to mind — durable and dependable.

Romfo, 27, became the second player to sign with the Stingrays for the upcoming ECHL season. Defenseman Nate Kiser signed with the team earlier in the month.

"Scott's not the kind of guy that's going to show up on the scoresheet every night, but he's been a valuable player for the organization the last two seasons," Bednar said. "Scott is a very steady, very dependable, very durable defenseman and you can't have too many guys like that on your team. He's great in the locker room. He has a great attitude and he's very popular with his teammates. It was important for us to get him signed for the upcoming season."

Romfo, who enters his third full season with the Stingrays, had 23 points on seven goals and 16 assists to go along with 71 penalty minutes last season. His seven goals were most among Stingrays defensemen.

In his first two full seasons with the Stingrays, Romfo played in 138 of 144 regular season games.

"You're not going to keep Scott out of the lineup," Bednar said. "He plays through a lot of bumps and bruises that might keep other guys out of the lineup."

A native of Blaine, Minn., Romfo has registered 56 points (13 goals, 43 assists) in 154 games with South Carolina.

"I'm excited to be back," Romfo said. "We made a good run in the playoffs last season and hopefully we can go even further and bring back another Kelly Cup to the Lowcoutnry this season."

Romfo played in the final 16 games of the 2006 season, joining the team in March following the completion of his senior collegiate season at RPI.