(Team Release) - The Rocky Mountain Rage have signed second-year centerman Simon Watson, who started last season's Central Hockey League All-Star Game while he was a member of the Lubbock Cotton Kings. The team now has 14 players under contract for the upcoming campaign, including six former CHL All-Stars. Rocky Mountain begins the 2007-08 regular season on the road on Oct. 19 against the Odessa Jackalopes.

Announced CHL Player Signings for 2007-2008

Watson (6-foot-0, 182 lbs.) was one of the CHL's most productive first-year players last season when he was named a starter for the Southern Conference All-Stars. The Waterloo, Ontario, native finished the season ranked among the league's leading rookies with 49 points (8th), 24 goals (T-4th), seven game-winning goals (T-2nd), and three short-handed goals (1st).

"Simon's performance turned heads around the league last season, and it's a credit to our entire situation - the players we've already signed, our organization and the building, the surrounding community - that he chose to come to Broomfield once the Cotton Kings decided not to play this season," said Rage head coach Tracy Egeland. "He was asked to take-on a very defensive role in college, so his stats don't really stand-out. But we felt the brunt of his scoring and playmaking ability first-hand last year when we played Lubbock, and his numbers are only going to keep getting better and better as he gains more experience."

Prior to his four-year career at traditional college hockey powerhouse St. Lawrence University, Watson lit up the opposition playing for his hometown Waterloo Siskins in the Midwestern (Ontario) Jr. B Hockey League. He accumulated 117 points (51g-66a), two All-Star nods, and a team MVP award in 95 games over two seasons with the Siskins.