Former Viper Olthuis Called-Up By Gems:

Former Vernon Vipers goaltender, Jon Olthuis has been returned to the CHL's Dayton Gems for a third time this season. Olthuis had previously signed with Dayton this past summer but was released on October, 12th 2010 prior to the regular season. Olthuis then signed with the SPHL's Augusta RiverHawks & was currently playing in Augusta before signing with Dayton on January, 13th 2011 but was recently returned to Augusta on February 1st 2011. In one game with the Gems, Olthuis played 64 minutes and recorded 45 saves. Olthuis played two seasons in Vernon (2004-06) before playing four years at University of Alaska-Anchorage.

This is posted on the RiverHawks website:

RiverHawks Announce Player Transactions

Feb 17, 2011

Augusta, GA - Just in time for a full weekend slate of games the Augusta RiverHawks released several roster changes.

The team announced that goaltender, Jon Olthuis, will return to Dayton, Ohio to join the Dayton Gems of the Central Hockey League. Olthuis had a brief stint with the Gems in early 2011, and rejoined the RiverHawks in February. In 24 games with the RiverHawks, Olthuis had a goals-against-average of 2.86 and a .909 save percentage. To replace Olthuis the RiverHawks have signed goaltender Peter Skoggard who most recently played with the Cape Cod Barons of the Federal Hockey League.

It was also announced that forward Kevin Fukala will rejoin the RiverHawks lineup tonight. Fukala was called up to the ECHL to play with the Florida Everblades. After five games with the Everblades, Fukala sustained a concussion that kept him out of the lineup for over a month. Fukala is expected to hit the ice tonight, February 17, as the RiverHawks take on the Pensacola Ice Flyers.

After a weekend game turned ugly in Knoxville, the SPHL chose to suspend forward Aaron McGill for the remainder of the season following a run-in with Mark Van Vliet. The RiverHawks management team appealed the suspension to league officials, but the decision to keep McGill out of the lineup for the rest of the season was upheld. In 41 games with the RiverHawks, McGill posted 25 points and 169 penalty minutes.