A. J. Gale (born February 23, 1987) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. He last played professionally with the

Denver Cutthroats The Denver Cutthroats were a minor league ice hockey team, as a member of the Central Hockey League, that began play in the 2012–13 season. They served as a farm team of the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche and the American Hockey ...

of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL).

Playing career

Undrafted, Gale originally played in the

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is an independent Canadian Junior ice hockey league with 21 teams in British Columbia and Alberta. It was classified as a Junior "A" league within the Hockey Canada framework, until it became independe ...

with the

Nanaimo Clippers The Nanaimo Clippers are a junior ice hockey team based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Island Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Frank Crane Arena. Franchise his ...

and at a collegiate level with

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

and St. Norbert College. Gale made his professional debut in the Central Hockey League in the 2009–10 season with the

Fort Worth Brahmas The Fort Worth Brahmas were a professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League, and previously the Western Professional Hockey League. The team originally played at the Fort Worth Convention Center but played their final six seasons, i ...

before moving to the

Wichita Thunder The Wichita Thunder are a minor league hockey team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team played in the Central Hockey League from 1992 until 2014, and then in the ECHL since the 2014–15 season. From 1992 until December 2009, the Thunder played in ...

the following season and scoring at a point-per-game pace. In his third professional season, Gale left as a free agent to experience European hockey, initially signing with

Copenhagen Hockey Hvidovre Fighters/Copenhagen Hockey is a professional ice hockey team based in Hvidovre, Denmark. They play in the second-highest hockey league in Denmark, the 1.division. Founded in 1966, they have taken on many different names, starting with th ...

of the Danish

AL-Bank Ligaen The Superisligaen, known as the Metal Ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Denmark. The league consists of 9 professional teams. Teams from the Superisligaen can participate in the International Ice Hockey F ...

on May 4, 2011. As an offensively skilled forward, Gale tallied 14 points in 14 games with Copenhagen during the 2011–12 season, before transferring to Sweden on October 28, with

Asplöven HC Asplöven HC was an ice hockey club from Haparanda, Sweden, they last played in Sweden's third tier league Hockeyettan. They played their home games at the Arena Polarica, which seats 1500 spectators. Asplöven used to play in the Swedish 2nd le ...

Division 1 Division 1 or Division One may refer to: Association football * Azadegan League, the second-tier professional football league in Iran * Brisbane Premier League Division 1, the second-tier professional football league in Brisbane, Queensland, Austr ...

. In the remainder of the season, Gale was amongst the club's scoring leaders, scoring 17 goals and 32 points in just 27 games. Gale returned to North America the following the completion of his season in Sweden and signed a one-year contract with the inaugural Denver Cutthroats of the CHL. His signing on August 8, 2012 marked a reunion alongside former Wichita Thunder team and line mate Troy Schwab. During the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Gale formed the top scoring line in the CHL alongside Schwab and former NHL veteran

Brad Smyth Bradley Smyth (born March 13, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who endured a journeyman career and played in the National Hockey League with the Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators a ...

, leading the CHL with 46 goals in just 64 games. On February 20, 2013, Gale was called up to play four games with the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

affiliate, the

Lake Erie Monsters A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a depression (geology), basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land an ...

. In returning to the Cutthroats, he finished fourth in league scoring with 84 points and was a finalist for league MVP, before being selected to the All-CHL team. On August 6, 2013, Gale re-signed on a one-year deal for a second season with the Cutthroats.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gale, A. J. 1987 births Asplöven HC players Canadian ice hockey forwards Copenhagen Hockey players Denver Cutthroats players Fort Worth Brahmas players Lake Erie Monsters players Living people Manchester Monarchs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Nanaimo St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey players Wichita Thunder players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States 21st-century Canadian sportsmen