BLOOMINGTON - Bloomington PrairieThunder coach Jarrod Skalde moved to bolster his defense Tuesday by acquiring second-year pro Geoff Patton from the Muskegon Lumberjacks for future considerations. | PrairieThunder page

The 6-foot, 176-pound Patton, a 23-year-old native of Lindsay, Ontario, has two assists, eight penalty minutes and a plus/minus rating of minus 2 in 10 games with the Lumberjacks this season. Patton spent his rookie year with the Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League, collecting five assists and 92 penalty minutes in 63 games.

"Geoff Patton is a stay-at-home D-man which is kind of what I've been looking for," Skalde said. "We needed someone to be reliable back there and move the puck. We've got enough skilled forwards.

"With (defenseman) Shaun Fisher back there as an offensive guy, this allows me to go get someone that's steady."

Patton will wear No. 5. Terms of Patton's contract were not released. Forward Geoff Rollins was waived to make room on the roster for Patton. Rollins had two goals in six games for the Thunder with a plus 1 rating.

The Thunder (5-6-0) will hit the road this weekend for games at Kalamazoo (4-6-0) on Friday and Muskegon (7-3-0) on Saturday.

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