The Beast added Michael Couch recently. Couch is a 30 year old defenseman from Hanna, Alberta who stands at 6'4".
Mike started his career in the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads. Couch spent the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons with Halifax and played 102 games with the team, scoring 4 goals and 13 assists and added 181 penalty minutes. During the playoffs Mike got in 15 games with 2 points and 6 penalty minutes.
In 2002/03 he was traded to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and he also spent 2003/04 with the Huskies. Over those 2 seasons he played 133 games and scored 47 points. He also amassed 250 PIM. He also had a chance to play in the playoffs both years, a total of 15 games with 7 points and 35 PIM.
After his time in major junior was over Mike headed to St. Thomas University and played 2 seasons in the CIS while majoring in economics. His 2 years in Fredericton, New Brunswick (where the university is located) saw him playing 55 games and scoring 12 points and 24 PIM.
With his time in university completed Mike headed over to Italy to start his professional career. He played for the no longer existent club HC All Stars Piemonte which was a tier 2 club that was created to develop younger players in the Turin area. He spent 1 season with the club in which he played 21 games, scoring 2 goals, 8 assists and, 42 PIM.
Mike came back to North America after that season in Italy and signed with the Mississippi Sea Wolves in the ECHL for the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons. In 81 games with the Sea Wolves Mike scored 21 points and received 168 PIM. Unfortunately the Sea Wolves only made the playoffs in 2007/08 but in those 4 games Mike scored a goal and ended up with 10 penalty minutes.
At the end of 2009 the Sea Wolves folded and Mike signed on with the Gwinnett Gladiators. He only spent 11 games with the Gladiators (no points, 18 PIM) before being moved to the Johnstown Chiefs. He had much better luck with the Chiefs playing 60 games during the 2009/10 season. He scored 1 goal, 10 assists and, 84 PIM.
The Chiefs packed up after the 2010 season and moved to Greenville, South Carolina but Mike did not make the move with the team. It was at this point which he signed on with his first Central Hockey League team. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. During the 2010/11 season he played 54 games and totaled 1 goal, 6 assists and, 55 PIM. The Mudbugs went on to the CeHL playoffs and in 21 games he ended up with 8 assists and 22 PIM. The Mudbugs won the league championship that year (the Ray Miron President's Cup)! Strangely enough, 2 weeks later the Mudbugs would cease operations.
Mike signed on, along with 2 former Mudbug team mates, with the Rapid City Rush for 2011/12. A 58 game season consisted of 5 goals and 16 assists. Add to that 53 penalty minutes. The team played 6 playoff games which saw Mike obtain 1 assist. This was his highest scoring year as a professional and as a result the Rush offered him a contract extension for the 2012/13 season. During the '12/13 season Mike scored 2 goals and 12 assists with 34 PIM. The Rush went back to the playoffs and again lost in 6 games. Mike also ended up with 1 assist.
Hopefully the reunion with coach Mark DeSantis (who coached Mike in 2011/12 in Rapid City) will mean big things for the Beast this year.
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