Anchorage Daily News

Cam Keith, the burly Alaska Aces winger nicknamed "The Big Rig,'' will be making his next hockey haul abroad.

Keith, 28, on Saturday said he has signed a one-year deal to play for SG Cortina in Serie A, Italy's top professional league.

After five pro seasons in North America, three of which included time with the Aces of the ECHL, Keith said the time was right to make the move to Europe, where he can earn more and experience a different culture.

Keith, reached by cell phone in Spokane, Wash., said he and his fiancee, Jenner Maher, who have a 7-month-old son, Linden, are excited for the move. The family will fly to Italy on Sept. 1.

"I get to live in a different culture and get paid for it, and do something I love to do,'' said Keith, 28. "And how many people get to do that?

"For me, it's like when I signed with Peoria (of the American Hockey League). It's that unknown challenge.''

North American pros, most of them career minor leaguers, routinely play abroad, where they can earn more money, play in leagues that feature fewer games than North American circuits and see the world.

Some don't find it to their liking -- former Aces Olivier Filion and Peter Metcalf began last season in Europe for the first time but quickly returned to the ECHL -- and some love it. Former NHL center Brian Swanson of Eagle River, for instance, has played the last five seasons in the German Elite League and former Aces sniper Joe Talbot has played the last two seasons in England.

Keith, a native of Nelson, British Columbia, who played four seasons of college hockey at UAF, said he talked with former Victoria Salmon Kings player Jordan Krestanovich about playing for Cortina. He said Krestanovich, who played for Cortina last season and will again next season, raved about the town and the team.

Keith is coming off a career season that ended when the Aces lost Game 7 of the Kelly Cup Finals to the South Carolina Stingrays. He earned 20-46--66 totals and 101 penalty minutes -- all career highs -- in 72 regular-season games, and went plus 13. In 20 playoff games, he bagged 3-17--20 totals and a plus-9 rating.

"(Near) the end of the year, I was approached by teams from Italy and Germany -- this was during the playoffs -- and I said, 'Right now I'm a little busy, so let's talk after the season,' '' Keith said. "Cortina called the day after we were eliminated, and we took it from there.

"It was a really hard decision for me because I've become so attached to the Aces.''

Keith, who helped the Aces win the Kelly Cup in 2006, said his Cortina salary will be four times as much as what he earned with the Aces.

Keith is the second veteran Aces skater to depart the team recently. Defenseman Matt Shasby earlier this week confirmed his retirement.

Aces coach Keith McCambridge said as much as he and the club will miss Keith -- "I wish Cam and his family all the luck in the world, and I consider him a friend -- dealing with a fluid roster in the off-season is part of life in the ECHL.

"There's other veteran players out there and I'll try to find some to fill the big hole (Keith) leaves,'' McCambridge said.

Find Doyle Woody's blog online at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

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