BILOXI, Miss. � The Mississippi Sea Wolves announced today that the team has extended qualifying offers to eight players by the July 1 deadline.

Lucas Drake (LW)
Kerry Ellis-Toddington (D)
Olivier Filion (C)
Jeff Hutchins (LW)
Mike Jarmuth (D)
Travis Lisabeth (RW) � Veteran
Austin Miller (D)
Randy Petruk (G)

Each team was entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight qualified players. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four could be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2005-06 season). Players on open qualifying offers can not be traded.

The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until August 1 at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season.

A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player will retain the rights to that veteran until August 1. After August 1, if the veteran player is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams. Restricted free agents may not be traded. When a restricted free agent receives a contract offer from a team other than the team with the player�s rights and the restricted free agent wishes to accept the contract offer, the restricted free agent and the offering member must, within 24 hours, notify the ECHL, the team with the player�s rights and the Professional Hockey Players� Association. The member with the player�s rights shall have seven days after the date it is notified to exercise its right to match the contract offer.

If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by August 31, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.

Players who had already signed a contract by July 1 did not need to receive a qualifying offer. Mississippi signed left wing Anthony Battaglia on June 28.

There are 10 other players that were not qualified from the Sea Wolves season-ending roster:

Bates Battaglia (LW) � Veteran
Darryl Campbell (LW)
Chris Cava (D)
John Evangelista (C) � Veteran
Stephen Greeley (C)
Nick Greenough (RW)
Jay Legault (RW) � Veteran
Mike Martone (D)
Milt Mastad (D) � Veteran
Phil Sauve (G)

Two players were not on the season-ending roster but can still be signed as free agents.Veteran center Louis Dumont had a contract that allows him to become a free agent at the end of each season and defenseman Mike Garrow was under contract to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League.

The Sea Wolves open their 10th Anniversary Season on October 22 at Pensacola, before dropping the puck on their home opener on October 28 versus Texas at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

Reserve your piece of the exciting, hard-hitting Sea Wolves hockey action by purchasing 2005-06 season tickets starting at $306 per seat for an adult, which is just $8.50 per game and $240 for a child, an average of $6.67 per game.

A 10 percent deposit will lock in your season ticket today by calling (228) 275-WOLF. Each season ticket also includes two free �Bring a Pal to the Pack� vouchers.

Group discounts are also available by telephone at (228) 275-WOLF. Individual game ticket prices will be released in October.