MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Monarchs, the primary affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, have recalled goaltender Mathias Niederberger from the ECHL’s Ontario Reign, and released netminder Aaron Dell from his professional tryout agreement, Monarchs Director of Hockey Operations Hubie McDonough announced today.

Niederberger, 21, collected a 2-1-2 record with a 2.79 goals-against-average and .889 save percentage in six games with the Reign this season.  Prior to turning pro, he appeared in 56 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts during the 2012-13 season and collected a record of 35-12-3 with a goals-against-average of 2.34 and a .933 save percentage.  The 5-foot-11, 171-pound native of Düsseldorf, Germany led the league with 1,692 saves and ranked third with a 2.34 goals-against-average, second with a .933 save percentage, third with 35 wins, fourth with four shutouts, and he tied for third with five shootout wins.  In 22 postseason games, Niederberger backstopped the Colts to the J. Ross Robertson Cup Final against the London Knights.  He registered a 15-6 record, a 2.60 goals-against-average and .928 save percentage in the playoffs and took the Colts to game seven of the final where they fell to the Knights.

In 49 games with the Colts during the 2011-12 season, Niederberger collected a record of 29-14-1-2, a 2.68 goals-against-average and a .918 save percentage.  He also appeared in 13 games during the 2012 playoffs registering a 7-5-1 record, a 2.34 goals-against-average and a .933 save percentage.  Prior to joining the Colts, Niederberger appeared in eight games with the DEG Dusseldorf Metro Stars of the German Elite League in the 2010-11 season.  With the Metro Stars, he had a record of 2-4-0 with a 3.43 goals-against-average and a .874 save percentage.

Dell, 24, joined the Monarchs on November 15 and did not appear in a game.  He has a record of 2-1-0 with a 2.35 goals-against-average, a .919 save percentage and one shutout in three games with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies this season.  The six-foot, 194-pound netminder was named Central Hockey League’s Outstanding Goaltender for the 2012-13 season when he collected a 22-11-6 record, a 2.30 goals-against-average, a .916 save percentage, and three shutouts in 44 games with the Allen Americans.  He also backstopped the Americans to the 2013 CHL Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup Championship.  Dell also registered a record of 49-20-5, a 2.15 goal-against-average, a .912 save percentage and nine shutouts in 78 games with the University of North Dakota from 2009-12.

The Monarchs return to action with a VIP Cup match-up against the Portland Pirates at the Verizon Wireless Arena at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 26.  Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on Monarchs Radio Network WGIR AM 610, WGIRAM.com, and at manchestermonarchs.com presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.