RALEIGH, NC—Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has reassigned forwards Patrick Dwyer and Jiri Tlusty (YIH-ree T’LOO-stee) to the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League (AHL). The pair of forwards played in Carolina’s back-to-back games at Washington and Ottawa on Friday and Saturday after being recalled from Albany on Friday.

Dwyer, 26, has averaged 11:58 of ice time per game in eight Hurricanes games this season during two separate recalls from the AHL. The Spokane, WA, native has played in 22 AHL games with the River Rats this season, and ranks tied for first among Albany skaters with 11 goals, and tied for third on the team with 18 points. Dwyer (5’11”, 175 lbs.) originally signed with Carolina as a free agent in July 2006, and inked a new two-year contract with the club on July 1, 2009.

Tlusty, 21, made his Hurricanes debut on Friday at Washington, and scored a goal in his first shift with the team. The Slany, Czech Republic, native is in his third full professional season in North America, and has played in 75 career NHL regular-season games with Toronto and Carolina, scoring 11 goals and earning 10 assists (21 points). In 106 career AHL regular-season games with the Toronto Marlies and Albany, Tlusty (6’0”, 209 lbs.) has scored 43 goals and earned 60 assists (103 points), including eight goals and seven assists (15 points) in 20 games this season. The Maple Leafs drafted Tlusty in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and Carolina acquired him on Dec. 3 in exchange for the rights to center Philippe Paradis.