RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that defenseman Tim Gleason and center Brandon Sutter will serve as the team’s alternate captains for 2010-11. Gleason and Sutter join Captain Eric Staal as the team’s on-ice leadership.

“Tim and Brandon certainly have earned the distinction of wearing the alternate captain’s letter on their jerseys,” said Rutherford. “They lead the Hurricanes on the ice, and have presence in the locker room that is respected.”

Gleason, 27, is entering his seventh NHL season and fifth with the Hurricanes. The Clawson, MI, native led all Carolina defensemen in 2009-10 with 149 hits, led the team in shorthanded ice time per game (3:10) and ranked second among team defensemen with 115 blocked shots. He captured a silver medal as a member of Team USA at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, recording a plus-3 plus/minus rating in the United States’ six games. Gleason (6’0”, 217 lbs.) was originally drafted by Ottawa in the first round, 23rd overall, of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, and made his NHL debut with Los Angeles in 2003-04. In six NHL seasons, he has scored 12 goals, earned 72 assists (84 points) and recorded 385 penalty minutes in 393 games with the Los Angeles and Carolina.

Sutter, 21, is entering his third NHL season and third season with the Hurricanes. He established career highs in 2009-10 with 21 goals, 19 assists, 40 points and 72 games played, and became the first NHL player since Sergei Berezin in 1999-00 to record 20-or-more goals and just two penalty minutes. In 122 career NHL regular-season games, Sutter, who was born in Huntington, NY, but raised near Red Deer, Alb., has scored 22 goals, earned 24 assists (46 points) and accumulated 18 penalty minutes. The Hurricanes drafted Sutter (6’3”, 183 lbs.) in the first round, 11th overall, of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.