100 Team Representatives Attend ECHL Meetings

ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna provided his annual "State of the ECHL" while Chairman of the ECHL Board of Governors Steve Chapman was also a featured speaker.

Erik Johnson of cubeless™ spoke about using ECHL U, the league's online community, for "Growing Our Business Together" while Steve Rex & George Manias of Front Row Marketing presented "Industry Driven Corporate Sales & Sponsorship" and Rob Cornilles of Game Face outlined "Corporate Sales Training: The Answer for Business Today"

Bill Davidson, who is a consultant for the Gwinnett Gladiators and the Stockton Thunder as well as numerous minor league baseball teams, made a presentation on Database Management and Kevin Kavanagh of USA Hockey outlined youth hockey involvement opportunities.

Rob Sine of Hands On Sports spoke about increasing group sales with "Fundraising & Theme Nights" and Bill Guertin of the 800-pound Gorilla addressed "Sales & Service".

Team representatives participated in discussion groups on a variety of subjects including viral selling, successful game entertainment, hockey tournaments, dog days, kid days, open houses, pack the house and increasing walk-up sales.

For the fifth year in a row AMI Graphics, the "Exclusive Signage Company of the ECHL," awarded a complete set of dasher board graphics and under-ice graphics, won by the Stockton Thunder.

The annual vendor's showcase provided multiple opportunities for teams to view products from Alexander Global, BVE Sports Promotions, Destroyer Promotions, In Glass Co/Sher-wood Hockey, MV Sports, Old Time Sports, Pro Specialties Group, SFC USA, SP Apparel and Viatran while Reebok-CCM sponsored the welcome reception and SP Apparel sponsored the breakfast.

The Stockton Thunder received the Award of Distinction while the Cincinnati Cyclones were recognized as the Ticket Department of the Year and the Alaska Aces received an Award of Excellence for Marketing and were also recognized for having the Web Site of the Year. Mike Benton of the Stockton Thunder received an Award of Excellence for Media Relations, Josh Heller of South Carolina was named Broadcaster of the Year and Tara Sipma of the Gwinnett Gladiators was named the Ticket Executive of the Year.

Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.
- ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league with 20 teams in 15 states and British Columbia in 2009-10.
- The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to ECHL on May 19, 2003.
- ECHL had affiliations with 24 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League in 2008-09 marking the 12th consecutive year for affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.
- 407 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 151 former ECHL players have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- Record 52 former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2008-09 and eight players played in both the ECHL and the NHL: goaltenders Matt Climie (Idaho and Dallas), Riku Helenius (Elmira, Mississippi and Tampa Bay), Michal Neuvirth (South Carolina and Washington) and Marek Schwarz (Alaska and St. Louis), defensemen Wes O'Neill (Johnstown and Colorado), Raymond Macias (Johnstown and Colorado) and Kevin Quick (Augusta, Elmira and Tampa Bay) and right wing Joel Rechlicz (Utah and New York Islanders).
- There were 72 former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters.
- ECHL has been represented on last nine Stanley Cup champions including 2009 with Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma, player Ruslan Fedotenko, equipment managers Dana Heinze and Dave Zeigler, athletic trainers Chris Stewart and Scott Adams and scout Derek Clancey.
- Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals and Scott Gordon of the New York Islanders while former ECHL player Dan Bylsma is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Boudreau, who coached Mississippi for three seasons winning the Kelly Cup championship in 1999, was named NHL Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach to receive the award. Peter Laviolette, who began his coaching career with the Wheeling Nailers, led Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006.
- There are 15 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in the ECHL.
- Eighteen former ECHL officials worked in the NHL in 2008-09 with referees David Banfield, Chris Ciamaga, Ghislain Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin St. Pierre and Ian Walsh and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Tim Nowak and Jay Sharrers. Barton, Joannette, Leggo, McCauley, Nowak, Pollock, Rooney and Sharrers all worked the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- ECHL has affiliations with 23 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League and for the past 20 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion. - In the last six seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 2,500 call-ups involving more than 1,300 players since 2002-03.
- Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.

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