Alaska Wins ECHL Marketing Award Of Excellence

Published on July 8, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release

PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that the Alaska Aces are the 2008-09 recipient of the ECHL Award of Excellence for Marketing.

The award recognizes the ECHL team that executes a well-rounded marketing, sponsorship and advertising campaign with consideration given to sponsorship sales, advertising, marketing campaign and promotions.

Runners up for the award were the Bakersfield Condors and the Charlotte Checkers.

Alaska won the award in 2006-07 and 2004-05 and the team was recognized with the Marketing Campaign of the Year award in 2007-08.

The Aces created standout marketing initiatives to generate national interest while strengthening community involvement through programs and events focused on the lifestyle habits of fans. The programs included Return, Recycle & Score, a program that encouraged the recycling of gift wrap and boxes during the holiday season; Pets R People 2; and Pink Night which generated more than $100,000 for local cancer charities.

ECHL Marketing Award Of Excellence

Year Team
2008-09 Alaska Aces
2007-08 Bakersfield Condors and Charlotte Checkers
2006-07 Alaska Aces and Charlotte Checkers
2005-06 San Diego Gulls
2004-05 Alaska Aces
2003-04 Eric Trapp and John Cunningham, Idaho Steelheads
2002-03 Bart Rogers and Mike Nelson, Peoria Rivermen
2001-02 Mark Miller Florida Everblades
2000-01 Richard Lisk Trenton Titans
99-2000 Bart Rogers Peoria Rivermen
1998-99 Pat Pylypuik Toledo Storm
1997-98 Neil Hoyt Pensacola Ice Pilots
1996-97 Belinda Wiggins Richmond Renegades

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.

ECHL Stories from July 8, 2009

• Alaska Wins ECHL Marketing Award Of Excellence - ECHL
• Chiefs Bring Back Referral Rewards Program - Johnstown Chiefs
• K-Wings Sign Three - Kalamazoo Wings

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