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Reebok Hockey Is ECHL All-Star Game Presenting Sponsor

Published on July 23, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that Reebok Hockey will be the presenting sponsor for the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game and Skills Competition.

"The All-Star Game is the annual showcase for the best ECHL talent and young prospects and we are proud to bring Reebok Hockey on board as the presenting sponsor" said ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna. "The combination of the best ECHL talent and Reebok Hockey high-performance products is an ideal combination."

"Reebok Hockey is very pleased to be the presenting sponsor for the ECHL All-Star Game. The ECHL, its member teams and its talented roster of players provide Reebok Hockey with an ideal platform to showcase our high-performance products," said Glen Thornborough, Reebok Hockey Vice President of Global Sports Marketing. "Our commitment to delivering breakthrough product innovation is clearly demonstrated through the 8.0.8 O-stick which is just one of the great products that help ECHL players perform at the top of their game."

Reebok Hockey will receive promotional opportunities; in-arena signage, including dasherboards; television, radio and print advertisements; internet exposure and web site presence. Reebok Hockey was the title sponsor for the 2007 All-Star Game hosted by the Idaho Steelheads.

The Ontario Reign, the City of Ontario and Citizens Business Bank Arena will host the 18th Annual ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 20, 2010 and the 13th Annual All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 19, 2010. In their first season in 2008-09, the Reign finished second in the ECHL in attendance with 5,856 fans in the regular season and drew more than 27,000 for their final three home games, including back-to-back sellouts at the 8,500-seat Citizens Business Bank Arena.

Reebok Hockey has been the exclusive supplier of hockey sticks, helmets, visors, gloves, pants, track suits and protective equipment for ECHL players the past five seasons and has been partners of the Premier 'AA' Hockey League for more than 10 years. Reebok Hockey is the official sponsor of the ECHL weekly goaltender award as well as the monthly player and rookie awards and the yearly awards for goaltender, plus-minus rating, rookie, and most valuable player.

Reebok-CCM Hockey, a subsidiary of the adidas Group, is headquartered in Montreal. With operations in Canada, the United States and Europe, the Company is the world's largest designer, manufacturer and marketer of hockey equipment and related apparel under two of the most recognized hockey brand names: Reebok Hockey and CCM Hockey. Reebok-CCM Hockey equips more professional hockey players than any other company, including superstars like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. Reebok-CCM Hockey is also the official outfitter of the National Hockey League, the Champions Hockey League, the American Hockey League, the Canadian Hockey League, the ECHL and several NCAA and national teams.

Six coaches and 51 players from the All-Star Game have advanced to the National Hockey League. The annual midseason showcase is attended by representatives from the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League and there have been 33 players who have gone on to play in the NHL since 2002 when the lineups began having players who coaches felt were prospects to move up to a higher level.

The past seven ECHL All-Star Games have generated more than $1 million each for the local economy as guests, players, coaches and fans occupy hundreds of hotel rooms and spend three days in the host city.

The All-Star festivities will also include the official induction ceremony for the third class of the ECHL Hall of Fame.

The game has been available live on the NHL Network the last seven years as well as being broadcast on multiple regional networks. The audio broadcast has been carried on XM Satellite Radio as well as being available in all ECHL markets.

The Stanley Cup and the Patrick J. Kelly Cup will both be on display throughout the event, marking the 10th time in the last 11 years that the NHL championship trophy and the ECHL championship trophy have been displayed together at the All-Star Game.

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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