ECHL Today
January 2, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
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Gwinnett Gladiators (12-14-4) at South Carolina Stingrays (18-8-3) 7:05
p.m. ET
- Travis
Morin leads the Stingrays against Gwinnett with five assists and six
points in three games.
- Gwinnett's Brad
Schell has a four-game point streak (0g-5a) and a four-game assist
streak (5a).
- South Carolina's Bobby
Goepfert is 2-1-1 with a shutout and a goals-against average of 0.98 in
his last four starts.
- Gladiators are 0-3-0 when they are out shot by their opponent.
Cincinnati Cyclones (14-13-5) at Johnstown Chiefs (21-9-2) 7:05 p.m.
ET
- Chiefs are third in the league in scoring with 3.50 goals per game.
- Cyclones are 12-4-4 when scoring first and 9-0-2 when leading after two
periods.
- Johnstown's Ryan
Del Monte has a three-game point streak (2g-4a) and a three-game assist
streak (4a).
- Cincinnati defenseman Donny
Grover has a three-game point streak (0g-3a) and a three-game assist
streak (3a).
Dayton Bombers (17-10-4) at Trenton Devils (12-14-3) 7:30 p.m.
ET
- Trenton's Trevor
Kell has nine points (3g-6a) in his last seven games.
- Rookie Justin
Bowers leads the Bombers against Trenton with four assists and five
points in two games.
- Devils' Gerald
Coleman is 3-0-0 with an overtime win and a goals-against average of
1.48 in his last four starts.
- Mike
McLean led the Bombers in December with six goals and 11 points in 11
games.
Charlotte Checkers (16-12-2) at Florida Everblades (19-8-2) 7:30 p.m.
ET
- Everblades lead the league on the power play with 23.2 percent
(45-for-194).
- Checkers rookie Peter-James
Corsi had career highs on Wednesday with two goals, two assists and
four points.
- Florida is second in the ECHL with eight shorthand goals and tied for the
lead with two shorthand goals allowed.
- Charlotte rookie David
Rutherford had career bests on Wednesday with two assists and three
points.
Elmira Jackals (15-13-4) at Wheeling Nailers (20-5-5) 7:35 p.m.
ET
- Nailers have won the first two meetings, 5-2 at home on Nov. 29 and 4-1
at Elmira on Nov. 15.
- Elmira's Benoit
Doucet has four points (1g-3a) in his last two games.
- Wheeling's Bryan
Ewing has seven points (6g-1a) in his last four games.
- Jackals' Josh
Aspenlind has a six-game point streak (3g-3a).
Idaho Steelheads (18-11-2) at Ontario Reign (18-10-2) 7 p.m.
PT
- Reign's Jon
Francisco has a five-game point streak (4g-3a) and a four-game goal
streak (4g).
- Idaho rookie Matt
Climie is 4-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.50 in his last four
starts.
- Ontario rookie John
Murray is 5-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.75 in five starts at
home.
- Steelhead' Bryan
McGregor has a four-game point streak (4g-1a) and a four-game goal
streak (4g).
Bakersfield Condors (11-15-4) at Victoria Salmon Kings (21-9-2) 7:05
p.m. PT
- Salmon Kings have won the first two meetings, 2-0 at home on Dec. 9 and
3-0 at Bakersfield on Nov. 5.
- Condor rookie Matt
Pope has 11 points (6g-5a) in his last eight games.
- Victoria's Todd
Ford is 6-0-0 with two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.50 in
his last six starts.
- Bakersfield's Chad
Painchaud has 10 points (4g-6a) in his last six games.
Utah Grizzlies (11-12-5) at Las Vegas Wranglers (13-14-2) 7:30 p.m.
PT
- Wranglers' John
DeCaro is 2-0-0 with a shutout and a goals-against average of 1.46
against Utah.
- Grizzlies' Michael
Mole is 1-1-1 with a goals-against average of 1.97 against Las Vegas.
- Las Vegas rookie Adam
Miller has a five-game point streak (3g-6a) and a five-game assist
streak (6a).
- James
Sixsmith led the Grizzlies in December with nine assists and 14 points
in 11 games.
Stockton Thunder (10-17-5) at Alaska Aces (18-12-1) 7:15 p.m.
AT
- Alaska's Luke
Erickson has a four-game point streak (0g-4a) and a four-game assist
streak (4a).
- Stockton's Judd
Blackwater has seven points (3g-4a) in his last six games.
- Alaska's Cam
Keith has scored a point in 23 of his last 26 games (8g-25a).
- Stockton's Damian
Surma has a two-game goal streak (2g) and a two-game point streak
(2g-0a).
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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 21 teams in 16 states and British Columbia in
2008-09.
- The Reading Royals, the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center will
host the 17th
Annual ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21, 2009 and the 12th Annual All-Star
Skills Competition on Jan. 20, 2009.
- The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to
ECHL on May
19, 2003.
- Affiliations with 24 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League
marking 12th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with
at least 20 teams in the NHL.
- 385 former ECHL
players have played in NHL.
- 130 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 31 former ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season: former
Wheeling Nailers and ECHL All-Star defenseman Paul
Bissonnette (Pittsburgh on Oct. 4), former Bakersfield Condors center
Alexandre
Bolduc (Vancouver on Nov. 27), former Florida Everblades defenseman Brett
Carson (Carolina on Dec. 7), former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman
Sean
Collins (Washington on Dec. 6), former Las Vegas Wranglers and Wheeling
Nailers goaltender John
Curry (Pittsburgh on Nov. 26), former Greenville Grrrowl goaltender
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (Edmonton on Oct. 17), former Johnstown Chiefs
center Andre
Deveaux (Toronto on Nov. 27), former Dayton Bombers center Philippe
Dupuis (Colorado on Dec. 12), former Gwinnett Gladiators right wing Pat
Dwyer former Columbus Cottonmouths and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks left
wing Mitch
Fritz (New York Islanders on Oct. 30), former South Carolina Stingrays
right wing Andrew
Gordon (Washington on Dec. 23), former Charlotte Checkers center Dwight
Helminen (Carolina on Oct. 28), former Trenton Devils right wing Pierre-Luc
Letourneau-Leblond (New Jersey on Oct. 22), former Gwinnett Gladiators
defenseman Scott
Lehman (Atlanta on Dec. 18), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Steve
MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Florida Everblades left wing Kenndal
McArdle (Florida on Dec. 2), former Phoenix RoadRunners and Wheeling
Nailers center Cam
Paddock (St. Louis on Nov. 14), former Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman
Adam
Pardy (Calgary on Oct. 9), former Idaho Steelheads left wing Warren
Peters (Calgary on Dec. 7), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Corey
Potter (New York Rangers on Dec. 7), former Charlotte Checkers,
Columbia Inferno and Elmira Jackals defenseman Bryan
Rodney (Carolina on Dec. 11), former Gwinnett Gladiators center Jared
Ross (Philadelphia on Oct. 11), former Alaska Aces goaltender Marek
Schwarz (St. Louis on Oct. 25), former Greenville Grrrowl and Stockton
Thunder center Tim
Sestito (Edmonton on Nov. 26), former Dayton Bombers and Las Vegas
Wranglers defenseman Tyler
Sloan (Washington on Oct. 21), former Utah Grizzlies and ECHL All-Star
forward Trevor Smith (New York Islanders on Dec. 31), former Johnstown
Chiefs and Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Radek
Smolenak (Tampa Bay on Dec. 2), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett
Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27), former Las Vegas Wranglers and
ECHL All-Star defenseman Tyson
Strachan (St. Louis on Dec. 18), former Wheeling Nailers right wing Tim
Wallace (Pittsburgh on Dec. 10) and former Idaho Steelheads center Tom
Wandell (Dallas on Dec. 10).
- There were 72
former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters.
- Twenty-six former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2007-08 including
six who played in both the ECHL and the NHL: Chris
Beckford-Tseu (Alaska and St. Louis), Adam
Berti (Pensacola and Chicago), Joe
Jensen (Wheeling and Carolina), Dan
LaCosta (Elmira and Columbus), Jonathan
Quick (Reading and Los Angeles) and Danny
Taylor (Reading and Los Angeles).
- Record 47 former ECHL players played their first NHL game in 2005-06.
- ECHL is represented for the eighth consecutive year on the National
Hockey League championship team in 2008 by
Aaron Downey of the Detroit Red Wings.
- 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. 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 18 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in
the ECHL.
- There are 18 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL
officiating team 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 19 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 2,000 call-ups involving
more than 1,000 players since 2002-03.
- Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.
• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...
ECHL Stories from January 2, 2009
- Pope Scores Twice, but Victoria Wins 5-2 - Bakersfield Condors
- Blades Ride Four Power Play Goals to 6 -3 Win - Florida Everblades
- Jackals Win 3-2 - Elmira Jackals
- Chiefs Downed by Cincinnati - Johnstown Chiefs
- Nailers Fall Short in Comeback Effort - Wheeling Nailers
- Checkers Defeated by Everblades, 6-3 - Charlotte Checkers
- Devils Diffuse Bombers, 3-2 - Trenton Devils
- Goepfert Leads Way as Stingrays Blank Gladiators 2-0 - South Carolina Stingrays
- Bombers Drop Early Lead, Lose to Trenton 3-2 - Dayton Bombers
- 'Hats' Off To Cyclones In 3-1 Win at Johnstown - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Gladiators Blanked 2-0 By Stingrays - Atlanta Gladiators
- Cyclones Sign Forward Dustin Sproat - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Game Preview: Ontario Reign Vs Idaho Steelheads - Ontario Reign
- Florida native defenseman assigned to Blades from Albany - Florida Everblades
- Jay Langager is back with Bakersfield - Bakersfield Condors
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Forward Zaborsky Assigned to Bombers by NHL's New York Rangers - Dayton Bombers
- The "Big" Wait is Over - Elmira Jackals
- Blue Man Group Headlines 2009 Promotions - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Salmon Kings Switch Forwards With Moose - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Lower Level Sold Out for Pack the House Night on January 17 - South Carolina Stingrays
- Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Alaska Aces - Stockton Thunder
- Blades add forward McJannet; Lose Swee tland to AHL - Florida Everblades
- Sea Wolves Call Press Conference On January 6 - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Rays Guarantee a Win Tonight Against Gwinnett - South Carolina Stingrays
- Smith Becomes 386th ECHL Player To Play In NHL - ECHL
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Checkers Receive Graham from Wolf Pack - Charlotte Checkers
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