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2007-08 ECHL All-Rookie Team Announced

April 3, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release




PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL on Thursday announced its All-Rookie Team for 2007-08 as determined in a vote of ECHL coaches, who were asked to select a goaltender, two defensemen and three forwards. A rookie is defined as a player who has played in less than 25 professional games prior to the start of the current season.

2007-08 ECHL All-Rookie Team

F - Matt Beaudoin, Dayton Bombers (62 gp, 38g, 31a, 69 pts, -7)
F - David Desharnais, Cincinnati Cyclones (66 gp, 28g, 74a, 102 pts, +35)
F - Josh Soares, Alaska Aces (59 gp, 36g, 45a, 81 pts, -1) D - Ryan Gunderson, Trenton Devils (70 gp, 4g, 40a, 44 pts, -14)
D - Adrian Veideman, Augusta Lynx (65 gp, 10g, 29a, 39 pts, -1)
G - Anton Khudobin, Texas Wildcatters (27 gp, 20-1-4, 1.98 GAA, .934 Save Pct.)

David Desharnais of Cincinnati leads the ECHL with 74 assists, 38 power-play assists and 102 points while his plus-minus rating of +35 leads league rookies and is second overall. His 102 points is the most scored by a rookie since 1996-97 when Dany Bousquet of Pee Dee had 107 points (54g-53a) in 68 games. The 21 year old is 13th among the 16 rookies who have scored 100 points, two points behind John Young of Greensboro, who had 104 points (35g-69a) in 66 games in 1993-94 and Sheldon Gorski of Louisville, who had 104 points (51g-53a) in 62 games in 1990-91. Desharnais has been named Vector CCM Rookie of the Month in November, February and March. He set the ECHL record with an assist in 20 consecutive games from Jan. 5-Feb. 29 and he had the fourth-longest scoring streak in league history with 27 games from Dec. 31, 2007-Mar. 12, 2008. He has already broken the team record of 75 points by Gorski in 1997-98 and Matt Noga in 2002-03 and the club mark of 51 assists by Noga in 2002-03. He was selected to the ECHL All-Star Game after scoring 27 points (6g-21a) in 22 games. He is under AHL contract to Hamilton and has one assist and six penalty minutes in four games with the Bulldogs.

Matt Beaudoin of Dayton leads all rookies and is third overall in the ECHL with 38 goals while he is first among rookies and second overall with 16 power-play goals in 62 games. The 23 year old is tied for sixth among rookies and 12th overall with 69 points. He signed with Hershey of the American Hockey League on Mar. 26 and has appeared in four games with the Bears. He has also played three games in the AHL with Iowa and one game with Rochester.

Josh Soares of Alaska is tied for second among rookies and tied for fourth overall with 81 points in 59 games. He is second among rookies and fourth overall with 36 goals and tied for second among rookies and tied for fifth overall with six game-winning goals. The 26 year old was selected to the ECHL All-Star Game after scoring 14 goals and 30 points in 24 games. He is under AHL contract to Peoria and has four points (2g-2a) in seven games with the Rivermen.

Ryan Gunderson of Trenton leads ECHL rookie defensemen and ranks second overall among defensemen with 40 assists while his 44 points in 70 games leads all first-year defensemen and is tied for fifth overall. The 22 year old was selected to the ECHL All-Star Game after leading ECHL defensemen with 17 assists and tying for third among blue liners with 19 points in 25 games.

Adrian Veideman of Augusta is second among first-year defensemen and tied for 10th overall with 39 points in 65 games. He is second among rookie defensemen and tied for seventh overall among defensemen with 10 goals. Veideman, who will turn 25 years old on Apr. 13, was selected to the ECHL All-Star Game after ranking second among rookie defensemen with 13 assists and third with 16 points in 26 games. He is under AHL contract to Portland and has two points (1g-1a) and two penalty minutes in six games with the Pirates.

Anton Khudobin of Texas is 20-1-4 and leads ECHL goaltenders with a goals-against average of 1.98 and a save percentage of .934 in 27 games. Selected in the seventh round (206th overall) by Minnesota in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and under NHL contract to the Wild, he posted back-to-back shutouts in his last two starts on Feb. 1 and 12 and is tied for third in the league with three shutouts. The native of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan was voted to the ECHL All-Star Game after going 10-0-3 with a goals-against average of 1.85 and a save percentage of .938 in his first 14 games. The 21 year old was reassigned by Minnesota to Houston of the American Hockey League on Feb. 13 and he is 2-2-1 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 1.99 and a save percentage of .911 in 12 games with the Aeros.

Since the ECHL began naming the All-Rookie Team in 2000-01, seven players selected have gone on to play in the NHL: Kevin Doell (2003-04), Vern Fiddler (2001-02), Simon Gamache (2001-02), Mike Glumac (2002-03), Jason Jaffray (2002-03), Joey Tenute (2004-05) and Zenon Konopka (2002-03).

The ECHL will announce its First-Team All-ECHL and Second-Team All-ECHL teams on Friday.

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