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25 Teams Open 19th Season ECHL October 20

Published on July 17, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL will open its 19th season with 12 games on Oct. 20 including the Alaska Aces raising the Kelly Cup championship banner to the rafters of Sullivan Arena in Anchorage prior to their game against the Victoria Salmon Kings.

The ECHL welcomes the Cincinnati Cyclones and the Texas Wildcatters back to the ice in 2006-07 and will play 900 games, beginning Oct. 20 and ending Apr. 7, with 25 teams in 16 states and British Columbia.

The division and conference alignments and the format for the 2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs will be announced following the Preseason Board of Governors Meeting in September.

The ECHL raised its average attendance for the third straight year in 2005-06 drawing 3,934,794 for 900 games which is an average of 4,372 per game, an increase of more than nine percent from 2004-05 and the largest per-game average since 1999-2000. Six teams surpassed 200,000 and nine teams averaged 5,000 per game for the first time since 1999-2000 as the league welcomed 39 sellout crowds and 13 of the 22 returning teams raised their average attendance from a year ago.

The Sullivan Arena will be packed on Oct. 20 when the Alaska Aces will raise their Kelly Cup championship and Brabham Cup championship banners before their game against the Victoria Salmon Kings. Alaska is only the second team in 18 years to win both the regular season point title and the postseason title and is the first team to win the ECHL postseason by defeating three teams that had 100 points in the regular season. The Aces are only the second team to bring a national professional sports championship to the state of Alaska and the first to do so since 1980. Alaska sold out its last nine games in the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs to break its league record of seven consecutive postseason sellouts set in 2005. Since joining as an expansion team in 2003-04, Alaska has sold out 18 of its 22 games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs and 16 games in the regular season.

Fresno will raise its Pacific Division championship banner at Save Mart Center on Oct. 20 when they host the Las Vegas Wranglers. The Falcons finished atop the division in the regular season with a team record 43 wins and 100 points in 2005-06, and qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time since joining the ECHL as an expansion team in 2003-04.

In addition seeing the raising of South Division and American Conference championship banners, fans will get their first glimpse of the display at The Arena At Gwinnett Center that honors Cam Brown when the Gladiators host the South Carolina Stingrays on Oct. 20. Brown retires as the ECHL career regular season leader with 789 games and 2,425 penalty minutes.

Toledo will look for its fourth straight season-opening sellout and will hoist the North Division championship banner to the rafters of historic Toledo Sports Arena on Oct. 20 when in-state rival Dayton visits.

After advancing to the postseason for the first time in five seasons in 2006, Augusta, which has new ownership and an affiliation with the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, will begin the quest to return to the Kelly Cup Playoffs on Oct. 20 against the Columbia Inferno.

Having reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season and winning its first-ever postseason series last year, Bakersfield opens its season on Oct. 20 when it hosts the Stockton Thunder. The Condors raised their attendance for the third consecutive season a year ago while drawing more than 200,000 fans for the first time in history as they ranked fifth in the league with 201,729 and 5,603 per game.

Charlotte is under new local ownership and the Checkers will open their second season at Bobcats Arena on Oct. 20 against the Wheeling Nailers. In their first season playing in downtown Charlotte, the Checkers increased their average attendance by more than 15.5 percent and led the league with 10 sellouts, including two crowds over 10,000 and four crowds in excess of 9,000, while reaching the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Hockey will make its return to U.S. Bank Arena for the first time since Mar. 26, 2004 when the Cincinnati Cyclones host the Pensacola Ice Pilots on Oct. 20. The Cyclones requested and were granted a Voluntary Suspension by the ECHL for the 2004-05 and the 2005-06 seasons. Cincinnati reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs two of its three seasons from 2001-04, including losing in Game 7 of the Northern Conference Finals to Kelly Cup champion Atlantic City in 2003.

Florida will take the first step in regaining its attendance crown on Oct. 20 when it hosts the Texas Wildcatters. The Everblades led the ECHL in attendance from 2000-05 and have not drawn less than 220,000 fans or averaged below 6,200 fans per game in each of their seven seasons in the league.

New ownership and new coach Rick Adduono have created excitement for the Long Beach Ice Dogs who will host the Idaho Steelheads on Oct. 20. The Ice Dogs have reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs each of the past seasons and will look to advance farther in the postseason with Adduono, who won Kelly Cup titles with South Carolina in 1997 and 2001.

Phoenix will play its second season opener in the ECHL against Utah when the RoadRunners host the Grizzlies on Oct. 20 at US Airways Center.

Longtime rivals Trenton and Reading begin the season with a home-and-home with the Titans hosting the Royals on Oct. 20 and the Royals hosting the Titans on Oct. 21. The Royals set a team record with 7,315 for their game against Trenton on Mar. 4, one of two sellouts for Reading which drew more than 200,000 in 2005-06 for the third time in five seasons.

One of the original five teams when the ECHL began in 1988-89, Johnstown opens its 19th season on Oct. 21 when the Chiefs host the Pensacola Ice Pilots. The Chiefs reached the postseason for the second time in three years and increased their average attendance by more than 1.5 percent.

South Carolina opens its 14th season in North Charleston on Oct. 21 when it hosts in-state rival Columbia. The Stingrays have reached the postseason in each of their 13 seasons which is a league record for appearances and consecutive appearances.

Led by ECHL Coach of the Year Glen Gulutzan, Las Vegas will be looking to improve on last year's record-setting season when they host the Phoenix RoadRunners on Oct. 24. The Wranglers won their first playoff series a year ago beating Idaho in seven games in the division semifinals while becoming only the second team in league history to come back after trailing 3-1 in a series. Las Vegas was 53-13-6 and tied the league record for second-most wins (53) while finishing with the third-highest point total (112).

The Victoria Salmon Kings with new coach Tony MacAulay open their second season in the Save-On-Foods Centre on Oct. 25 when they host the Idaho Steelheads.

Columbia has a new affiliation with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL and a new coach in Troy Mann. The Inferno, who missed the postseason for the first time in their five-year history last season, will play their home opener on Oct. 27 against the Augusta Lynx. The Pensacola Ice Pilots play their 10th home opener in Florida when they host the Texas Wildcatters on Oct. 27 while the Utah Grizzlies play their home opener against the Las Vegas Wranglers that same day.

Coming off a season that saw it win its first playoff series since 1998 while raising its attendance to its highest average since 2001-02, Wheeling opens its 15th season in West Virginia on Oct. 27 when it hosts the Johnstown Chiefs.

Following a one-year hiatus created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Texas Wildcatters return to Ford Arena on Oct. 28 when they host the Pensacola Ice Pilots. The Wildcatters have a new coach in Malcolm Cameron, who led Long Beach to the Kelly Cup Playoffs in both of his seasons behind the Ice Dogs bench.

After leading the ECHL in total attendance with 228,364 and average attendance with 6,343 per game in their first season in 2005-06, the Stockton Thunder will open their second season on Oct. 28 against the Long Beach Ice Dogs.

Beginning the celebration of 10 years of hockey in Boise, the Idaho Steelheads, who had seven sellouts last season and 13 in the last two years, will host the Utah Grizzlies on Nov. 3. The celebration in Idaho will continue when the ECHL takes its annual midseason break in January for the Rbk Hockey ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 17 and Rbk Hockey Skills Competition on Jan. 16 hosted by the Steelheads at Qwest Arena.

Dayton will be the last team to open at home as the Bombers host the Florida Everblades at the Nutter Center on Nov. 4.

The first meeting between Alaska and Las Vegas will be Nov. 16 when the Aces visit the Wranglers in the first of three games in a row at the Orleans Arena. Alaska beat Las Vegas in six games in the West Division Finals on its way to capturing the Kelly Cup.

It will be a Kelly Cup Finals rematch on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3 when Alaska visits Gwinnett. The Aces won the ECHL championship with a 4-3 win at Gwinnett in Game 5. Toledo and Wheeling will meet for the first time since the North Division Finals on Dec. 8 when the Storm visits Wheeling and Dec. 9 when the Nailers travel to Toledo.

Bakersfield visits Fresno on Nov. 28, the first meeting since the Falcons won the Pacific Division title with a 4-2 win in Game 7. The Condors will travel east in December to visit Trenton on Dec. 8 and 9 and Johnstown on Dec. 10. Long Beach will host Bakersfield on Oct. 22 in a rematch of the division semifinals won in seven games by the Condors.

Florida will look to avenge its division finals loss when it plays at Gwinnett on Dec. 10 while Cincinnati will travel to California visiting Fresno on Feb. 27 and Mar. 4 and Stockton on Mar. 2 and 3. Long Beach will be looking to beat former coach Malcolm Cameron when it visits the Texas Wildcatters on Feb. 1, Feb. 2 and Feb. 3.

Las Vegas will play at midnight for the fourth consecutive year when it hosts Bakersfield on Dec. 18. The Wranglers are the only professional hockey team to play at midnight, a tradition the team began on Dec. 22, 2003.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL had affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League and 21 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey League in 2005-06. There have been 303 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06 and 158 in the past five seasons, and there were 13 former ECHL coaches behind the benches of NHL teams in 2005-06. The ECHL had 416 call ups to the AHL, involving 263 players, in 2005-06. The ECHL has had more players called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined each of the past four seasons with 1,646 call ups involving almost 1,000 players.



2006-07 ECHL Home Openers

Alaska Aces
Oct. 20 vs. Victoria Salmon Kings

Augusta Lynx
Oct. 20 vs. Columbia Inferno

Bakersfield Condors
Oct. 20 vs. Stockton Thunder

Charlotte Checkers
Oct. 20 vs. Wheeling Nailers

Cincinnati Cyclones
Oct. 20 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots

Columbia Inferno
Oct. 27 vs. Augusta Lynx

Dayton Bombers
Nov. 4 vs. Florida Everblades

Florida Everblades
Oct. 20 vs. Texas Wildcatters

Fresno Falcons
Oct. 20 vs. Las Vegas Wranglers

Gwinnett Gladiators
Oct. 20 vs. South Carolina Stingrays

Idaho Steelheads
Nov. 3 vs. Utah Grizzlies

Johnstown Chiefs
Oct. 21 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots

Las Vegas Wranglers
Oct. 24 vs. Phoenix RoadRunners

Long Beach Ice Dogs
Oct. 20 vs. Idaho Steelheads

Pensacola Ice Pilots
Oct. 27 vs. Texas Wildcatters

Phoenix RoadRunners
Oct. 20 vs. Utah Grizzlies

Reading Royals
Oct. 21 vs. Trenton Titans

South Carolina Stingrays
Oct. 21 vs. Columbia Inferno

Stockton Thunder
Oct. 28 vs. Long Beach Ice Dogs

Texas Wildcatters
Oct. 28 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots

Toledo Storm
Oct. 20 vs. Dayton Bombers

Trenton Titans
Oct. 20 vs. Reading Royals

Utah Grizzlies
Oct. 27 vs. Las Vegas Wranglers

Victoria Salmon Kings
Oct. 25 vs. Idaho Steelheads

Wheeling Nailers
Oct. 27 vs. Johnstown Chiefs


A text version of the league schedule and text versions of individual team schedules are available by clicking the links below.

2006-07 ECHL Schedule

Alaska Aces

Augusta Lynx

Bakersfield Condors

Charlotte Checkers

Cincinnati Cyclones

Columbia Inferno

Dayton Bombers

Florida Everblades

Fresno Falcons

Gwinnett Gladiators

Idaho Steelheads

Johnstown Chiefs

Las Vegas Wranglers

Long Beach Ice Dogs

Pensacola Ice Pilots

Phoenix RoadRunners

Reading Royals

South Carolina Stingrays

Stockton Thunder

Texas Wildcatters

Toledo Storm

Trenton Titans

Utah Grizzlies

Victoria Salmon Kings

Wheeling Nailers

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ECHL Stories from July 17, 2006


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