Aces aplenty on all-ECHL teams
April 5, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
STOCKTON, Calif. - Goaltender Matt Underhill and the league leader in scoring, rookie winger Alex Leavitt, led a parade of four Alaska Aces selected to either the first or second team all-ECHL today.
Defenseman Ryan Gaucher, currently on a call-up to Providence (AHL), joined Underhill and Leavitt on the first team, while fellow blue-liner Peter Metcalf received second-team recognition. Underhill stopped 24 shots last night to collect his league-leading 34th win of the season, a 3-2 decision at Fresno. At 34-10-3, the former Cornell stand-out also is tied for the league lead with five shutouts and ranks second in the ECHL with a 2.20 goals against average.
Leavitt assisted on two of Alaska's three goals last night to take over the league lead in scoring at 87 points on 24 goals and an ECHL-best 63 assists. Named to the ECHL All-Star Game in January (where he scored a goal) and the all-rookie team just yesterday, the 21-year-old Leavitt is trying to become only the third rookie ever to lead the league in scoring and the first in 15 years.
Gaucher still leads all ECHL defensemen in scoring with 60 points on 15 goals and 45 assists (also a league-best for a blue-liner) despite not having played for the Aces since March 4. He has one goal and two assists in 12 games for the Bruins since being called up, and will not return to Alaska until Providence has completed its Calder Cup playoff run. Gaucher also was a first team all-ECHL selection in 2003 and joined Leavitt at the 2006 ECHL All-Star Game, his third appearance, and second as a starter.
Metcalf has a commanding lead in the race for the ECHL plus/minus title at +43, to go along with 51 points (second only to Gaucher among the league's defensemen) on 13 goals and 38 assists. Now in his fourth year as a pro after being drafted by Toronto in 1999, the same year he won an NCAA title while at the University of Maine, Metcalf jump-started his outstanding season with a career-high four goals against his former team in an 8-2 rout of Idaho back in November.
Alaska meets Stockton tonight at 6:00 p.m. AST, needing two wins in its last three games (all on the road) to secure a second straight West Division title. The Aces improved to 51-11-7 overall last night and lead the division by one point over second-place Las Vegas with a game in hand. All Alaska Aces games are broadcast live on KFQD AM 750 and at www.alaskaaces.com, where all home games and selected road contests also are available on a pay-per-view basis, courtesy of B2 Networks.
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