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Aces Clinch Kelly Cup Playoffs Berth, Threaten To Repeat

February 26, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


For the second straight year the Alaska Aces are the first team to clinch a berth in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The defending Brabham Cup and Kelly Cup champions have now reached the postseason in each of their first four seasons.

Alaska is 39-13-3 and leads the league with 81 points, 39 wins and a winning percentage of .736. After beginning the season 6-6-0, Alaska is 33-7-3 in its last 43 games including 20-3-1 in the last 24 games. If Alaska remains in first place they would become the first team in ECHL history to repeat as the regular season champion.

A year ago the Aces secured their playoff berth in 52 games with 85 points and a 41-8-3 record. Alaska finished 2005-06 with the second-highest point total in league history and was 53-12-7 tying the league record for second most wins. Alaska became only the second team in history to win both the regular season point championship and the postseason championship, joining the South Carolina Stingrays who captured the Brabham Cup and the Kelly Cup in 1997.

The Aces return home to host Bakersfield on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Aces are 1-1-0 at home and 3-3-0 overall against Bakersfield in 2006-07 and 15-13-1 all-time against the Condors.

Alaska has won a team record 12 consecutive home games to improve to 20-6-1, marking the fourth season in a row that they have won 20 or more games at Sullivan Arena. The Aces won 11 consecutive home games from Oct. 30-Dec. 30, 2005 and finished 30-4-2 tying the ECHL record for most home wins.



Chiefs Gaining Ground In North Division

Johnstown picked up four crucial points last week to improve to 24-22-5 and move into the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division with 53 points, one point in front of Dayton (24-20-4) and two points behind fourth-place Toledo (27-21-1). The Chiefs, who have won their last three games and are 7-2-1 in the last 10 games, host Dayton on Wednesday and Toledo on Sunday while traveling to Reading on Friday and Wheeling on Saturday.

In the North Division, berths in the Kelly Cup Playoffs will be awarded to the first-place team as well as to the next four-best teams, based on regular-season point totals. The fourth seed and the fifth seed will play a best-of-three series in the Division Quarterfinals with the winner advancing to meet the division winner in the Division Semifinals, a best-of-five series that also had the second seed playing the third seed. The winners will advance to the best-of-seven Division Finals with the winner advancing to the American Conference Finals to meet the winner of the South Division.

Cincinnati continues to lead the division with 60 points (28-20-4), which is three points ahead of Trenton (26-22-5) and four points in front of third-place Reading (25-24-6). The Cyclones travel to California where they will play at Fresno on Tuesday and Sunday and at Stockton on Friday and Saturday. Trenton travels to Ohio where it will play at Toledo on Friday and Saturday and at Dayton on Sunday. Reading, which has won season-high five games and a season best four home games in a row, will host Johnstown on Friday and Dayton on Saturday before traveling to Wheeling on Sunday.

Toledo, which has won its last two games and is 4-1-0 in the last five games, will travel to Dayton on Tuesday and to Johnstown on Sunday while hosting Wheeling on Wednesday and Trenton on Friday and Saturday. Dayton will look to climb back into the race when it hosts Toledo on Tuesday and Trenton on Sunday while playing at Johnstown on Wednesday, at Wheeling on Friday and at Reading on Saturday.



National Conference Race Keeps Pace

The race for the Kelly Cup Playoffs didn't change drastically in the National Conference.

Alaska, which became the first team to qualify for the postseason for the second season in a row, remains in first place with a league-leading 81 points (39-13-3). Las Vegas is 7-1-2 in its last 10 games and 13-3-4 in the last 20 to improve to 30-10-3, which puts the Wranglers in second place in the conference and first in the Pacific Division with 73 points. The Wranglers host Idaho on Tuesday and Phoenix on Friday and Saturday while traveling to Phoenix on Thursday.

In the National Conference, playoff berths will be awarded to the first-place team in each division as well as to the next six-best teams, based on regular-season point totals, and all playoff series will be best-of-seven games. In the Conference Quarterfinals, which will be best-of-seven game series, the division winners will be seeded first and second in order of points and the next six-best teams will be seeded third through eighth in order of points. In the Conference Semifinals and the Conference Finals, teams will be re-seeded according to the same criteria as the Conference Quarterfinals with division leaders seeded first and second while the remaining teams will be seeded in order of regular-season points.

Bakersfield is 6-1-3 in its last 10 games improving to 31-13-8 placing the Condors second in the Pacific Division and third in the conference with 70 points. Bakersfield hosts Phoenix on Tuesday before traveling to Alaska for games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Idaho, which is 8-1-1 in the last 10 games, is second in the West Division and fourth in the conference with 64 points (30-18-4) followed by Fresno which is third in the Pacific Division and fifth in the conference with 60 points (28-20-4). Idaho plays at Las Vegas on Tuesday and at Long Beach on Friday and Saturday while Fresno hosts Cincinnati on Tuesday and Sunday and Victoria on Friday and Saturday.

After picking up a pair of wins on the road against South Division leader Texas, Stockton improved to 24-17-10 and is fourth in the Pacific Division and sixth in the conference with 58 points followed by Phoenix with 52 points (24-26-4). The Thunder and RoadRunners are both looking for their first Kelly Cup Playoff appearance.

Continuing to hold the eighth and final berth in the National Conference is Victoria, which has missed the postseason each of its first two seasons. The Salmon Kings have 49 points (24-31-1) which is six points ahead of Utah (19-30-5) and eight points in front of Long Beach (19-30-3). The Salmon Kings, who are 4-2-0 in their last six games, play at Fresno on Friday and Saturday while Utah hosts Texas on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.



One Point Separates Top Three Teams In South Division

Picking up six points in five games, Gwinnett improved to 34-16-2 and is tied for second place in the South Division with Florida (34-16-2) at 70 points, one point behind leader Texas (31-16-9).

Gwinnett plays at Columbia on Friday while Florida, which is 8-2-0 in its last 10 games, hosts Augusta on Tuesday before traveling to Augusta on Friday, Columbia on Saturday and Charlotte on Sunday. The Everblades are 5-0-0 against Augusta, 5-1-0 against Columbia and 5-2-0 against Charlotte. The Wildcatters travel to Utah where they will play the Grizzlies on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

In the South Division, berths in the Kelly Cup Playoffs are awarded to the first-place team as well as to the next four-best teams based on regular-season point totals. The fourth seed and the fifth seed will play a best-of-three game series in the Division Quarterfinals with the winner advancing to meet the division leader in the Division Semifinals, a best-of-five series that also had the second seed playing the third seed. The winners will advance to the best-of-seven Division Finals with the winner advancing to the American Conference Finals to meet the winner of the North Division.

Texas, which has not qualified for the postseason in its first two seasons since relocating to Beaumont in 2003-04, has already surpassed its team highs with 31 wins, 15 road wins and 16 home wins. The Wildcatters, who were unable to play a year ago because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, already have 26 more points than they did in 2004-05 and 21 more points than its first season in 2003-04.

Augusta is in fourth place with 63 points (30-22-3) and is two points ahead of Charlotte (29-20-3), which is holding the fifth and final berth in the South Division. The Checkers picked up a pair of wins last week against South Carolina, which is two points behind the Charlotte at 26-21-7. The Checkers play at Augusta on Saturday and host Florida on Sunday while South Carolina visits Pensacola on Saturday and Sunday. Charlotte is 3-3-0 against Augusta and 2-3-2 against Florida while the Stingrays are 4-1-0 against the Ice Pilots.

Gwinnett leads the league with 229 goals and 4.16 goals per game after finishing atop the ECHL a year ago with 304 goals and 4.29 goals per game. The Gladiators also lead the league with 99 power-play goals and a power-play percentage of 25.1 percent. Gwinnett is on pace to score 129 power-play goals which would break the ECHL record of 115 power-play goals set by Nashville in 1995-96. The Gladiators scored 114 power-play goals last season and led the league with a power-play percentage of 24.1 percent, which was the highest percentage since 1999-2000 when Greenville had 24.3 percent.



Thunder Continue To Lead Attendance Race

Bakersfield, Long Beach, Phoenix and Wheeling each had their second largest crowd of the year while Florida, Gwinnett, Reading and Trenton combined to draw almost 60,000 helping league attendance grow to 2,707,053 and 4,095 per game.

Bakersfield had its third crowd of more than 8,000 with 8,328 on Feb. 24 against Phoenix and raised its average to 5,757 per game which is fourth in the league. The Condors average is up from last season as they try to increase average attendance for the fourth straight season since joining as an expansion team in 2003-04.

Returning home from a nine-game road trip, Long Beach had its second-largest and fourth-largest crowds of the year on Feb. 24 and 25. Phoenix had its second-largest crowd of the year with 6,575 on Feb. 23 and Wheeling welcomed 3,936 for its game on Feb. 24. Trenton continued to raise its average with more than 12,500 including 4,712 on Feb. 24 which ties the second-largest crowd of the season.

Twelve of the 23 returning teams have seen their average attendance increase from last season as the league tries to raise attendance for the fourth year in a row for the first time ever. The ECHL had its largest average since 1999-2000 with 4,327 per game in 2005-06 as 13 of 22 returning teams raised attendance.

Stockton continues to lead the league with 6,853 per game, which is up more than seven percent from a year ago when the Thunder led the league in their inaugural season. Stockton's average is the largest since 2000-01 when Florida led the ECHL with 7,086 per game and Greenville was second with 7,015.

Florida had more than 18,000 for its three games and raised its average to 6,087 per game which is second in the league while Charlotte is third with 6,048 per game, an increase of almost 3.5 percent from last season. Gwinnett had more than 11,000 for two games to raise its average to 5,643 per game which is up 2.1 percent from last season.

Idaho had more than 9,200 for two games to raise its average to 4,357 per game while Reading had 16,300 in three days to increase its average to 5,183 per game, which is sixth in the league. South Carolina's attendance is up to 5,047 per game while original member Johnstown has increased its average by more than 2 percent to 2,475 per game.

Utah leads the league in increased attendance with 10.83 percent followed by Fresno with 10.38 percent and Dayton at 10.28 percent. The Grizzlies average 4,311 per game while the Falcons and Bombers average 4,983 per game and 3,851 per game, respectively.

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