AHL Champion Hershey Has Record 17 ECHL Players
Published on June 15, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that for the 21st year in a row it is represented on the American Hockey League champion as 17 of the 28 players who played for Hershey played in the Premier 'AA' Hockey League. The head coach of the Bears, who won their league record 11th title overall and third in the last five years, is former ECHL assistant coach Mark French and the assistant coach is former ECHL player and coach Troy Mann.
It is the most former ECHL players on an AHL champion surpassing the 15 players for Hershey in 2009-10. There have been 58 former ECHL players on the last four AHL winners and 76 former ECHL players on the last six champions.
The ECHL has had affiliations with 20 or more teams in the AHL the last nine years and in the past eight seasons there have been more ECHL players called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined.
The South Carolina Stingrays are the ECHL affiliate for Hershey and ECHL All-Star Braden Holtby, Johann Kroll, Patrick Wellar and Dylan Yeo all played for South Carolina this season. Stefan Della Rovere, Michal Neuvrith and Steve Pinizzotto played for the Stingrays last year. Sean Collins, Andrew Gordon and Patrick McNeill played for South Carolina in 2007-08 and Kyle Wilson played for the Stingrays in 2006-07. Wellar also played in the ECHL with Peoria (2004-05), Alaska (2005-07), Columbia (2007-08) and Reading (2008-09) while Yeo also played for Victoria from 2007-09.
The other former ECHL players on the Bears are Greg Amadio (Columbia, 2003-05), Keith Aucoin (Florida, 2001-02), Jay Beagle (Idaho, 2006-07), Simon Ferguson (Greenville, 2004-05; Augusta, 2006-07 and Utah, 2009-10), Boyd Kane (Charlotte, 1998-01) and Ashton Rome (Phoenix, 2008-09 and Idaho, 2009-10).
French is the sixth former ECHL coach to win the Calder Cup championship joining Peter Laviolette (Providence, 1999), Jim Playfair (Saint John, 2001), Claude Noel (Milwaukee, 2004), Bruce Boudreau (Hershey, 2006) and Bob Woods (Hershey, 2009).
Sixteen of the 24 players on runner-up Texas had ECHL experience with Richard Bachman (Idaho, 2009-10), Matt Beaudoin (Dayton, 2007-08 and Las Vegas, 2007-09), Matt Climie (Idaho, 2008-09), Maxime Fortunus (Louisiana, 2003-05), Aaron Gagnon (Idaho, 2007-08), Ethan Graham (Idaho, 2007-08 and Charlotte, 2008-10), Andrew Hutchinson (Toledo, 2002-03), Sergei Korostin (Idaho, 2009-10), Brent Krahn (Las Vegas, 2003-04 and 2008-09), Trevor Ludwig (Idaho, 2008-10), Scott McCulloch (Las Vegas, 2008-09), Travis Morin (South Carolina, 2006-09), Warren Peters (Idaho, 2003-05), Greg Rallo (Idaho, 2005-08), Matt Stephenson (Idaho, 2008-09) and Francis Wathier (Idaho, 2006-07).
Former Las Vegas head coach Glen Gulutzan, who was named ECHL Coach of the Year in 2006 and led the Wranglers to the 2008 Kelly Cup Finals, is in his first season as the Stars' head coach. Other former ECHL personnel with the Stars are general manager Scott White, athletic trainer Brad Jellis, equipment manager Brian Garcia and broadcaster Josh Fisher.
Josh Tordjman, who played for the Phoenix RoadRunners in the ECHL, was selected as the AHL's Man of the Year for 2010.
Seven times in the last 10 years the winner of the AHL Coach of the Year award has been a former ECHL coach including Scott Gordon, Mike Haviland and Kevin Dineen in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Former ECHL coaches won the award four consecutive years from 2001-04 with Don Granato, Bruce Cassidy, Geoff Ward and Claude Noel. The first former ECHL coach to win the award was Peter Laviolette in 1999.
For the third season in a row at least nine former ECHL players were named Reebok/AHL Player of the Week with former Dayton Bombers and Las Vegas Wranglers right wing Matt Beaudoin, former Augusta Lynx, Greenville Grrrowl, Pensacola Ice Pilots and Toledo Storm goaltender Mike Brodeur, former Columbia Inferno left wing Alex Foster, former Victoria Salmon Kings goaltender Leland Irving, former Utah Grizzlies goaltender Peter Mannino, former Texas Wildcatters defenseman Maxim Noreau, former Dayton Bombers and Florida Everblades goaltender Tyler Plante, former Bakersfield Condors goaltender Justin Pogge and former Wheeling Nailers goaltender Brad Thiessen.
There were 11 former ECHL players and two former ECHL coaches in the 2010 AHL All-Star Classic.
ECHL Stories from June 15, 2010
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