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Alaska Wins Third Consecutive Brabham Cup

March 24, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The Alaska Aces clinched their third consecutive Brabham Cup championship on Saturday by virtue of a 2-1 win at Colorado. Alaska, which became the first team to win back-to-back Brabham Cups last season, extends its record for most consecutive regular-season championships.

This marks the ECHL-record fourth time Alaska has won the ECHL's regular-season championship. The Aces won the Kelly Cup the first two times they captured the Brabham Cup in 2006 and 2011 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals last season.

Alaska reached the 100-point plateau for the third time in club history (2005-06 and 2006-07) on Friday with a 5-3 win at Colorado becoming the first ECHL team since Idaho in 2009-10 to record at least 100 points in a season. The Aces are the 28th team in the 25-year history of the ECHL to reach 100 points. Entering the final week of the season, Alaska is 48-15-7 and has clinched the Mountain Division title for the third consecutive season.

The Brabham Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the ECHL team that finishes with the most points in the regular season. The recipient is guaranteed home-ice advantage throughout its participation in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

The award is named in recognition of Henry Brabham, who founded the ECHL in 1988-89 with five teams in four states. Brabham, who was the first inductee into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2008, owned three of the original five teams. The dedication of the Virginia businessman was crucial to the league surviving to span from coast-to-coast while advancing 507 players and countless coaches, on-ice officials and front office personnel to the National Hockey League.

Alaska won its first Brabham Cup championship in 2005-06 when it led the ECHL with 113 points. The Aces went on to defeat Gwinnett in five games to become just the second team in ECH history to win both the Brabham Cup and Kelly Cup in the same season. In 2010-11, the Aces led the league with 97 points, and went on to defeat Kalamazoo 4 games to 1 in the Kelly Cup Finals becoming the fourth team to win both the regular season and postseason championship in league history. Last season, Alaska once again recorded 97 points before falling to Las Vegas 4 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals. Alaska has qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs in each of its 10 seasons in the ECHL, and has advanced past the first round in eight of the previous nine seasons.

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