ECHL ECHL

All-Star Festivities, Hall Of Fame Induction A Success

January 30, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Record performances by Ash Goldie of the Victoria Salmon Kings and the official induction of the first class into the ECHL Hall of Fame highlighted the ECHL All-Star Game festivities in Stockton, Calif.

Hosted by the Stockton Thunder and the City of Stockton, the Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game presented by Jackson Rancheria and Bud Light was played in front of 7,455 fans at Stockton Arena on Jan. 23 with the Chase Chevrolet Skills Competition held on Jan. 22.

Goldie earned Most Valuable Player honors after scoring an ECHL record six points (3g-3a) to lead the National Conference to a 10-7 win. He also set the record for fastest goal at the beginning of a period when he completed his hat trick just 22 seconds into the third period. The goals scored just 16 seconds apart by he and Peter Ferraro set the record for fastest two goals by one team. Goldie also set a record when he went 4-for-4 in the accuracy shooting event in the Skills Competition, the first player in the 11-year history of the event to do so.

Showcasing some of the top prospects in the Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the rosters had 25 rookies and 36 players were appearing in their first ECHL All-Star game. Attended by representatives from both the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the game has produced 42 players who have gone on to play in the NHL including 26 since 2002 when the format was changed to feature younger players.

The inaugural class of the ECHL Hall of Fame - Henry Brabham, Patrick J. Kelly, Nick Vitucci and Chris Valicevic - was officially inducted during a luncheon sponsored by Old Time Sports which is also the official sponsor of ECHLHallOfFame.com. Included in the 450 attendees was special guest speaker Brian Burke, who is the Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks. Following a video highlighting their accomplishments, each of the inductees was presented an etched crystal award, created by Unique Hockey Gifts & Awards by Aroma's UnCorked, and an ECHL Hall of Fame ring by Commissioner Brian McKenna.

The game was available live in more than 80 million homes on the NHL Network for the sixth consecutive year and was rebroadcast for the sixth year in a row by Comcast / Charter Sports Southeast, a 24-hour regional sports network, serving approximately 5.8 million cable subscribers across 12 southeastern states. Jack Michaels of the Alaska Aces was the play-by-play announcer while NHL Network and VERSUS analyst Neil Smith provided color commentary for the seventh consecutive year and Dan Weiss of the Phoenix RoadRunners handled ice-level interviews.

Fans across the globe were able to watch both the skills competition and the game online courtesy of B2 Networks, the "Official Broadband Broadcast Provider of the ECHL," which also made the audio broadcast available online.

Produced by Doug Lane of NHL Radio the audio broadcast was also available for the third year in a row on XM Satellite Radio, the nation's leading satellite radio service, in the United States and in Canada through XM Radio partner, Canadian Satellite Radio. It was also broadcast live on KGEO-AM 1230 in Bakersfield, Calif.; 1640 WTNI and 1490 WXBD in Biloxi, Miss.; 1350 KTIK - The Ticket in Boise, Idaho; 790 ESPN Radio, The Deuce in Fresno, Calif.; ESPN 910 The Team in North Charleston, S.C.; KKAT AM 860 in Salt Lake City; 1420 KSTN-AM in Stockton, Calif.; and WKWK 97.3 FM in Wheeling, W.Va. The audio broadcast team was Mike Benton of Stockton, Brendan Burke of Wheeling and Leif Skodnick of Mississippi.

Fans had the opportunity to have their pictures taken with the Stanley Cup and the Patrick J. Kelly Cup which were both on display at all events, the eighth time in the last nine years that the NHL championship trophy and the ECHL championship trophy have been displayed together at the All-Star Game.

The MeiGray Group, which is "Official Game-Worn Jersey Source of the ECHL," is auctioning game-worn jerseys and game-used pucks from both the skills competition and the game online at ECHL.com and MeiGray GroupMeiGray.com. The Seventh-Annual Game-Worn All-Star Game Jersey Auction will be held Jan. 23-Feb. 6 while the Fifth-Annual All-Star Puck Auction will be Jan. 25-Feb. 12. The Fifth-Annual Game-Worn Skills Competition Jersey Auction and Game-Used Puck Auction is Feb. 6-20.



Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts

- Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08, the ECHL is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.

- ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league with 25 teams playing 900 games in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08.

- The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.

- Affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

- 345 former ECHL players have played in NHL.

- 16 former ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season: former Idaho Steelheads right wing B.J. Crombeen (Dallas on Jan. 19), former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Kevin Doell (Atlanta on Jan. 4), former Fresno goaltender Thomas Greiss (San Jose on Jan. 14), former Roanoke Express and Wheeling Nailers left wing Jason Jaffray (Vancouver on Dec. 12), former Toledo Storm goaltender Drew MacIntyre (Vancouver on Dec. 13), former San Diego Gulls left wing Cody McLeod (Colorado on Dec. 19), former Alaska Aces and Pensacola Ice Pilots center Chris Minard (Pittsburgh on Jan. 21), former Columbia Inferno center Brandon Nolan (Carolina on Dec. 22), former Johnstown Chiefs and Fresno Falcons goaltender Dmitri Patzold (San Jose on Oct. 7), former Gwinnett Gladiators and Louisiana IceGators left wing Pascal Pelletier (Boston on Jan. 17), former Reading Royals goaltender Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles on Dec. 6), former Stockton Thunder left wing Liam Reddox (Edmonton on Dec. 7), former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Colin Stuart (Atlanta on Dec. 29), former San Diego goaltender Tyler Weiman (Colorado on Oct. 4), former Charlotte Checkers right wing Craig Weller (Phoenix on Oct. 4) and former Phoenix RoadRunners center Daniel Winnik (Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 4).

- There were 69 former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters and there have been 200 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past seven seasons.

- Twenty-six former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2006-07, including two who played in both the ECHL and the NHL as goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji played for Reading and Los Angeles while defenseman Bryan Young skated for Stockton and Edmonton. Dave McKee played for Augusta and dressed for five games as the backup goaltender for Stanley Cup champion Anaheim.

- Record 51 former ECHL players played their first NHL game in 2005-06.

- ECHL has been represented on last seven Stanley Cup champions.

- There are 15 coaches in the NHL who have ECHL experience including former Wheeling coach Peter Laviolette, who is head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Mississippi coach Bruce Boudreau, who is head coach of the Washington Capitals.

- ECHL has been represented on last 18 Calder Cup champions.

- ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League and for the past 18 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion.

- In the last five seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 2,000 call-ups involving more than 1,000 players since 2002-03.
ECHL and its member teams contributed nearly $3 million for charity and relief funds in 2006-07.

- Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.

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