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All-Star Radio Crew Is Benton, Modugno, Zakrzewski

January 12, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that the announcers for the audio broadcast of the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario will be Mike Benton of the Stockton Thunder, Mike Modugno of the Kalamazoo Wings and Joseph Zakrzewski of the South Carolina Stingrays.

Offered free of charge by the league to all ECHL teams the audio broadcast begins at 6:45 p.m. PT on Jan. 20 followed by the 18th Annual ECHL All-Star Game at 7 p.m. PT.

The audio broadcast is produced by Doug Lane of NHL Radio and is scheduled to be aired live on 1350 KTIK The Ticket in Boise, Idaho, KJQS-AM 1230 in Salt Lake City, KSTN 1420-AM in Stockton, Calif., WLKM-FM in Three Rivers, Mich. and Fox Sports Radio 1230-WCWA in Toledo, Ohio.

B2 Networks, the "Official Broadband Broadcast Provider of the ECHL" is also making the broadcast available online through the ECHL web site at ECHL.com.

The 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario will be hosted by the Ontario Reign at Citizens Business Bank Arena and played on Jan. 20, 2010 while the 2010 ECHL All-Star Skills Competition will be held on Jan. 19, 2010.

Benton is in his fifth season as the "Voice of the Stockton Thunder". The 28 year old worked as a member of the audio broadcast team for the ECHL All-Star Game in 2007 and 2008 and spent two years as an anchor for "SportsCenter" and in a variety of hosting roles on ESPN Radio 970-AM. He is also the director of media relations for the Thunder and in 2008-09 was selected as Award of Excellence for Media Relations as determined in voting by members of the media, league media relations directors and broadcasters. Benton received his bachelor's degree in communication studies from Azusa Pacific University where he handled play-by-play duties for the school's basketball telecasts and was the radio voice for the team's football broadcasts. He also did play-by-play for University of California Riverside women's basketball and in minor league baseball for Dayton and High Desert.

Modugno is in his eighth season as the "Voice of the K-Wings". He was named Broadcaster of the Year by the International Hockey League in 2007-08 and 2008-09 and in 2008-09 was also named Public Relations Director of the Year. He was named Broadcaster of the Year in the United Hockey League in 2003-04 and was named UHL Public Relations Director of the Year in 2004-05. Before joining the K-Wings he was the broadcaster and director of public relations for Corpus Christi and was selected to broadcast the 2002 Central Hockey League All-Star Game. He received his bachelor's degree from Fredonia State University and was elected to the Fredonia Radio Systems Hall of Fame during his senior year, making him the first person to be selected before graduation. He was the "Voice of the Fredonia State Blue Devils" for hockey, baseball and basketball while also working as a sports reporter in western New York where he covered the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. Modugno was the public relations director for the Madison County ARC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals with developmental disabilities, and was the play-by-play voice for Canastota High School.

Zakrzewski is in his first season as the "Voice of the Stingrays" on B2 Networks, the "Official Broadband Broadcast Provider of the ECHL," and online at StingraysHockey.com. Zakrzewski is also the team's media specialist and will be responsible for media relations as well as managing StingraysHockey.com, the official web site of the Kelly Cup champions. He has worked the last two seasons as the broadcasting intern for the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League and as the broadcaster for the Battle Creek minor league baseball team. Zakrzewski was awarded his bachelor's degree in mass communications specializing in broadcast journalism with a minor in English from Sam Houston State University. He played hockey for four seasons in college and also worked for the school's radio and television stations.

Seven coaches from the ECHL All-Star Game have gone on to coach in the National Hockey League while 58 players from the contest have gone on to play in the NHL, including 33 since 2002 when the lineups began having players who coaches felt were prospects to move up to a higher level.

The third class will be inducted into the the ECHL Hall of Fame on Jan. 20, 2010 during a luncheon ceremony at the Hilton Ontario Airport, the official host hotel of the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario. The featured speaker at the ECHL Hall of Fame luncheon will be Hockey Hall of Fame member and Los Angeles Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille.

Tickets for the luncheon are $40 each or a table with seven tickets can be purchased for $250. The Ontario Reign is offering a special ticket package that includes a ticket to the ECHL Hall of Fame luncheon, the All-Star Skills Competition, the Fan Fest at Dave & Busters and the ECHL All-Star Game for only $75. To purchase tickets visit OntarioReign.com/team/allstar/ or telephone the Ontario Reign at (909) 941-7825.

The past seven ECHL All-Star Games have generated more than $1 million each for the local economy as guests, players, coaches and fans occupy hundreds of hotel rooms and spend three days in the host city.

The game has been available live on the NHL Network the last seven years as well as being broadcast on multiple regional networks. The audio broadcast has been carried on XM Satellite Radio as well as being available in all ECHL markets.

The Stanley Cup and the Patrick J. Kelly Cup will both be on display throughout the event, marking the 10th time in the last 11 years that the NHL championship trophy and the ECHL championship trophy have been displayed together at the All-Star Game.

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