ECHL ECHL

All-Star Rosters Announced Wednesday, Thursday

Published on December 28, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


The ECHL will announce the rosters for the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario on Wednesday and Thursday.

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.

The 21-man roster for the host National Conference will be announced on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET and the 21-man roster for the American Conference will be announced at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.

The third class will be inducted into 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 tickets 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.

Six coaches and 58 players from the All-Star Game have advanced to the National Hockey League. The annual midseason showcase is attended by representatives from the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League and there have been 33 players who have gone on to play in the NHL since 2002 when the lineups began having players who coaches felt were prospects to move up to a higher level.

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.

Attendance Rises Following Break

The biggest ECHL crowd of the year in Charlotte, the largest crowd in Toledo hockey history, the second-largest crowd of the season in Bakersfield and Elmira's league-leading eighth sellout helped raise attendance to 4,195 per game which is up almost eight percent from the first 11 weeks of 2008-09.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League has drawn 1,254,170 and surpassed one million fans in 237 games which is the fastest since 206 games in 1999-2000.

To purchase tickets for any ECHL game go to ECHL.com/tickets.shtml.

Charlotte had 10,980 on Dec. 26 which exceeded the previous league season high of 10,920 in Cincinnati on Nov. 6. It was 39th sellout in the last six seasons for the Checkers which is second to Idaho which has had 42 sellouts during the same period.

Toledo had a standing-room-only crowd of 8,200 at Lucas County Arena on Dec. 27 breaking the record of 8,000 set on Opening Night on Oct. 15. It is the fifth sellout of the year for the Walleye, who are third in the league with 5,767 per game which is up 46.8 percent from 2006-07 when the team played its last season in the Toledo Sports Arena.

Elmira had 4,076 on Dec. 26 for its third-largest crowd of the year and league-leading eighth sellout of the season. The Jackals are averaging 3,804 per game which is 100.5 percent of capacity at First Arena and up more than 14 percent from a year ago. Elmira has had 27 sellouts since joining the ECHL and led the league its first season in 2007-08 with 14 sellouts and tied for the lead a year ago with five sellouts.

Five returning teams are ahead of their average attendance from last year led by Cincinnati with 23.9 percent. The Cyclones led minor professional hockey with a 36 percent increase in 2007-08 and were second in 2008-09 with a 23 percent increase.

Ontario had 7,365 on Dec. 28 to raise its league-leading average to 6,039 per game which is up 3.1 percent from their inaugural season in 2008-09 when they ranked second in the league with 5,856 per game.

The only minor professional hockey league to increase average attendance each of the last two seasons, the Premier 'AA' Hockey League has averaged more than 4,000 fans each of the last five seasons and 17 times in the last 19 years while drawing more than 3 million fans for 16 straight seasons.



Stockton is second with 5,874 per game after leading the league in attendance each of their first four seasons. The Thunder are trying to tie the league record of five seasons set by Florida from 2000-05.

Alaska has raised its average attendance 5.3 percent to 4,928 while Utah's average is up 2.6 percent to 3,752 per game.

National Conference - Pacific Division

Bakersfield Condors
* Bakersfield is fifth in the league in attendance with 5,115 per game.
* Sasha Pokulok is second in scoring among defensemen with 21 points (9g-12a) after earning two assists in two weekend games.
* Condors play at Stockton on Tuesday before hosting Ontario on Saturday.

Las Vegas Wranglers
* Las Vegas has a season-long four-game point streak, including wins against Ontario on Dec. 19 and 26.
* Michael Ouzas is third in the league with 1,236 minutes played.
* Wranglers host Idaho on Tuesday and Utah on Saturday and Sunday.

Ontario Reign
* Ontario leads the ECHL in attendance with 6,039 per game.
* Jon Francisco recorded his 150th professional point at Las Vegas on Dec. 26.
* Reign play at Alaska on Wednesday and Thursday and at Bakersfield on Saturday.

Stockton Thunder
* Stockton leads the ECHL on the power play with 23.4 percent (32-for-137).
* Matt Robinson has seven points (6g-1a) in his last seven games.
* Thunder host Bakersfield on Tuesday before playing at Idaho on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

National Conference - West Division

Alaska Aces
* Alaska has lost team record six consecutive games.
* Nick Mazzolini has scored 13 goals in his last 15 games.
* Aces play at Victoria on Monday before hosting Ontario on Wednesday and Thursday and Victoria on Saturday and Sunday.

Idaho Steelheads
* Idaho's two regulation road losses have both been at Utah, including a 5-2 loss on Dec. 26.
* Adam Huxley has a four-game point streak (2g-3a).
* Steelheads play at Las Vegas on Tuesday before hosting Stockton on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Utah Grizzlies

* Utah and Victoria are the only teams who have not had a game go to a shootout this season.
* Tom May (3g-3a), AJ Perry (5g-1a) and Ryan Kinasewich (3g-4a) have five-game point streaks.
* Grizzlies host Victoria on Wednesday and Thursday before visiting Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday.

Victoria Salmon Kings
* Victoria has won 10 straight home games.
* Wes Goldie leads the Salmon Kings in December with nine goals in 11 games.
* Salmon Kings host Alaska on Monday and then visit Utah on Wednesday and Thursday and Alaska on Saturday and Sunday.

American Conference - South Division

Charlotte Checkers

* Charlotte had season-high crowd of 10,980 for Teddy Bear Toss on Dec. 26.
* Ryan Munce is second in the ECHL with a save percentage of .922.
* Checkers host Gwinnett on Sunday.

Florida Everblades
* Florida is second in the league on the penalty kill with 85.2 percent (145-for-169).
* Ross Carlson has scored in four of his last five games (4g-2a).
* Everblades play at Gwinnett on Tuesday and Saturday while playing at South Carolina on Thursday.

Gwinnett Gladiators
* Gwinnett leads the American Conference and is third in the league on the power play with 21.5 percent (32-for-149).
* Rookies Pat Galivan (13g-11a), Sam Roberts (7g-13a) and Drew Paris (7g-11a) rank in the Top Five in Gladiators scoring.
* Gladiators host Florida on Tuesday and Saturday before playing at Charlotte on Sunday.

South Carolina Stingrays
* South Carolina improved to 6-5-1 when trailing after two periods with a 4-3 comeback win at Gwinnett on Dec. 26.
* Matt Fornataro has the longest active scoring streak in the league with 11 games (9g-8a).
* Stingrays host Florida on Thursday.

American Conference - North Division

Cincinnati Cyclones
* Cincinnati has a five-game road winning streak after 3-2 overtime win at Kalamazoo on Dec. 27.
* Defenseman Brett Motherwell has a four-game assist streak (4a) and a four-game point streak (1g-4a).
* Cyclones play at Kalamazoo on Thursday and at Johnstown on Saturday.

Kalamazoo Wings
* Kalamazoo has been in first place in the North Division for 71 of 73 days this season.
* Rick Cleaver has a nine-game point streak (4g-10a) tying the team season high.
* K-Wings play at Toledo on Friday between home games against Cincinnati on Thursday and Toledo on Saturday.

Toledo Walleye
* Walleye had the largest hockey crowd in Toledo history with 8,200 fans for 7-3 win over Johnstown on Dec. 27.
* Chris Robertson leads the team in December with seven goals, nine assists and 16 points.
* Walleye play at Wheeling on Thursday before hosting Kalamazoo on Friday and playing at Kalamazoo on Saturday.

Wheeling Nailers
* Wheeling has scored a power-play goal in seven straight games.
* Kyle Bushee scored his first two goals of the season at Kalamazoo on Dec. 26.
* Nailers host Toledo on Thursday between games at Reading on Wednesday and Trenton on Saturday.

American Conference - East Division

Elmira Jackals
* Elmira leads the ECHL with eight sellout crowds.
* Maxime Gratchev recorded his first career hat trick in a 4-3 loss at Wheeling on Dec. 27.
* Jackals play at Reading on Tuesday and at Johnstown on Thursday before hosting Trenton on Friday and Reading on Saturday.

Johnstown Chiefs
* Johnstown has scored power-play goals in three straight games.
* Chanse Fitzpatrick has a three-game point streak (2g-2a).
* Chiefs play at Trenton on Wednesday before hosting Elmira on Thursday and Cincinnati on Friday.

Reading Royals

* Reading is 12-1-3 in one-goal games after 4-3 overtime win at Trenton on Dec. 27.
* Ryan Cruthers had his third career four-point game (1g-3a) at Trenton on Dec. 27.
* Royals host Elmira on Tuesday and Wheeling on Wednesday before playing at Elmira on Saturday.

Trenton Devils
* Trenton set season highs for shots in a game (49) and shots in a period (22 in the second) against Reading on Dec. 27.
* Defenseman Justin Pender scored his second game-winning goal of the season in 3-2 win at Johnstown on Dec. 26.
* Devils play at Elmira on Friday between home games against Johnstown on Wednesday and Wheeling on Saturday.

Check out the ECHL Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from December 28, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central