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American Conference Roster Announced For Chase Chevrolet All-Star Game

December 20, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL on Thursday announced the starting lineup and roster of the American Conference for the 2008 Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game presented by Jackson Rancheria and Bud Light.

The starting lineups and roster for the National Conference will be announced at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.

Hosted by the Stockton Thunder and the City of Stockton at Stockton Arena, the 2008 Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game presented by Jackson Rancheria and Bud Light will be played on Jan. 23 with the 11th edition of the 2008 Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game Skills Competition being held on Jan. 22.

There are 13 rookies on the American Conference and only two of the 21 players have played in an ECHL All-Star Game.

American Conference Starters
G - Craig Kowalski, Gwinnett (15 gp, 11-3-1, 2.25 GAA, .926 save pct.)
D - Jamie Milam, Gwinnett (24 gp, 8g, 11a, 19 pts)
D - Bryan Rodney, Elmira (23 gp, 7g, 14a, 21 pts)
F - John McNabb, Texas (26 gp, 13g, 23a, 36 pts)
F - Yannick Tifu, Dayton (25 gp, 8g, 34a, 42 pts)
F - Aaron Slattengren, Augusta (27 gp, 20g, 12a, 32 pts)

The starting lineups are determined in voting by American Conference coaches, team captains, media directors, broadcasters and media members. Coaches also submitted the top prospects from within their conference to determine the final roster with each of the 16 teams having a representative.

Making his first All-Star appearance is Elmira's Bryan Rodney, who leads ECHL defensemen with 21 points in 23 games. In his second professional season, the 23 year old, who is currently with Albany of the American Hockey League, is second among blue liners with seven goals and tied for third with 14 assists.

It is the first All-Star selection for Gwinnett's Jamie Milam, who leads ECHL defensemen with eight goals and is tied for third with 19 points (8g-11a) in 24 games. His brother, Troy Milam represented the Gladiators in the game in 2004 and 2006 when he was voted as a starter.

It is the first All-Star appearance for Gwinnett's Craig Kowalski, who was named the Rbk Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for Dec. 3-9. Currently on loan to Syracuse of the AHL, the 26 year old is 11-3-1 with a goals-against average of 2.25 and a save percentage of .926 in 15 games for Gwinnett.

Yannick Tifu of Dayton will be making his first All-Star Game appearance as will rookie teammate Matt Beaudoin. Currently on loan to Albany of the AHL, the 23-year-old Tifu leads the ECHL with 34 assists and 42 points in 25 games and has a career-best and ECHL season-high 15-game scoring streak (5g-23a) and a six-game assist streak (11a). The 23-year-old Beaudoin, who is currently on loan to Iowa of the AHL, leads ECHL rookies and is tied for second overall with 38 points (17g-21a) in 25 games.

It is the second All-Star Game selection for Texas' John McNabb, who represented Pensacola and registered an assist in 2000, while it is the first for Wildcatters rookie goaltender Anton Khudobin. The veteran McNabb leads the Wildcatters and is third in the ECHL with 23 assists and 36 points in 26 games. The 21-year-old Khudobin, who is under contract to Minnesota of the NHL, is 9-0-3 and ranks second in the ECHL with a goals-against average of 1.92 and a save percentage of .936.

Making his first All-Star appearance is Augusta's Aaron Slattengren, who is second in the league with 20 goals while ranking sixth with 32 points in 27 games. He had a record-setting game on Nov. 27 when he scored seven points (4g-3a) and had a plus-minus rating of +8, tying the league single-game record for plus-minus rating and setting the Lynx record for most points in a game. It will also be the first appearance for Lynx defenseman Adrian Veideman, who is under contract to Portland of the AHL. The 24 year old is second among rookie defensemen with 13 assists and is third with 16 points in 26 games.

It is the second consecutive All-Star appearance for Wheeling's Paul Bissonnette, who is ninth among ECHL defensemen with 17 points (3g-14a) in 22 games. He is under contract to the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and is currently playing in the American Hockey League with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

It is the first All-Star Game for Florida forward Mathieu Melanson and goaltender Justin Peters, who is under contract to Carolina of the NHL. The 22-year-old Melanson leads league rookies with 18 goals and is second with 31 points in 23 games. The 21-year-old Peters, who is currently in the AHL with Albany, is 10-4-1 while ranking fourth in the league with a save percentage of .933 and fifth with a goals-against average of 2.17.

Rookie defenseman Ryan Gunderson will represent Trenton and rookie defenseman Jean-Claude Sawyer will represent Pensacola. The 22-year-old Gunderson leads the Devils and ECHL defensemen with 17 assists while his team-leading 19 points in 25 games are tied for third among league blue liners. The 21-year-old Sawyer, who is under contract to Chicago of the NHL, leads Ice Pilots defensemen with two goals, nine assists and 11 points in 20 games.

Forward David Desharnais, who is under contract to Hamilton of the AHL, will represent Cincinnati while Columbia will be represented by forward Tyler Doig. The 21-year-old Desharnais is third among ECHL rookies with 21 assists and tied for fifth with 27 points in 22 games. The 21-year-old Doig is second on the Inferno with 15 assists and fourth with 19 points in 24 games.

Reading's representative will be rookie forward Brett Hemingway while Charlotte will be represented by rookie forward Jordan Owens. The 24-year-old Hemingway has 15 points (7g-8a) in 23 games and the 21-year-old Owens, who is under contract to Hartford of the AHL, has 10 points (3g-7a) in 15 games.

South Carolina will be represented by rookie forward Travis Morin while Mississippi will have rookie forward Ryan Menei and Johnstown will have rookie forward Alexandre Imbeault. The 23-year-old Morin, who is under contract to Washington of the NHL, has a team-leading 11 goals and 23 points, which ties him for 10th among league rookies, in 21 games. The 21-year-old Imbeault leads Johnstown with 13 assists and 22 points in 25 games while the 21-year-old Menei has 14 points (5g-9a) in 24 games.

ECHL
The ECHL, celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08, is the Premier 'AA' Hockey League and 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.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL in 2007-08, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

There have been 337 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06 and 26 in 2006-07. There have been 192 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past five seasons.

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 interim head coach of the Washington Capitals.

The ECHL is represented for the seventh consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2007 with Anaheim assistant coach Dave Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League in 2007-08 and for the past 18 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion.

In each of the last two seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL and there were over 800 call-ups involving more than 500 players.

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.

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

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