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Another Record Weekend Sees ECHL Attendance Soar

February 20, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


The ECHL had one of its best attendance nights in the last six years on Saturday as 81,475 fans attended 12 games for an average of 6,790 per game. San Diego drew 12,240 and Charlotte had a team record 10,945 while Bakersfield, Gwinnett, Las Vegas and Trenton all had crowds over 7,000.

The league averaged 4,618 per game on Friday and 4,219 on Sunday and begins the week averaging 4,257 per game which is an increase of more than eight percent from last season and on pace to be the highest average attendance since 4,319 per game in 2000-01.

The ECHL has had 24 sellout crowds and nine crowds of more than 10,000 in 2005-06 led by San Diego which had the largest crowd in its history with 13,001 on Nov. 5 and 12,240 on Saturday. Stockton has had three crowds of 10,117 while Gwinnett has two crowds over 10,000, including a sellout crowd of 11,355 on Nov. 11, and Charlotte had 10,894 on Nov. 25 and 10,945 on Saturday.

Charlotte had a team record crowd of 10,945 on Saturday marking the fifth Saturday in a row that there has been a sellout crowd at Bobcats Arena which had 7,638 on Feb. 11, 9,644 on Feb. 4, 9,844 on Jan. 28 and 9,852 on Jan. 21. The listed capacity for the new facility is 6,800, but additional sections can be opened to accommodate larger crowds. The Checkers have a league-leading eight sellouts and rank third in the league with 5,839 per game which is an increase of 15.7 percent from 2004-05.

Stockton continues to lead the league with 6,102 per game which is the highest average attendance since 2001-02 when Florida had 6,619 per game. Florida, which had to postpone its season opener for a week because of Hurricane Wanda, ranks second with 6,026 per game.

The crowd of 12,240 on Saturday is the second-largest crowd since San Diego joined the ECHL and it is the eighth time in the last three seasons that the Gulls have had a crowd of over 10,000. Trenton had its largest crowd of the season with 7,143 on Saturday and combined with Friday's crowd of 4,813, the Titans increased their average attendance to 4,274 per game.

Bakersfield had 7,264 on Saturday which is the third largest crowd of the season and the fourth crowd of more than 7,000 this year. The Condors are fourth in the league in average attendance with 5,738 which is an increase of six percent from last year.

Gwinnett had 7,412 on Saturday which is the fifth-largest crowd of the season and the fifth crowd of more than 7,400 this year. The Gladiators have had two crowds of more than 10,000 this season with 10,376 on Feb. 4 against Pensacola and a capacity crowd of 11,355 on Nov. 11 against Florida and are fifth in the league with 5,488 per game.

Reading had 6,073 on Sunday and increased its average attendance to 5,452 per game, up from 5,012 per game a year ago to rank sixth in the league.

Aces First To Clinch Berth In Kelly Cup Playoffs

Alaska became the first team to clinch a berth in the Kelly Cup Playoffs with a 3-2 overtime win against Long Beach on Sunday. The Aces have now advanced to the postseason in each of their first three seasons in the ECHL, including last season when they lost to Kelly Cup champion Trenton in seven games in the conference finals.

Alaska is 41-8-3 and leads the ECHL with 85 points and a winning percentage of .817, including a team record and league-leading 24 wins at home. The Aces home winning percentage is .875 tying them for the league lead with Las Vegas which is 20-2-2 at home and 36-9-5 overall to rank second in the league and the West Division.

The regular season ends on April 8 and the Kelly Cup Playoffs are scheduled to begin April 10 with the Kelly Cup Finals scheduled for May 22-June 3.

The playoff qualifiers in the American Conference are the top five teams in the North Division and the top six teams in the South Division.

The best-of-three division quarterfinals in the American Conference will be played April 10-13 with the best-of-five division semifinals scheduled for April 14-23. The best-of-five division finals will be played April 24-May 3 and the best-of-seven American Conference Finals are scheduled for May 5-20.

The playoff qualifiers in the National Conference will be the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the Pacific Division and the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the West Division.

The best-of-seven division semifinals in the National Conference will be played April 10-22 with the best-of-seven division finals scheduled for April 24-May 6. The best-of-seven National Conference Finals will be played May 8-20.

Royals Move Into First In Tight North Division

Winning back-to-back games at Dayton on Friday and Saturday and beating Trenton on Sunday, Reading improved to 30-13-6 and moved back into first place in the North Division with 66 points, two points ahead of Wheeling at 30-16-4 and seven points ahead of Toledo at 27-14-5. Johnstown is in fourth place at 21-20-11 followed by Trenton at 25-22-2 and Dayton at 17-30-4.

The Royals will host Trenton on Tuesday and Dayton on Friday before traveling to Toledo for games on Saturday and Sunday. Reading is 4-3-0 against Trenton, 7-1-0 against Dayton and 2-3-2 against Toledo.

Dany Roussin scored the game-winning goal for Reading on Friday in overtime and on Sunday to give him a team-leading four game winners. Roussin has five points (2g-3a) in his last three games and is second on the team with 20 goals and third in scoring with 39 points in 33 games.

Wheeling will visit Toledo on Wednesday and Trenton on Friday to conclude its season-long seven-game road trip (3-2-0) before hosting Trenton on Saturday. Wheeling is 0-2-1 in its last three games at Toledo and 3-6-1 overall against the Storm and has won the last two meetings against Trenton to improve to 4-4-0.

Toledo plays at Dayton on Tuesday and at Johnstown on Friday while hosting Wheeling on Wednesday and Reading on Saturday and Sunday. The Storm has won its last three road games and is 5-1-0 in its last six games. Toledo is 5-3-1 against Dayton and it has won its last four games against both Reading and Wheeling to improve to 5-1-1 against the Royals and 7-2-1 against the Nailers.

Drew MacIntyre is 4-1-0 with goals against of 1.40 and save percentage of .951 in his last five starts to improve to 10-2-2 with goals against of 2.24 and save percentage of .925 which ties him for third in the ECHL.

Gwinnett, Florida Continue To Battle Atop South Division

In the showdown between South Division leader Gwinnett and second-place Florida, the Gladiators picked up a point after winning 3-2 on Friday and losing 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday. The Gladiators and Everblades will square off again this weekend at Florida on Friday and Saturday.

Gwinnett is 11-2-1 in its last 14 games and 34-11-6 overall with 74 points, seven points ahead of Florida which is 6-2-1 in its last nine games and 32-16-3 overall. Florida, which has won its last two road games, plays at Greenville on Tuesday before returning home to host Gwinnett.

Greenville has won its last three games and is 6-1-0 in the last seven games to improve to 31-17-2, three points behind Florida and five points ahead of fourth-place Charlotte at 27-22-5. The Grrrowl has won seven home games in a row and needs one win to tie the team record of eight consecutive home wins set Feb. 12-Mar. 18, 2005. Greenville will host Florida on Tuesday and Charlotte on Friday before traveling to Columbia on Saturday.

The Grrrowl has won its last five meetings with Charlotte and is 5-1-0 against the Checkers while going 2-2-0 against Florida and 3-4-0 against Columbia.

Charlotte, which is 5-2-1 in its last eight games, plays at Greenville on Friday and will visit South Carolina on Sunday. The Checkers are 1-2-3 against Greenville and are 4-0-0 at South Carolina and 8-0-0 overall against the Stingrays.

Ice Dogs Keep Pace With Falcons In Pacific

Long Beach saw its ECHL record road winning streak end with a 5-1 loss at Alaska on Friday, but finished the week 2-1-1 and gained three points on Pacific Division leader Fresno. The Ice Dogs won 3-1 at Phoenix on Feb. 14 for its 10th straight road win to tie the league record set by South Carolina from Nov. 2-Dec. 9, 2000 and tied by Las Vegas this season from Nov. 22-Dec. 31.

Long Beach was 1-1-1 at league leader Alaska and is 29-17-6 with 64 points, six points behind Fresno at 30-10-10 and 15 points ahead of third place Bakersfield at 22-19-5. The Ice Dogs return home to host Utah on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday while Fresno will host Bakersfield on Friday.

Jaroslav Halak has started the last seven games for Long Beach and is 5-1-1 with a shutout, a goals against of 2.29 and a save percentage of .930.

Fresno is 9-4-2 in its last 15 games including a 7-3-1 road record. Rookie goaltender Jamie Holden is 5-3-0 with a goals against of 2.62 and a save percentage of .917 in his last eight starts while Shawn Mather (8g-8a) and Luke Curtin (1g-11a) have combined for 28 points in the last 10 games.

Bakersfield, which has won five of its last seven games including a 3-2 record in one-goal games, plays at Stockton on Wednesday and Saturday and at Fresno on Friday. Sean Venedam has 11 points (9g-2a) in the last seven games and leads the Condors with 26 goals and 43 points.

Utah Extends Winning Streak To Seven Games

Utah won 5-0 at Las Vegas on Saturday to extend its winning streak to seven games and improve to 2-0-1 at Orleans Arena. The Grizzlies are the only team this season that has won twice at Las Vegas and only the second team this year to beat the Wranglers in regulation.

The seven-game winning streak is the second longest of the season for the Grizzlies, who won a team record nine games in a row from Oct. 29-Nov. 25.

The Grizzlies are 29-19-4 with 62 points and are in fourth place in the West Division, three points behind Idaho at 29-16-7. Utah continues its season-high nine-game road trip when it visits Phoenix on Tuesday and Sunday, San Diego on Wednesday and Saturday and Long Beach on Friday.

Alfie Michaud is 5-0-0 with a shutout, a goals against of 1.58 and a save percentage of .944 in his last five starts to improve to 16-8-2 with a goals against of 2.84 in 28 games.

Garett Cameron has two game-winning goals and 11 points (6g-5a) in the last seven games to increase his scoring streak to nine games (7g-6a). Ryan Kinasewich has 13 points (6g-7a) during the winning streak and leads the Grizzlies with 27 goals and 57 points in 41 games.

Did You Know ... Charlotte's 17 shorthand goals are the most since Mississippi had 19 shorthand goals in 2002-03.

Feature Games Of The Week

North Division
Wheeling at Toledo - Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. ET
- Sean Collins has nine points (3g-6a) in nine games against Toledo.
- Drew MacIntyre is 4-0-1 with a 2.52 goals-against average against Wheeling.

South Division
Gwinnett at Florida - Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET
- Kevin Bergin has five goals and six points against Gwinnett.
- Adam Berkhoel is 1-0-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average against Florida.

West Division
Idaho at Las Vegas - Saturday at 7:05 p.m. PT
- Idaho is 2-1-2 against Las Vegas and has outscored the Wranglers 21-20.
- Las Vegas has won each of the last two meetings in a shootout.

Pacific Division
San Diego at Stockton - Sunday at 4:00 p.m. PT
- Jake Moreland is 2-0-0 with goals against of 2.47 and save percentage of .941 against San Diego.
- Gulls lost the last meeting, 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 27, and are 1-0-2 against Stockton.

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