Bakersfield's Graham Named PaySourceUSA ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for March
April 13, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - Bakersfield Condors center Bruce
Graham is the PaySourceUSA ECHL Plus Performer
of the Month for March after leading the league with a plus-minus rating of
+13.
Graham was even or better in 10 of 12 games during March
including five games where he was +2 and Mar. 7 at Ontario where he was a
season-high +3.
In his fourth professional season, the 23 year old
scored 32 points (17g-15a) and had a plus-minus rating of +3 in 43 regular
season games for Bakersfield which acquired him in December from Gwinnett
where he had 20 points (10g-10a) in 29 games.
Selected in the
second round (51st overall) by the New York Rangers in the 2004
NHL Entry Draft, Graham played his first three seasons in the ECHL
and had 107 points (50g-57a) in 130 regular season games and three points
(1g-2a) in 10 Kelly Cup Playoff games. He also played in the American
Hockey League where had 14 points (3g-11a) in 56 regular season games and
played in two playoff games for Hartford.
Graham played four
seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and had 127 points
(62g-67a) in 184 regular season games and 25 points (4g-21a) in 36 playoff
games for Moncton.
Runner Up: Andrew
Ianiero, Bakersfield (+12).
Top Plus Performer(s) for Each
Club: Alaska - Nick
Tuzzolino (+7), Charlotte - Chris
Murray (+7); Cincinnati - Frederic
St. Denis (+11); Dayton - Logan
Bittle (+1); Elmira - Guillaume
Lepine (+7); Florida - Colin
Nicholson (+7); Gwinnett -Tomas
Pospisil (+3); Idaho - Bryan
McGregor (+11); Johnstown - Mike
Knight (+5); Las Vegas - Jason
Dest (+9); Mississippi - Jason
Tejchma (+8); Ontario - Todd
Jackson and David
Walker (+1); Phoenix - Gino Guyerr (+4); Reading - Ben
McLeod (+9); South Carolina - Travis
Morin (+11); Stockton - Ryan
Constant (+5); Trenton -Justin
Coutu (+5); Utah - Rob
Hennigar and Evan
Stoflet(+8); Victoria - Scott
Howes and Darryl
Lloyd (+6); and Wheeling - Mitch
Ganzak and Scott
Kalinchuk (+3).
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Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
* The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and 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 21 teams in 16 states and British Columbia in
2008-09.
* The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to
ECHL on May
19, 2003.
* Affiliations with 24 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League
marking 12th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with
at least 20 teams in the NHL.
* 406 former ECHL
players have played in NHL.
* 150 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
* Record 51 former ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season:
former Idaho Steelheads right wing Jay
Beagle (Washington on Feb. 11), former Wheeling Nailers and ECHL
All-Star defenseman Paul
Bissonnette (Pittsburgh on Oct. 4), former Stockton Thunder and ECHL
All-Star right wing Troy
Bodie (Anaheim on Jan. 16), former Bakersfield Condors center Alexandre
Bolduc (Vancouver on Nov. 27), former Florida Everblades defenseman Brett
Carson (Carolina on Dec. 7), former Idaho Steelheads goaltender Matt
Climie (Dallas on Apr.4), former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Sean
Collins (Washington on Dec. 6), former Las Vegas Wranglers and Wheeling
Nailers goaltender John
Curry (Pittsburgh on Nov. 26), former Greenville Grrrowl goaltender
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (Edmonton on Oct. 17), former Johnstown Chiefs
center Andre
Deveaux (Toronto on Nov. 27), former Dayton Bombers center Philippe
Dupuis (Colorado on Dec. 12), former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Chris
Durno (Colorado on Jan. 18), former Gwinnett Gladiators right wing Pat
Dwyer (Carolina on Nov. 2), former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman
Jamie
Fraser (New York Islanders on Apr. 4), former Columbus Cottonmouths and
Tallahassee Tiger Sharks left wing Mitch
Fritz (New York Islanders on Oct. 30), former South Carolina Stingrays
right wing Andrew
Gordon (Washington on Dec. 23), former Augusta Lynx and Mississippi Sea
Wolves goaltender Riku
Helenius (Tampa Bay on Jan. 30), former Charlotte Checkers center Dwight
Helminen (Carolina on Oct. 28), former Florida Everblades and ECHL
All-Star center Matt
Hendricks (Colorado on Mar. 10), former Las Vegas Wranglers goaltender
Brent
Krahn (Dallas on Feb. 14), former Trenton Devils right wing Pierre-Luc
Letourneau-Leblond (New Jersey on Oct. 22), former Gwinnett Gladiators
defenseman Scott
Lehman (Atlanta on Dec. 18), former Johnstown Chiefs defenseman Raymond
Macias (Colorado on Apr. 1), former Utah Grizzlies defenseman Andrew
MacDonald (New York Islanders on Feb. 28), former Charlotte Checkers
defenseman Steve
MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Florida Everblades left wing Kenndal
McArdle (Florida on Dec. 2), two-time All-Star and former Las Vegas
Wranglers goaltender Mike
McKenna (Tampa Bay on Feb. 3), former All-Star and Wheeling Nailers
center Kurtis
McLean (New York Islanders on Jan. 19), former Charlotte Checkers
goaltender Al
Montoya (Phoenix on Apr. 1), former South Carolina Stingrays and ECHL
All-Star goaltender Michal
Neuvirth (Washington on Feb. 14), former Johnstown Chiefs defenseman Wes
O'Neill (Toronto on Mar. 9), former Columbia Inferno defenseman Phil
Oreskovic (Toronto on Mar. 9), former Phoenix RoadRunners and Wheeling
Nailers center Cam
Paddock (St. Louis on Nov. 14), former Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman
Adam
Pardy (Calgary on Oct. 9), former Idaho Steelheads left wing Warren
Peters (Calgary on Dec. 7), former Charlotte Checkers center Jakub
Petruzalek (Carolina on Feb. 5), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman
Corey
Potter (New York Rangers on Dec. 7), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Kevin
Quick (Tampa Bay on Jan. 13), former Utah Grizzlies right wing Joel
Rechlicz (New York Islanders on Mar. 4), former Charlotte Checkers,
Columbia Inferno and Elmira Jackals defenseman Bryan
Rodney (Carolina on Dec. 11), former Gwinnett Gladiators center Jared
Ross (Philadelphia on Oct. 11), former Alaska Aces goaltender Marek
Schwarz (St. Louis on Oct. 25), former Greenville Grrrowl and Stockton
Thunder center Tim
Sestito (Edmonton on Nov. 26), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett
Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27), former Dayton Bombers and Las
Vegas Wranglers defenseman Tyler
Sloan (Washington on Oct. 21), former Utah Grizzlies and ECHL All-Star
center Trevor
Smith (New York Islanders on Dec. 31), former Johnstown Chiefs and
Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Radek
Smolenak (Tampa Bay on Dec. 2), former Las Vegas Wranglers and ECHL
All-Star defenseman Tyson
Strachan (St. Louis on Dec. 18), former Phoenix RoadRunners goaltender
Josh
Tordjman (Phoenix on Mar. 8), former Wheeling Nailers right wing Tim
Wallace (Pittsburgh on Dec. 10) and former Idaho Steelheads center Tom
Wandell (Dallas on Dec. 10).
* Eight players have played in the ECHL and the NHL in 2008-09: goaltenders
Matt
Climie (Idaho and Dallas), Riku
Helenius (Mississippi and Tampa Bay), Michal
Neuvirth (South Carolina and Washington) and Marek
Schwarz (Alaska and St. Louis), defensemen Raymond
Macias (Johnstown and Colorado), Wes
O'Neill and Kevin
Quick (Augusta and Tampa Bay) and right wing Joel
Rechlicz (Utah and New York Islanders).
* There were 72
former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters.
* ECHL is represented for the eighth consecutive year on the National
Hockey League championship team in 2008 by
Aaron Downey of the Detroit Red Wings.
* Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are Bruce
Boudreau of the Washington Capitals and Scott
Gordon of the New York Islanders while former ECHL player Dan
Bylsma is the interim head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Boudreau,
who coached Mississippi for three seasons winning the Kelly Cup
championship in 1999, was named
NHL Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach
to receive the award. Peter Laviolette, who began his coaching career with
the Wheeling Nailers, led Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in
2006.
* There are 18 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in
the ECHL.
* There are 18 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL
officiating team in 2008-09 with referees David
Banfield, Chris
Ciamaga, Ghislain
Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan
O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin
St. Pierre and Ian Walsh and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Tim
Nowak and Jay Sharrers. Barton, Joannette, Leggo, McCauley, Nowak, Pollock,
Rooney and Sharrers all worked the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* ECHL has affiliations with 23 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey
League and for the past 19 years there has been an ECHL player on the
Calder Cup Champion.
* In the last six 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.
• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...
ECHL Stories from April 13, 2009
- Playoff Series Tied 1-1, Promotions Announced - Stockton Thunder
- Condors customized truck to be given away this Saturday night - Bakersfield Condors
- Series tied up 1-1 heading back to Condorstown - Bakersfield Condors
- Jared Youngman Returns To Grizzlies As VP - Utah Grizzlies
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Bakersfield's Graham Named PaySourceUSA ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for March - ECHL
- Tyler Biggs To Play For U.S. National Under-17 Development Team - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Devils head to Elmira after splitting first two games of Division Semifinals at home - Trenton Devils
- Everblades Weekly Playoff Notes - Florida Everblades
- Spang, Watt and Hamilton Arrive From AHL - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Playoffs Return To Utah Wednesday - Utah Grizzlies
- Trio of players reassigned to Blades - Florida Everblades
- Kelly Cup Quest Daily - South Carolina Stingrays
- Wranglers Kelly Cup Daily - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Cyclones Look To Even Series - Cincinnati Cyclones
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