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Bakersfield's Truelson Replaces Alaska's Miller As National Conference Starter

January 8, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that Kevin Truelson of the Bakersfield Condors will replace Bryan Miller of the Alaska Aces as a starter for the National Conference in the 2008 Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game presented by Jackson Rancheria and Bud Light.

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 Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game Skills Competition being held on Jan. 22.

The 24-year-old Miller suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in December. Under contract to Peoria of the American Hockey League, he was tied for sixth among league defensemen with 18 points (5g-13a) in 24 games at the time of the injury.

It will be the second All-Star Game for Truelson, who represented Fresno as a rookie in 2004. The 25 year old is tied for third among ECHL defensemen with seven goals and ranks sixth with 22 points in 33 games.

He has played in the ECHL each of his first five professional seasons and has 162 points (46g-116a) and 166 penalty minutes in 248 regular season games and nine points (2g-7a) and 30 penalty minutes in 21 games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs with Bakersfield, Fresno, Gwinnett and Long Beach.

Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game Notes
Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game is presented by Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel and Bud Light.

Game will be televised live at 10 p.m. ET on NHL Network for sixth-consecutive year.

Telecast available online free-of-charge through ECHL web site on B2 Networks, the "Official Broadband Broadcast Provider of the ECHL".

Broadcast carried live on XM Radio for third consecutive year on NHL Hockey Play-by-Play (XM Channel 206) at 10 p.m. ET on Jan. 23 in the United States on XM Radio and in Canada through XM Radio's partner, Canadian Satellite Radio.

The NHL Radio broadcast will be broadcast on KGEO-AM 1230 in Bakersfield, Calif.; 1640 WTNI and 1490 WXBD in Biloxi, Miss.; 1350 KTIK - The Ticket in Boise, Idaho; 790 ESPN Radio, The Deuce in Fresno, Calif.; AM-970 ESPN Radio in Modesto/Stockton, Calif.; ESPN 910 The Team in North Charleston, S.C.; KKAT AM 860 in Salt Lake City; 1420 KSTN-AM in Stockton, Calif.; and WKWK 97.3 FM in Wheeling, W.Va.

Stanley Cup and Patrick J. Kelly Cup will be on display at all events.

Henry Brabham, Patrick J. Kelly, Nick Vitucci and Chris Valicevic will be inducted as the inaugural class into the ECHL Hall of Fame at a luncheon on Jan. 23.

Diane and Tom Husband of Phoenix are the winners of the Chase Chevrolet "Win A Trip to the ECHL All-Star Game" contest, receiving roundtrip transportation to Stockton where they will stay at the new Sheraton Stockton Hotel at Regent Pointe, the official host hotel of the 2008 Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game.

ECHL
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08, the ECHL 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 341 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 196 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 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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