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Barch Becomes 314th Player To Play In NHL After ECHL

January 19, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Former Greenville and Richmond right wing Krys Barch made his National Hockey League debut with the Dallas Stars on Jan. 15 to become the 314th player to play in the National Hockey League after playing in the ECHL.

Barch is the 11th former ECHL player to play his first NHL game this season, joining former Reading goaltender Barry Brust (Los Angeles on Nov. 30), former Bakersfield and Reading goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji (Los Angeles on Jan. 13), former Trenton goaltender Martin Houle (Philadelphia on Dec. 13), former Alaska left wing D.J. King (St. Louis on Oct. 5), former Florida center Drew Larman (Florida on Nov. 13), former Toledo goaltender Joey MacDonald (Detroit on Oct. 19), former Pensacola center Kris Newbury (Dec. 23), former Columbia right wing Jesse Schultz (Vancouver on Nov. 28), former ECHL All-Star goaltender Mike Smith (Dallas on Oct. 21) and former Augusta goaltender Mike Wall (Anaheim on Nov. 26).

Selected in the fourth round (106th overall) by the Washington Capitals in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, the 26-year-old Barch began the season in the American Hockey League and has eight points in 30 games for Iowa.

The 6-foot-2 and 200-pound Barch had 14 points (10g-4a) and 75 penalty minutes in 14 games with Greenville in 2005-06 while also playing in the AHL for Iowa where he had 13 points (7g-6a) and 129 penalty minutes in 43 regular season games and one assist and 37 penalty minutes in seven playoff games. In 2004-05 with Greenville, he had 30 points (11g-19a) and 154 penalty minutes in 55 regular season games and 36 penalty minutes in three Kelly Cup Playoff games while also playing in the AHL for Norfolk where he had one goal and 37 penalty minutes in nine games.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League in 2006-07, marking the 10th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. There were a record 47 former ECHL players who made their NHL debut in 2005-06, including five goaltenders who played a game in both leagues. Since 2000-01 there have been 169 players who have played in the NHL after the ECHL and in 2005-06 there were 112 former ECHL players who played in the NHL and all 30 teams had a former ECHL player take the ice for at least one game.

There are two NHL head coaches (Peter Laviolette and Jim Playfair) and nine NHL assistant coaches who have an ECHL background. The ECHL was represented for the sixth consecutive year on the Stanley Cup champion in 2006 by Laviolette, who is the first ECHL coach to hoist the coveted trophy, Chad LaRose, Andrew Hutchinson and assistant athletic trainer Chris Stewart.



ECHL
The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League in 2006-07. There have been 314 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06. There have been 169 players who have played in the NHL after the ECHL in the past five seasons.

The ECHL was represented for the sixth consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team, including Carolina Hurricanes head coach Peter Laviolette, who is the first ECHL coach to win the Stanley Cup.

The ECHL has affiliations with 24 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey League in 2006-07 and for the past 17 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion. The ECHL has had more players called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined each of the past four seasons with 1,646 call ups involving almost 1,000 players.

The ECHL raised its average attendance for the third straight year in 2005-06 drawing 3,934,794 for 900 games which is an average of 4,372 per game, an increase of more than nine percent from 2004-05 and the largest per-game average since 1999-2000. Six teams surpassed 200,000 and nine teams averaged 5,000 per game for the first time since 1999-2000 as the league welcomed 39 sellout crowds and 13 of the 22 returning teams raised their average attendance from a year ago.

In 2005-06 the ECHL and its member teams contributed more than $2.3 million for charity and relief funds, including those benefiting victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, while also making thousands of appearances by players, coaches, team personnel and mascots at schools, hospitals, libraries and charity functions.

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

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