Brust Becomes 308th Player To Play In NHL After ECHL
Published on December 1, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - Former Reading Royals goaltender Barry Brust made his
National Hockey League debut on Thursday with the Los Angeles Kings, making
24 saves after entering the game with just over 10 minutes remaining in the
first period of a 7-4 loss at Phoenix.
Brust is the second goaltender this week to play in the NHL after playing
in the ECHL, joining former Augusta goaltender Mike Wall who had 19 saves
and picked up the win for Anaheim on Sunday. Brust is the 308th former ECHL
player to play in the NHL and the fifth this season, joining former ECHL
All-Star goaltender Mike Smith, former Toledo goaltender Joey MacDonald,
former Florida center Drew Larman and Wall.
Brust was recalled on Wednesday from Manchester of the American Hockey
League where he is 1-4-0 with a goals-against average of 3.04 and a save
percentage of .905 in five games.
In his rookie season in 2004-05, Brust was second in the league with a
goals-against average of 1.96 while going 27-9-4 with four shutouts and a
save percentage of .928 in 42 regular season games for Reading. In the
Kelly Cup Playoffs he was 4-4 and finished second with a goals-against
average of 1.74 and two shutouts while ranking third with a save percentage
of .943 and fifth with 233 saves and 481 minutes. He was 3-3-0 with a
goals-against average of 3.00 and a save percentage of .906 in six games
for the Royals in 2005-06 while going 19-14-1 with two shutouts, a
goals-against average of 2.71 and a save percentage of .916 in 35 games for
Manchester.
Selected in the third round (73rd overall) by Minnesota in the 2002
National Hockey League Entry Draft, Brust played four seasons in the
Western Hockey League where he was 64-71-17 with a shutout, a goals-against
average of 3.02 and a save percentage of .898 in 162 regular season games
with Spokane from 2000-04.
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 162 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 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 40 sellout crowds and 13 of the 22 returning teams raised
their average attendance from a year ago.
The Idaho Steelheads and the City of Boise will host the 15th Annual ECHL
All-Star Game presented by Rbk Hockey on Jan. 17 and the 10th Annual
ECHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Rbk Hockey on Jan. 16
at Qwest Arena.
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. The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
ECHL Stories from December 1, 2006
