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Burrows Is 287th ECHL Player To Play In NHL

January 3, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Former ECHL left wing Alexandre Burrows made his National Hockey League debut with the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and becomes the 287th player to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL and the 31st former ECHL player to play his first NHL game this season.

The 24-year-old had five penalty minutes and two shots in 7:23 of ice time while skating 16 shifts in the Canucks 4-1 loss at St. Louis. Former Columbia goaltender Alex Auld was in net for Vancouver while the winning goaltender was Curtis Sanford, who was the starting goaltender for the Northern Conference in the 2002 ECHL All-Star Game.

The 6-foot-1 and 190-pound Burrows began his professional career in the ECHL in 2002-03, registering 26 points (9g-17a) and 201 penalty minutes in 53 games with Greenville and six points (4g-2a) and 64 penalty minutes in 13 games with Baton Rouge. In 2003-04, he had 73 points (29g-44a) and 194 penalty minutes in 64 regular season games and two goals and 28 penalty minutes in four Kelly Cup Playoff games with Columbia while also playing two games in the American Hockey League with Manitoba. He returned to Columbia in 2004-05 and had six points (5g-1a) in four games before being called up to Manitoba where he had 26 points (9g-17a) and 107 penalty minutes in 72 regular season games and three assists and 37 penalty minutes in 14 playoff games.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League has affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the NHL and over 100 players on ECHL rosters are under contract to an NHL team. There is one head coach, 12 assistant coaches, 13 referees and five linesmen currently in the NHL with ECHL experience. Chris Holt (Charlotte and New York Rangers) and Mike Morrison (Greenville and Edmonton) have played in both the ECHL and the NHL this season. Chris Beckford-Tseu of Alaska was called up and served as the backup goaltender for St. Louis on Dec. 17 while Maxime Daigneault of South Carolina was called up and served as the backup goaltender for Washington on Dec. 31 and Jan 1. Former ECHL goaltenders have won the NHL Defensive Player of the Week four times with Tomas Vokoun, Wheeling and Nashville (Dec. 5), Morrison, Greenville and Edmonton (Nov. 28), Curtis Sanford, Peoria and St. Louis (Nov. 21) and Manny Legace, Richmond and Detroit (Nov. 1).

There have been 31 players in 2005-06 that have made their first NHL appearance since playing in the ECHL:

Evgeny Artyukhin (Tampa Bay on Oct. 20)
Adam Berkhoel (Atlanta on Oct. 15)
Derek Boogaard (Minnesota on Oct. 5)
Alexandre Burrows (Vancouver on Jan. 2)
Kevin Colley (New York Islanders on Oct. 27)
Ryan Craig (Tampa Bay on Dec. 17)
Brian Eklund (Tampa Bay on Nov. 8)
Michael Garnett (Atlanta on Oct. 12)
Trevor Gillies (Anaheim on Nov. 6)
Steven Goertzen (Columbus on Oct. 21)
Jeff Giuliano (Los Angeles on Nov. 5)
Josh Gratton (Philadelphia on Dec. 15)
Timo Helbling (Tampa Bay on Oct. 5)
Colin Hemingway (St. Louis on Oct. 19)
Chris Holt (New York Rangers on Dec. 3)
Raitis Ivanans (Montreal on Oct. 8)
Greg Jacina (Florida on Nov. 12)
Zenon Konopka (Anaheim on Oct. 30)
Chad LaRose (Carolina on Dec. 6)
Jay Leach (Boston on Nov. 5)
Rob McVicar (Vancouver on Dec. 1)
Mike Morrison (Edmonton on Nov. 7)
Michel Ouellet (Pittsburgh on Nov. 22)
George Parros (Los Angeles on Oct. 5)
Geoff Platt (Columbus on Dec. 2)
Nolan Schaefer (San Jose on Oct. 26)
Martin St. Pierre (Chicago on Nov. 4)
David Steckel (Washington (Dec. 31)
Grant Stevenson (San Jose on Nov. 23)
Mark Streit (Montreal on Oct. 8)
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (Columbus on Nov. 23)

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