Cajundome Could See History On Saturday
April 5, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
Lafayette, LA â In the event that local ownership is not secured in the next two weeks, one of the most storied teams in ECHL history will skate for the final time on Saturday when the Louisiana IceGators host the Texas Wildcatters at 7:05 p.m. at the Cajundome.
Following the game, the IceGators will hold a postgame auction for the team's 10th Anniversary jerseys while a season-ending yard sale will be held on April 16, at the Cajundome, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
"While we remain hopeful that an ownership group might step forward, the window of opportunity gets smaller each day," says ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna.
Louisiana is missing the postseason for the first time in its 10-year history during which the IceGators have set numerous ECHL records both on and off the ice. In 2001-02 the IceGators were 56-12-4 and set league records for most points, highest point percentage, most wins, most home wins, and most road wins. Entering 2004-05, Louisiana had the highest winning percentage and the highest home winning percentage among ECHL teams that have played more than one season.
Louisiana's Chris Valicevic was the ECHL Most Valuable Player in 1998-99 and was named ECHL Defenseman of the Year four years in a row from 1996-99 while earning First Team All-ECHL honors five consecutive seasons from 1995-2000. Valicevic is the all-time leader among league defensemen with 460 assists, 151 goals, 611 points and 590 games. He retired as the league leader in assists while ranking third in games and fourth in points. Valicevic led league defensemen in assists and scoring three times and ranked third in the league in 1998-99 with 92 points. He was selected to play in seven ECHL All-Star Games, the most by any player.
As a rookie in 2001-02, Frederic Cloutier was named ECHL Rookie of the Year and ECHL Goaltender of the Year and became the first goaltender to be named ECHL Most Valuable Player. He was also named First Team All-ECHL and to the ECHL All-Rookie team in 2001-02 after going 28-5-3 and setting league records for goals-against average (1.84) and save percentage (.945). He was named as a starter in the ECHL All-Star Game in 2002 and 2004.
In its first nine seasons, Louisiana had 11 players named First Team All-ECHL while five were selected Second Team All-ECHL and three were named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team. Louisiana's John Spoltore led the ECHL with 109 points in 1998-99 and in 1999-2000 with 119 points, and is the only player to lead the league in scoring two times. Dave Berryman was named Executive of the Year in 1996. Peter Kostos received the inaugural Media Director of the Year award in 1997 and Ryan Stanzel won the honor in 2003.
Louisiana has the top four regular season average attendance in ECHL history with 11,433 in 1996-97, 11,196 in 1997-98, 9,857 in 1998-99 and 9,776 in 1995-96. The IceGators have the eight largest and nine of the 10 biggest postseason crowds in ECHL history, including four capacity crowds of 11,800 in 1997.
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