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Checkers Go 4-0-0, Have League-Leading 10 Wins, 21 Points

November 22, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Overcoming a three-goal deficit on the road on Tuesday, posting shootout wins at home on Wednesday and Saturday and getting an overtime win on the road on Friday allowed Charlotte to go 4-0-0 last week and move into first place in the American Conference East Division. The Checkers are 10-2-1 to lead the ECHL in wins (10) and points (21), one point and one win ahead of Atlantic City which leads the National Conference North Division with 20 points and nine wins. Bakersfield is 9-1-1 and sits atop the National Conference West Division with 19 points, one point ahead of Idaho (9-4-0) while Gwinnett is 5-3-4 and leads the American Conference South Division with 14 points, one point ahead of Louisiana (6-2-1) and Mississippi (6-6-1).

Charlotte will play three division games this week, hosting Augusta (4-6-1) on Tuesday and Columbia (4-5-3) on Friday before traveling to Pee Dee (7-4-2) on Saturday. The Checkers are 1-0-0 against Augusta and 3-0-0 against Columbia.

After having the best start of their 12-year history going 4-0-0, including three consecutive road wins to open the season, Charlotte is five points ahead of Pee Dee (7-4-2) and six points ahead of South Carolina (7-6-1) in the East Division. The Checkers are 7-1-1 in one-goal games, including a perfect 3-0 record in overtime and a 2-1 record in shootouts.

In his first professional season, goaltender Kelly Guard is 7-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.29 and a save percentage of .920. Under contract to Ottawa of the National Hockey League, the 21-year-old Guard leads the league in overtime wins with two and is tied for second in the league with two shootout wins. Guard is tied for the league lead in shootout percent age with 1.000, stopping all seven shooters faced.

Mike Harder is tied for the league lead in scoring with 18 points and his 12 assists lead the Checkers and are second in the league. Eduard Pershin is second on the team and tied for fourth in the league with 16 points and leads the team with seven goals while ranking third with nine assists. Dan Preston is second on the team with 10 assists and third in scoring with 11 points, tying him for the league lead among defensemen in both assists and scoring.

Reading Winning Streak Is Seven Games

Winning 7-1 at Dayton on Sunday, Reading extended its winning streak to a league best seven games, outscoring its opponents 30-6, while improving its record to 7-5-0. The Royals travel to Peoria for games on Thursday and Friday. Reading, which beat Peoria 3-1 on Tuesday, has won its last three road games to improve to 3-4-0 on the road.

After being shut out twice and scoring only four goals while opening the season 0-5-0, the Royals have scored 30 goals in their last seven games to raise their goals per game average from 0.80 to 2.83. Allowing only four goals in three games last week, Reading lowered its league-leading goals-against average to 1.42.

Cody Rudkowsky made 26 saves in a 3-2 win against South Carolina on Friday and 20 saves in a 7-1 win at Dayton on Sunday to extend his winning streak to four games and even his record at 4-4-0. Rookie Barry Brust, who was placed on seven-day injured reserve on Thursday, made 27 saves in a 3-1 win against Peoria on Tuesday to extend his wining streak to three games and improving his record to 3-1-0.

Under contract to Los Angeles of the National Hockey League, Brust is third in the league with a goals-against average of 1.20 and fourth in the league in save percentage with .950. Rudkowsky is fourth in the league with a goals-against average of 1.29, tied for second with two shutouts and is fifth in save percentage with a .949.

After scoring two points (1g-1a) in the first seven games, Judd Medak has scored in five consecutive games (2g-5a), giving him nine points (3g-6a) to move into a tie for the team scoring lead with Ryan Kinasewich (4g-5a), David Steckel (3g-6a) and Graig Mischler (2g-7a). After registering two assists, both on October 23 against Trenton, in the first seven games, Mischler also has a five-game scoring streak that has produced two goals and five assists. A rookie left wing, Kinasewich leads the Royals during the winning streak with nine points (4g-5a). After having a five-game scoring streak (3g-4a) end on Friday, the 21-year-old Kinasewich had a goal and an assist on Sunday. Steckel was recalled to Manchester of the American Hockey League on November 14.

Condors' Percentage Leads ECHL

Despite suffering its first regulation loss of the season on Saturday against Long Beach, Bakersfield continues to lead the ECHL in winning percentage with .864. The Condors are 9-1-1 and lead the National Conference West Division with 19 points, one point ahead of defending Kelly Cup Champion Idaho (9-4-0). Bakersfield will host Victoria on Saturday and travels to San Diego on Sunday. The Condors are 2-0-0 against Victoria and 3-0-0 against San Diego.

After opening the season 6-0-0, Bakersfield lost in a shootout and then won its next three games before losing to Long Beach. In its inaugural ECHL season in 2003-04, Bakersfield did not win its ninth game until December 14, finishing fifth in the division with 59 points and a 25-38-9 record.

The Condors lead the league in power-play percentage (30.2 percent) and power-play goals (16) while also leading the league in scoring, averaging 4.00 goals per game. Kevin St. Jacques leads the Condors in scoring with 12 points (2g-10a) while Connor James (5g-6a), Lars-Peder Nagel (3g-8a), Mike Hofstrand (3g-8a), Guy Dupuis (1g-10a) and Luis Tremblay (1g-10a) are tied for second with 11 points each. Nagel, James and Tremblay are tied for third among league rookies in scoring. Tremblay leads all rookies with 10 assists and is tied for the league lead among defensemen with Dupuis in both assists and points.

Between the pipes, Randy Petruk, who was placed on seven-day injured reserve on Saturday, is 6-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.09 and a save percentage of .912. Rookie Yutaka Fukufuji, who is assigned to Bakersfield by Los Angeles of the National Hockey League, is 3-1-1 with a goal-against average of 2.46 and a save percentage of .924.

Gladiators Have 10,000+ For Second Time, Alaska Has Third Sellout

A crowd of 10,258 in Gwinnett on Friday and the third sellout of the season in Alaska have helped the ECHL average 4,123 through the first five weeks.

Gwinnett's crowd on Friday was the second crowd of more than 10,000 for the Gladiators, who had a sellout crowd of 11,355 on November 5. Gwinnett leads the league in average attendance with 7,312 while Florida is second at 6,304 and Reading is third at 6,067. San Diego, which has the largest crowd of the season with 11,922 on October 23, is fourth averaging 5,862.
After posting back-to-back sellouts for its first two games on October 29 and 30, the Aces had another standing-room-only crowd on Saturday with 6,345. Alaska, which had the largest crowd in its history with 6,453 on October 29, is averaging 5,203 per game, up more than 37 percent from last season. The Aces have sold out three of their first six home games and are averaging 5,203 per game. Alaska is averaging 6,378 for games on Friday and Saturday night and 4,028 for its three non-weekend games. There have been 13 sellouts by 10 teams, including Augusta which had 5,668 for its home opener on October 22 and 5,486 on November 12.

Wranglers Will Travel Over 13,600 Miles, Play In Four Time Zones

Las Vegas visits Louisiana on Tuesday, beginning a 14-day trip that will see the Wranglers play eight games in four time zones, including visits to Alaska and Florida. The trip will cover more than 13,600 miles and the Wranglers will log more than 70 hours of travel time. Las Vegas will play at Texas on Wednesday, at Mississippi on Thursday, at Florida on Saturday and at Pensacola on Sunday. Following a game against Florida on November 29, the Wranglers travel to Alaska for games on December 3 and 4. Although the 14-day trip will be over, the Wranglers will still have road games at Idaho for games on December 10 and 11 before finally returning to the Orleans Arena on December 14 to host Greenville.

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