Chiefs Wrap-up 2002-2003 Season
April 1, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Johnstown Chiefs News Release
Johnstown, PA- With Sunday's 5-3 home loss to the Cincinnati Cyclones, the Chiefs wrapped up their 2002-2003 East Coast Hockey League season.
The Chiefs finished the season with a 28-33-11 record, missing the playoffs for the first time in three years. After a slow start, the Chiefs improved after the all-star break, compiling a 14-10-4 record since January 24th.
Individual achievements piled up for some of the Chiefs veterans. Lukas Smital became the Chiefs all-time leading goal scorer, when he passed Bruce Coles on March 14th vs. Atlantic City, netting his 107th goal in a Johnstown uniform. Smital also moved up to third on the all-time scoring list with 217 points and 2nd on the games played list (278). Chiefs captain Brent Bilodeau moved to third on the games played list (277) trailing Smital by one game. Defenseman Jeff Sullivan is now ranked 2nd on the Chiefs all-time penalty list (834) and Jason Spence moved up to 4th on the penalty minute list (595) despite playing in only 23 games before being recalled to Saint John (AHL) in December.
Rookie forward Steve Hildenbrand was the only Chiefs player to play in all 72 games this season. Goaltender Peter Aubry set a franchise record posting three shutouts. He also tied Frederic Deschenes with a franchise low 2.93 GAA for the season.
On February 22nd, a sellout crowd of 4,074 packed the War Memorial for the Chiefs 1,000th ECHL game (vs. Toledo; 2-4 L). The Chiefs became the first ECHL team to accomplish the feat. It was also the Chiefs first sellout since December 31, 1998. It was the third largest crowd ever to watch a Chiefs game in the War Memorial. The Chiefs average attendance (2,244) increased by one person from last season.
Thirty-two players were on the Chiefs roster this season. Seventeen of them got playing time in the AHL. Spence and J.F. Boutin were recalled to Saint John and never came back to Johnstown.
ECHL Stories from April 1, 2003
- Falcons Upend Condors, 7-5 - Bakersfield Condors
- Blades End Season with 3-2 Wild Card Loss - Florida Everblades
- Car To Be Given Away at Last McDonald's Night - San Diego Gulls
- Four Falcons Earn All-WCHL Honors - Fresno Falcons
- Steelheads Receive WCHL Honors - Idaho Steelheads
- Mark Pederson Named to All-WCHL Team - San Diego Gulls
- All-WCHL Team Features Willett and St. Pierre - Bakersfield Condors
- Steelheads Copeland Named WCHL Player of the Week - Idaho Steelheads
- Grizzlies Get Oliver Back From Dallas - Utah Grizzlies
- Assistant Coach Steps Down From Post - Reading Royals
- Affiliation With Philadelphia Extended In First-ever, Two-year Deal - Trenton Devils
- It's 'Macaroni for Macker' during playoffs - Louisiana IceGators
- Columbia's Vial, Pee Dee's Glumac Share C&T Hockey Products Plus Performer of the Year Award - ECHL
- Chiefs Wrap-up 2002-2003 Season - Johnstown Chiefs
- Next Season Starts Now - Kalamazoo Wings
- Men Set for Showdown in Toledo Tomorrow - Burlington
- ECHL Suspends Colley, Spadafora, Kilbourne - ECHL
- Buddy Smith Wins ECHL Scoring Title - Arkansas RiverBlades
- Fitzsimmons Selects Playoff Roster - South Carolina Stingrays
- Lexington-Toledo Series Recap and Quick Facts - Burlington
- Arkansas' Smith Wins Scoring Title - ECHL
- Another Honor for Glumac - Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz
- All Along The Coast - ECHL
- Walby, Scott and Gardner Named Sea Wolves Best in March - Mississippi Sea Wolves
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