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Cincinnati's Desharnais Named CCM Tacks Rookie of the Year

April 6, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


a> is the recipient of the CCM Tacks Rookie of the Year award for 2007-08.

The award is presented annually to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the ECHL as voted by the coaches of the ECHL teams.

Josh Soares of Alaska finished second while Oren Eizenman of Fresno was third and Anton Khudobin of Texas and Travis Morin of South Carolina tied for fourth.

Desharnais was named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team on Thursday and First Team All-ECHL on Friday. He led the ECHL with 77 assists, 39 power-play assists and 106 points while his plus-minus rating of +38 led league rookies and is second overall.

His 106 points is the most scored by a rookie since 1996-97 when Dany Bousquet of Pee Dee had 107 points (54g-53a) in 68 games. He is only the fourth rookie in 20 years to lead the ECHL in scoring joining Alex Leavitt of Alaska (91 points in 2005-06), Daryl Harpe of Erie (122 points in 1988-89) and Bill McDougall of Erie (148 points in 1989-90). The 21 year old is 10th on the list of 16 rookies who have scored 100 points.

Desharnais was named Vector CCM Rookie of the Month in November, February and March. He set the ECHL record with an assist in 20 consecutive games from Jan. 5-Feb. 29 and he had the fourth-longest scoring streak in league history with 27 games from Dec. 31, 2007-Mar. 12, 2008. He has already broken the team record of 75 points by Gorski in 1997-98 and Matt Noga in 2002-03 and the club mark of 51 assists by Noga in 2002-03. He was selected to the ECHL All-Star Game after scoring 27 points (6g-21a) in 22 games. He is under AHL contract to Hamilton and has one assist and six penalty minutes in four games with the Bulldogs.

Plus Performer of the Year and the Leading Scorer awards will be announced Monday.

ECHL Rookie of the Year Winners

2007-08 David Desharnais, Cincinnati Cyclones

2006-07 Colton Fretter, Gwinnett Gladiators

2005-06 Alex Leavitt, Alaska Aces

2004-05 Joe Tenute, South Carolina Stingrays

2003-04 Kevin Doell, Gwinnett Gladiators

2002-03 Jason Jaffray, Roanoke Express

2001-02 Frederic Cloutier, Louisiana IceGators

2000-01 Scott Stirling, Trenton Titans

1999-00 Jan Lasak, Hampton Roads Admirals

1998-99 Maxime Gingras, Richmond Renegades

1997-98 Sean Venedam, Toledo Storm

1996-97 Dany Bousquet, Birmingham Bulls

1995-96 Keli Corpse, Wheeling Thunderbirds

1994-95 Kevin McKinnon, Erie Panthers

1993-94 Dan Gravelle, Greensboro Monarchs

1992-93 Joe Flanagan, Birmingham Bulls

1991-92 Darren Colbourne, Dayton Bombers

1990-91 Dan Gauthier, Knoxville Cherokees

1989-90 Bill McDougall, Erie Panthers

1988-89 Tom Sasso, Johnstown Chiefs

ECHL
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08, the ECHL is the Premier 'AA' Hockey League and the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.

ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league with 25 teams playing 900 games in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08.

The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL in 2007-08, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

There have been 353 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including 97 in the last three seasons. There have been 208 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past seven seasons.

There are 15 coaches in the NHL who have ECHL experience including former Wheeling coach Peter Laviolette, who is head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Mississippi coach Bruce Boudreau, who is head coach of the Washington Capitals.

The ECHL is represented for the seventh consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2007 with Anaheim assistant coach Dave Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League in 2007-08 and for the past 18 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion.

In each of the last two seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL and there were over 800 call-ups involving more than 500 players. In the last five seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 2,000 call-ups involving more than 1,000 players since 2002-03.

Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.

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