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Coaches Announced For All-Star Game Presented By Guardian Wear

January 6, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced on Tuesday that the coaches for the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Guardian Wear will be Greg Puhalski of the Wheeling Nailers and Ian Herbers of the Johnstown Chiefs for the host American Conference and Mark Morrison of the Victoria Salmon Kings and Matt Thomas of the Stockton Thunder for the National Conference.

The Reading Royals, the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center will host the 17th Annual ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21 and the 12th Annual All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 20.

Puhalski and Morrison were chosen by having the best winning percentage in their conference while Herbers and Thomas were selected using a combination of votes from coaches within their own conference and winning percentage. It is the second All-Star appearance for Morrison, Puhalski and Thomas and the first for Herbers. The record for All-Star appearances is three by Chris Cichocki, Glen Gulutzan, Davis Payne and Jeff Pyle.

It is the second straight All-Star Game for Morrison, who was selected using votes and winning percentage in 2008, while Thomas was a coach for the American Conference the last time that Reading hosted the event in 2006. Puhalski was behind the bench for Canada in 1998 when he was head coach in Toledo.

Victoria is 24-9-2 and leads the ECHL with 24 wins and 50 points while Wheeling is 21-6-5 and leads the American Conference with 47 points and is tied for the conference lead with 21 wins. The Salmon Kings have won their last 13 games, surpassing the all-time team record and tying the fourth-longest streak in league history. Johnstown is 21-11-2 and tied for the conference lead with 21 wins while ranking second in the conference and division with 44 points. Thomas is 2-0-1 since being named head coach of Stockton on Dec. 29. He was head coach of Fresno until the team suspended operations on Dec. 22 despite being 18-10-2 and leading the Pacific Division with 18 wins and 38 points.

There have been four coaches and 46 players from the All-Star Game who have advanced to the National Hockey League. Twenty-nine players from the All-Star Game have gone on to play in the NHL since 2002 when the lineups began having players who coaches felt were prospects to move up to a higher level.

The Stanley Cup and the Patrick J. Kelly Cup will both be on display throughout the event, marking the ninth time in the last 10 years that the NHL championship trophy and the ECHL championship trophy have been displayed together at the All-Star Game.

American Conference
Greg Puhalski, Wheeling Nailers

Greg Puhalski is in his first full season as head coach of the Wheeling Nailers after taking over behind the bench on Jan. 2, 2008. The 43 year old returns to the ECHL where he was head coach of Toledo from 1994-98. He was 162-85-31 in the regular season and led the Storm to the postseason every year going 15-12. Toledo set an ECHL record in 1995-96 with 48 wins while its 104 points (38-14-8) were the second-highest total in league history and its .743 winning percentage was the third best. Puhalski's winning percentage of .692 (89-36-13) in his first two seasons with Toledo is the highest in ECHL history for a coach after two years. Selected by the Boston Bruins in the third round (62nd overall) in the 1983 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Puhalski played three seasons with Toledo helping the team win back-to-back ECHL championships in 1993 and 1994. He had 225 points (70g-155a) in 122 regular season games and 53 points (20g-33a) in 35 postseason games. He led the league in the postseason in 1994 with 19 assists while ranking second with 25 points in 14 games and tied for second with 12 goals and ranked fourth in 1993 with 24 points in 16 games. He coached in the United Hockey League from 1998-2007 and was 346-197-61 leading his team to the playoffs every season but one and winning the league championship in 2003.

American Conference
Ian Herbers, Johnstown Chiefs

Ian Herbers is in his second season as head coach of Johnstown having been named the team's eighth head coach on June 18, 2007. In his first season in 2007-08 the Chiefs were 36-30-6 and finished fourth in the North Division. The 36 wins are the most by a first-year coach in Johnstown as the Chiefs advanced to the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the third straight season. The 41 year old was an associate head coach for Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League from 2005-07, helping the Spirit reach the postseason in back-to-back seasons while going 81-51-5. He was an assistant coach for Saginaw in 2004-05 after working as an assistant coach for former Johnstown coach Scott Allen with San Antonio of the American Hockey League in 2003-04. He played 12 years of professional hockey, including 65 games in the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers, the New York Islanders, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Selected in the 10th round (190th overall) by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, the former defenseman helped Cape Breton win the Calder Cup championship in 1993 and helped Detroit win the Turner Cup in the original International Hockey League in 1997. He played seven seasons in the IHL where he had 90 points (25g-65a) and 758 penalty minutes in 420 regular season games and 22 points (5g-17a) and 151 penalty minutes in 76 playoff games with Detroit and Cleveland. He played three seasons in the AHL and had 57 points (15g-42a) and 355 penalty minutes in 166 regular season games and four assists and 28 penalty minutes in 15 playoff games for Cape Breton.

National Conference
Mark Morrison, Victoria Salmon Kings

Mark Morrison is in his second full season as head coach of the Salmon Kings having been promoted from assistant coach on Dec. 28, 2006. He signed a three-year contract extension on May 30, 2008 and added the additional duties of general manager. In his first full season as head coach in 2007-08, Morrison led Victoria to the West Division regular season title and their first Kelly Cup Playoffs series win while also being selected to coach in the ECHL All-Star Game. The Salmon Kings set regular season team records in 2007-08 with 42 wins, 24 home wins, 18 road wins and 91 points. After taking over behind the bench in 2006-07, Morrison led the Salmon Kings to a 27-15-3 finish, closing out the regular season with a nine-game winning streak, as the club secured its first berth in the Kelly Cup Playoffs and improved 15 points from the previous year. He joined the team as an assistant coach in 2005-06 after returning to Victoria following 12 years as head coach and general manager of Fife in the British National League, one of the top professional leagues in Europe. In addition to daily coaching duties, Morrison was responsible for player signings, contract negotiations and scouting. Three times he was selected to receive the Player of the Year award and the Coach of the Year award. He began his playing career in the Western Hockey League with Victoria and scored 394 points (159g-235a) in 249 regular season games, a club record that continues to stand, and 54 points (19g-35a) in 47 playoff games. Selected in the third round (51st overall) by the New York Rangers in the 1981 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Morrison was 19 years old when he scored his first NHL goal at Madison Square Garden against Chicago. He helped Canada win the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in 1982 and the following year captained the team to a bronze medal, and played for the Canadian Olympic Team in 1983-84 and 1988-89.

National Conference
Matt Thomas, Stockton Thunder/Fresno Falcons

Matt Thomas was named head coach of the Stockton Thunder on Dec. 29, 2008. He was head coach of Fresno until Dec. 22 when the team suspended operations despite being 18-10-2 and leading the Pacific Division with 18 wins and 38 points. Thomas was the youngest active head coach in the ECHL when he was named head coach of the Falcons on June 2, 2005. He led Fresno, which had missed the postseason its first two years in the league, to the Kelly Cup Playoffs in each of his three seasons. After winning its first division title and reaching 100 points for the first time ever, Fresno was one goal away from the Kelly Cup Finals in 2006, losing in double overtime of Game 7 in the conference finals to Kelly Cup champion Alaska. Thomas joined the Falcons after one season as head coach and director of hockey operations for Atlantic City which was 42-22-8 and advanced to the postseason where it lost to Kelly Cup champion Trenton. He was 28 years old when he took over Atlantic City making him one of the youngest coaches in league history. Thomas, who coached in the 2005 ECHL All-Star Game, was an assistant coach with Atlantic City for two seasons, helping to recruit many of the players who helped the Boardwalk Bullies win the Kelly Cup Championship in 2003. Prior to Atlantic City, Thomas spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Maine. In 2001-02, the University of Maine went 26-11-7 and advanced to the NCAA Championship Game. Thomas spent one season as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the Rochester Institute of Technology, which went 27-1-2 and advanced to the NCAA Division III Frozen Four. Following a junior career in the Metro (Toronto) Junior A Hockey League, Thomas served as Captain and helped RIT achieve a No. 1 ranking while advancing to the NCAA Tournament during his senior year while earning Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III West All-Star honors.

Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- Watch Games Live on B2 Networks, the "Official Broadband Broadcast Provider" of the ECHL.
- Watch ECHL Games Around The Clock On ECHL TV on B2CableTV.com.
- The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and is 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 21 teams in 16 states and British Columbia in 2008-09.
- The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to ECHL on May 19, 2003.
- Affiliations with 24 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League marking 12th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.
- 386 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 130 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 31 former ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season: former Wheeling Nailers and ECHL All-Star defenseman Paul Bissonnette (Pittsburgh on Oct. 4), former Bakersfield Condors center Alexandre Bolduc (Vancouver on Nov. 27), former Florida Everblades defenseman Brett Carson (Carolina on Dec. 7), former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Sean Collins (Washington on Dec. 6), former Las Vegas Wranglers and Wheeling Nailers goaltender John Curry (Pittsburgh on Nov. 26), former Greenville Grrrowl goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (Edmonton on Oct. 17), former Johnstown Chiefs center Andre Deveaux (Toronto on Nov. 27), former Dayton Bombers center Philippe Dupuis (Colorado on Dec. 12), former Gwinnett Gladiators right wing Pat Dwyer former Columbus Cottonmouths and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks left wing Mitch Fritz (New York Islanders on Oct. 30), former South Carolina Stingrays right wing Andrew Gordon (Washington on Dec. 23), former Charlotte Checkers center Dwight Helminen (Carolina on Oct. 28), former Trenton Devils right wing Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (New Jersey on Oct. 22), former Gwinnett Gladiators defenseman Scott Lehman (Atlanta on Dec. 18), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Steve MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Florida Everblades left wing Kenndal McArdle (Florida on Dec. 2), former Phoenix RoadRunners and Wheeling Nailers center Cam Paddock (St. Louis on Nov. 14), former Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman Adam Pardy (Calgary on Oct. 9), former Idaho Steelheads left wing Warren Peters (Calgary on Dec. 7), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Corey Potter (New York Rangers on Dec. 7), former Charlotte Checkers, Columbia Inferno and Elmira Jackals defenseman Bryan Rodney (Carolina on Dec. 11), former Gwinnett Gladiators center Jared Ross (Philadelphia on Oct. 11), former Alaska Aces goaltender Marek Schwarz (St. Louis on Oct. 25), former Greenville Grrrowl and Stockton Thunder center Tim Sestito (Edmonton on Nov. 26), former Dayton Bombers and Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman Tyler Sloan (Washington on Oct. 21), former Utah Grizzlies and ECHL All-Star center Trevor Smith (New York Islanders on Dec. 31), former Johnstown Chiefs and Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Radek Smolenak (Tampa Bay on Dec. 2), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27), former Las Vegas Wranglers and ECHL All-Star defenseman Tyson Strachan (St. Louis on Dec. 18), former Wheeling Nailers right wing Tim Wallace (Pittsburgh on Dec. 10) and former Idaho Steelheads center Tom Wandell (Dallas on Dec. 10).
- There were 72 former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters.
- Twenty-six former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2007-08 including six who played in both the ECHL and the NHL: Chris Beckford-Tseu (Alaska and St. Louis), Adam Berti (Pensacola and Chicago), Joe Jensen (Wheeling and Carolina), Dan LaCosta (Elmira and Columbus), Jonathan Quick (Reading and Los Angeles) and Danny Taylor (Reading and Los Angeles).
- Record 47 former ECHL players played their first NHL game in 2005-06.
- ECHL is represented for the eighth consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2008 by Aaron Downey of the Detroit Red Wings.
- Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals and Scott Gordon of the New York Islanders. Boudreau, who coached Mississippi for three seasons winning the Kelly Cup championship in 1999, was named NHL Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach to receive the award. Peter Laviolette, who began his coaching career with the Wheeling Nailers, led Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006.
- There are 18 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in the ECHL.
- There are 18 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL officiating team in 2008-09 with referees David Banfield, Chris Ciamaga, Ghislain Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin St. Pierre and Ian Walsh and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Tim Nowak and Jay Sharrers. Barton, Joannette, Leggo, McCauley, Nowak, Pollock, Rooney and Sharrers all worked the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- ECHL has affiliations with 23 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League and for the past 19 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion.
- In the last six 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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