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ECHL Awards 2009 All-Star Game To Royals, Sovereign Center, City Of Reading

February 8, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced on Friday that it has awarded the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game to the Reading Royals, the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center.

The Royals had a near-capacity crowd of 6,746 for the 2005 All-Star Game and become the first team and city in 17 years to host the annual midseason game that showcases the top prospects in the Premier 'AA' Hockey League twice. The game will be played on Jan. 21, 2009 with the 12th edition of the ECHL All-Star Game Skills Competition being held on Jan. 20, 2009.

"The combination of the Royals organization, a great host in the Sovereign Center and the many exciting development projects underway in and around the downtown, made it an easy choice to come back to Reading," said ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna.

The Royals in association with the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center announced that in conjunction with the All-Star activities they will be hosting 'Hockey Week In Reading' which will be a series of special events, including a special game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"We are proud to bring the ECHL All-Star Game back to Reading," said Royals General Manager Gordon Kaye. "It is important to emphasize that during the 'Hockey Week In Reading' celebration, the spotlight is not just going to be on our organization, but on the entire City of Reading. Our concept is to make this series of special events a gateway to displaying all of the positive growth and development within our community while also presenting hockey and sports fans in our region, as well as those visiting from other areas, an opportunity to experience firsthand all of the top young talent in our league."

Reading is sixth in the ECHL in attendance with 5,203 per game and the Royals have never averaged less than 5,000 per game or ranked less than sixth in each of their seven seasons in the league.

"We're extremely excited to have this opportunity to be a part of hosting the ECHL All-Star celebration for a second time," said Sovereign Center General Manager Zane Collings. "We were impressed with the professionalism of everyone associated with the league when these events were held in the Sovereign Center in 2005. We're confident that with the expanded participation from the City of Reading and the greater Reading area, we'll be able to help take the All-Star experience to another, even more exciting, level for our business partners and the fans of our region and beyond."

Attended by representatives from both the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the game has produced 42 players who have gone on to play in the NHL including 26 since 2002 when the format was changed to feature younger prospects.

The past six ECHL All-Star Games have brought at least $1 million to the local economy with invited guests, players, coaches and fans occupying hundreds of hotel rooms and spending three days in the host city.

"I'm excited about the potential these events hold for Reading," said City of Reading Mayor Thomas MacMahon. "This is one more example that Reading is a turnaround city."

The All-Star festivities will also include the official induction ceremony for the second class, which will be announced later this year, into the ECHL Hall of Fame.

The game has been available live to more than 80 million homes on the NHL Network each of the last six years as well as being rebroadcast on multiple regional sports networks. The audio broadcast has been carried each of the last three years on XM Satellite Radio as well as being available in all ECHL markets.

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.

ECHL All-Star Games
2008 - National 10, American 7 at Stockton, Calif.
2007 - American 6, National 3 at Boise, Idaho
2006 - National 7, American 6 at Fresno, Calif.
2005 - National 6, American 2 at Reading, Pa.
2004 - Eastern 7, Western 6 at Peoria, Ill.
2003 - North 8, South 2 at Estero, Fla.
2002 - South 7, North 6 at Trenton, N.J.
2001 - South 9, North 5 at Little Rock, Ark.
2000 - North 8, South 6 at Greenville, S.C.
1999 - South 7, North 4 at Biloxi, Miss.
1998 - Canada 11, USA/World 7 at Lafayette, La.
1997 - Charlotte 7, ECHL 6 at Charlotte, N.C.
1996 - North 10, South 7 at Tallahassee, Fla.
1995 - West 6, East 5 at Greensboro, N.C.
1994 - West 7, East 6 at Norfolk, Va.
1993 - East 7, West 3 at Wheeling, W.Va.

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 347 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06 and 26 in 2006-07. There have been 202 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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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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