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ECHL Opens 21st Season October 17-19

April 30, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that its 21st season will begin on Oct. 17 with eight games being played in seven states from Alaska to Florida and continues on Oct. 18 with 11 more games in 10 states.

The complete schedule will be available on ECHL.com.

Began in 1988-89 with five teams playing in four states, the Premier 'AA' Hockey League has grown into a coast-to-coast league that will have 24 teams in 16 states and British Columbia playing 864 games from Oct. 17, 2008 to Apr. 4, 2009. Nineteen of the 24 teams have played at least five years in their current city.

The Johnstown Chiefs have been a member of the league for all 21 seasons while the Dayton Bombers and Wheeling Nailers return for their 18th and 17th seasons, respectively. Charlotte and South Carolina both return for the 16th season while Pensacola will celebrate its 12th year and Augusta, Florida and Mississippi each return for their 11th campaign.

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL averaged 4,174 per game, marking the fourth year in row and the 16th time in the last 18 years that the league has averaged over 4,000 fans.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League welcomed 3,756,191 fans, marking the fifth straight season and the 11th time in the last 12 years that it has exceeded 3.75 million fans. The 51 sold out crowds are the most in the last five seasons and mark the fourth time in the last five years that the ECHL has had at least 40 sellouts.

The conference and division alignments and the format for the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs will be determined and approved at a later date by the ECHL Board of Governors.

The league's newest member in Ontario, Calif. has already sold more than 1,100 season tickets for their first season. The Reign will play their first home game on Oct. 25 when they host Las Vegas. The Reign will play in the new state-of-the-art Citizens Business Bank Arena, a $130 million multi-purpose facility with 9,736 seats as well as 36 suites, a continuous concourse and a VIP club.

Cincinnati, which led all of professional hockey in attendance increase with 36.8 percent, will raise its Brabham Cup Championship banner at its season opener on Oct. 25 when it hosts in-state rival Dayton. The Cyclones, who had a team record crowd of 9,615 for their last regular season home game, had 115 points and 55 wins in 2007-08, the second-most points and wins in the 20-year history of the league behind Louisiana's 116 points and 56 wins in 2001-02.

Victoria, which had the second-highest attendance increase with 14.7 percent, will hoist its West Division banner when it hosts Stockton on Oct. 24. The Salmon Kings set team records in 2007-08 with 175,354 fans and an average of 4,871 per game and had their second sellout with 7,006 for the last regular season home game.

Augusta, which raised its attendance by 10.9 percent last season, will open its 11th season on Oct. 17 when it hosts South Carolina in a Kelly Cup Playoffs rematch.

After averaging 93.2 percent of capacity at First Arena and leading the league with 14 sellouts as an expansion team, Elmira opens its second season on Oct. 17 when it hosts Reading in a Kelly Cup Playoffs rematch. The Jackals had sellout crowds for seven consecutive Saturdays from Dec. 15, 2007-Mar. 1, 2008. Elmira will have visits from Augusta, Florida and Idaho while traveling to Gwinnett and South Carolina.

South Carolina, which has raised its attendance the last three seasons, will play its 16th home opener on Oct. 18 when it hosts Augusta in a Kelly Cup Playoffs rematch. The Stingrays, who have qualified for the postseason a league record 15 times, had a team record crowd of 10,565 on Jan. 19, the second sellout and the third crowd of more than 10,000 for the team in the last two seasons. South Carolina will host North Division teams Dayton, Elmira and Trenton while traveling to Johnstown, Reading and Trenton.

Idaho, which has had a league-high 38 sellouts in the last five years, will host Utah on Oct. 18. The Steelheads, who raised their average attendance to 4,389 per game, had standing-room-only crowds on Friday and Saturday for three straight weeks and set a team record with 5,631 on Jan. 19. Idaho will travel east to visit Elmira, Reading and Trenton.

Reading, which has averaged 5,000 per game in each of its first seven seasons, will host Johnstown in its home opener on Oct. 25. The Royals will host Florida, Idaho and South Carolina and will travel to Idaho and Utah.

Reading will also be host to the ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21, 2009 with the All-Star Skills Competition being held on Jan. 20, 2009. 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 against division rival Elmira on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Gwinnett, which will be looking to raise its attendance for the fourth season in a row, will host Mississippi in its season opener on Oct. 18. Since moving to Georgia in 2003-04, the Gladiators have had 11 crowds of more than 10,000 including four sellouts of 11,355. Gwinnett will travel to Cincinnati and Dayton and will host Dayton and Trenton.

It will be a rematch from the Kelly Cup Playoffs for Alaska, which has had 20 sellouts in its first five seasons, when it hosts Las Vegas to open the season on Oct. 17.

Utah, which advanced in the postseason for the first time in history, will host Alaska in its home opener on Oct. 24 after opening the season on Oct. 18 at Idaho.

Pensacola, which had six crowds over 4,000 including almost 7,000 for its final regular season game in 2007-08, returns for its 13th season and will host Mississippi in its home opener on Oct. 17. The Ice Pilots are led by John Marks, who is the winningest coach in league history and was the first coach to lead two different teams to the ECHL championship with Charlotte in 1996 and Greenville in 2002. Pensacola will host Cincinnati, Johnstown and Wheeling while traveling north to play at Cincinnati, Dayton and Wheeling.

Bakersfield, which set a team record with 8,895 on Nov. 24, 2007, will host Ontario in its home opener on Oct. 18 while Fresno, which had the largest crowd in the league last season with 12,590 on Feb. 9, 2008, will play its home opener on Oct. 24 against Bakersfield.

Johnstown will open its 21st season on Oct. 17 at Trenton and then returns home to the historic Cambria County War Memorial Arena on Oct. 18 to host Wheeling.

Trenton will open its 10th season on Oct. 17 when it hosts Johnstown while Phoenix will begin its fourth year on Oct. 17 when it hosts Victoria. The Devils will host Florida, Idaho and South Carolina and will play at Augusta, Charlotte, Gwinnett and South Carolina.

In its first three seasons Stockton has had 12 sellouts and has led the ECHL in attendance, becoming the first team since Florida from 2000-05 to lead the league three consecutive years. The Thunder will open the season at home for the first time in history when they host Fresno on Oct. 18.

Florida has finished first or second in attendance the last eight seasons and has never finished lower than third in its 10 season. The Everblades, who led the league for a record five straight seasons from 2000-05, will host Charlotte on Oct. 17. Florida will host Cincinnati and Johnstown and will play at Elmira, Reading and Trenton.

In the last two seasons Charlotte has had 15 crowds of more than 9,000 including a team record 12,256 on Feb. 23. The Checkers, who have finished third in the league in attendance each of the last two years, will play their fourth home opener at Charlotte Bobcats Arena on Nov. 1 when they host Florida. Charlotte will visit Ohio to play against Cincinnati and Dayton and will host Trenton.

For the second year in a row Las Vegas will hoist a division championship banner at their home opener when they host Ontario on Oct. 23. The Wranglers will play at midnight for the sixth consecutive year when they host Ontario on Dec. 15 and remain the only professional hockey team to play at midnight, a tradition the team began on Dec. 22, 2003.

Mississippi, which had its largest attendance since 2001-02 a year ago, will host Charlotte in its home opener on Oct. 24. The Sea Wolves will host North Division teams Cincinnati and Wheeling while visiting Johnstown and Wheeling.

Wheeling will open its 17th season on Oct. 17 when it hosts Cincinnati while Dayton, which has raised its attendance each of the last three seasons, will host the Cyclones in its home opener on Oct. 18. The Nailers will travel to Pensacola and will host Mississippi and Pensacola while Dayton visits Augusta, Gwinnett and South Carolina and hosts Charlotte and Pensacola.

Charlotte, Cincinnati, Johnstown, Mississippi and Ontario will each be involved in three home openers, their own and two on the road. Charlotte will visit Florida and Mississippi for their home openers before hosting Florida while Cincinnati travels to Dayton and Wheeling before hosting Dayton. Johnstown visits Trenton and hosts Wheeling before traveling to Reading while Mississippi will play at Pensacola and Gwinnett before hosting Charlotte. Ontario plays its first three games on the road including home openers at Bakersfield and Las Vegas. The Reign return home on Oct. 25 to host Las Vegas in the first game ever in the new state-of-the-art Citizens Business Bank Arena.

2008-09 ECHL Home Openers

Team Home Opener
Alaska Aces Oct. 17 vs. Las Vegas
Augusta Lynx Oct. 17 vs. South Carolina
Bakersfield Condors Oct. 18 vs. Ontario
Charlotte Checkers Nov. 1 vs. Florida
Cincinnati Cyclones Oct. 25 vs. Dayton
Dayton Bombers Oct. 18 vs. Cincinnati
Elmira Jackals Oct. 17 vs. Reading
Florida Everblades Oct. 17 vs. Charlotte
Fresno Falcons Oct. 24 vs. Bakersfield
Gwinnett Gladiators Oct. 18 vs. Mississippi
Idaho Steelheads Oct. 18 vs. Utah
Johnstown Chiefs Oct. 18 vs. Wheeling
Las Vegas Wranglers Oct. 23 vs. Ontario
Mississippi Sea Wolves Oct. 24 vs. Charlotte
Ontario Reign Oct. 25 vs. Las Vegas
Pensacola Ice Pilots Oct. 17 vs. Mississippi
Phoenix RoadRunners Oct. 17 vs. Victoria
Reading Royals Oct. 25 vs. Johnstown
South Carolina Stingrays Oct. 18 vs. Augusta
Stockton Thunder Oct. 18 vs. Fresno
Trenton Devils Oct. 17 vs. Johnstown
Utah Grizzlies Oct. 24 vs. Alaska
Victoria Salmon Kings Oct. 24 vs. Stockton
Wheeling Nailers Oct. 17 vs. Cincinnati

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 355 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including 99 in the last three seasons. There have been 210 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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