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ECHL This Week

Published on December 23, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release




National Conference - West Division

Alaska Aces
* Cam Keith leads the league with 25 assists and Colin Hemingway is second with 23 assists.
* Alaska has killed off 43 of their opponents last 44 power-play chances (97.7 percent).
* Alaska plays at Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday.

Idaho Steelheads
* Rookie Matt Climie has won his last three starts to improve to 6-1-0 in his last seven games.
* Bryan McGregor has a two-game goal streak (2g) and six points (6g-2a) in his last eight games.
* Steelheads host Utah on Friday and play at Utah on Saturday.

Phoenix RoadRunners
* RoadRunners are 8-4-3 against the Pacific Division.
* T.J. Campbell scored his first professional goal on Saturday at Ontario.
* RoadRunners play at Las Vegas on Friday and host Ontario on Saturday.

Utah Grizzlies
* James Sixsmith has 14 points (4g-10a) and a plus-minus rating of +8 in his last nine games.
* Michael Mole has started 24 consecutive games.
* Grizzlies play at Idaho on Friday and host Idaho on Saturday.

Victoria Salmon Kings
* Salmon Kings lead the ECHL for the first time in history with 40 points.
* Wes Goldie has nine points (8g-1a) in his last four games.
* Salmon Kings play at Stockton on Saturday and Sunday.

National Conference - Pacific Division

Bakersfield Condors
* Condors and Stockton have combined to score 11 goals in each of their three meetings.
* Andrew Ianiero has a five-game point streak (5g-3a).
* Condors host Stockton on Friday and Ontario on Sunday.

Las Vegas Wranglers
* Wranglers had largest crowd in six-year history of midnight game with 5.101.
* John DeCaro is 7-3-0 and ranks third in the league with a goals-against average of 2.06.
* Wranglers host Phoenix on Friday and Alaska on Saturday and Sunday.

Ontario Reign
* Rookie John Murray is 8-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.72 in his last eight starts.
* Tim Kraus has an eight-game point streak (3g-7a) and a four-game assist streak (5a).
* Reign play at Phoenix on Saturday and at Bakersfield on Sunday.

Stockton Thunder
* Stockton leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 7,048 fans per game.
* Mike Lalonde is the Thunder's all-time leading scorer with 123 points (60g-63a) after scoring a goal at Ontario on Sunday.
* Thunder play at Bakersfield on Friday and host Victoria on Saturday.

American Conference - South Division

Charlotte Checkers
* Maxime Daigneault is 5-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.17 in his last six starts.
* Mike Bayrack has a seven-game assist streak (9a) and a seven-game point streak (0g-9a).
* Checkers host Florida on Sunday.

Florida Everblades
* Kevin Baker has 10 points (5g-5a) and a plus-minus rating of +7 in his last four games.
* David Leggio is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.72 in his last three games.
* Everblades play at Gwinnett on Saturday and at Charlotte on Sunday.

Gwinnett Gladiators
* Brad Schell and Bruce Graham are tied for the team lead with six power-play goals each.
* Brandon Kaleniecki is second on the team with seven goals in 14 games.
* Gladiators host South Carolina on Friday and Florida on Saturday.

Mississippi Sea Wolves
* Ryan Munce is tied for the league lead with three shootout wins.
* Rookie Ryan Cruthers leads the league in December with 16 points (7g-9a) in 10 games.
* Sea Wolves play at South Carolina on Saturday and Sunday.

South Carolina Stingrays
* Bobby Goepfert is 2-0-1 with a shutout and a goals-against average of 0.65 in his last three starts.
* Ben Boudreau scored his first professional goal in 4-2 win against Elmira on Friday.
* Stingrays play at Gwinnett on Friday and host Mississippi on Saturday and Sunday.

American Conference - North Division

Cincinnati Cyclones
* Cyclones donated more than 650 stuffed animals from their Teddy Bear Toss to the Shriners.
* Cincinnati leads the ECHL with 40 first-period goals.
* Cyclones play at Dayton on Friday, at Wheeling on Saturday and at Trenton on Sunday.

Dayton Bombers
* Bombers are outscoring their opponents 36-24 in the third period.
* Defenseman Joe Van Culin has an eight-game point streak (1g-9a) and a seven-game assist streak (9a).
* Bombers host Cincinnati on Friday, Reading on Saturday and Wheeling on Sunday.

Elmira Jackals
* Twelve of Elmira's 14 games from Dec. 7-Jan. 3 are on the road.
* Pierre-Luc Faubert has five points (1g-4a) in his last five games.
* Jackals host Johnstown on Friday and play at Johnstown on Saturday.

Johnstown Chiefs
* Chiefs are 12-1-0 when they score first and 14-1-0 when leading after two periods.
* Rookie Blair Yaworski tied the team record with four goals in 7-3 win at Wheeling on Friday.
* Chiefs play at Elmira on Friday and host Elmira on Saturday.

Reading Royals
* Chris Stevens has three points (1g-2a) in his last two games and six points in nine games (4g-2a).
* Rookie James Reimer is 3-1-1 with a shootout win in his last five starts.
* Royals play at Wheeling on Friday and at Dayton on Saturday.

Trenton Devils
* Devils have killed off their opponents last 32 power-play opportunities.
* Jim Henkel has a five-game point streak (4g-4a) and a three-game goal streak (3g).
* Devils host Cincinnati on Sunday.

Wheeling Nailers
* Nailers are 14-1-4 when they score first and 14-0-0 when leading after two periods.
* Rob Sirianni has nine goals in his last six games and is fourth in the ECHL with 17 goals.
* Nailers host Reading on Friday and Cincinnati on Saturday before playing at Dayton on Sunday.

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Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- 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 Reading Royals, the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center will host the 17th Annual ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21, 2009 and the 12th Annual All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 20, 2009.
- 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.
- 384 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 128 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 29 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 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 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 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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ECHL Stories from December 23, 2008


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