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Published on April 10, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


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2004 Kelly Cup Playoffs Northern Division Semifinals (Best-of-Five Series)
Series Tied 1-1

No. 1 Wheeling Nailers (51-17-4) at No. 4 Reading Royals (37-25-10) 7:05 ET
* Royals' Cody Rudkowsky is 2-1 and tied for second in the playoffs with a goals against average of 2.00.
* Defenseman Matt Snesrud scored the game-winning goal and Kent Davyduke had three assists in Royals 3-2 win at Wheeling in Game 2 on Friday.
* Tyler MacKay made 30 saves and Steve Crampton scored the game-winning goal in Nailers 3-1 win against Reading in Game 1 on Thursday.
* Royals' Cody Rudkowsky is 1-1 and tied for fifth in the playoffs with a 2.00 goals against average.
* No. 5 Seed Reading upset No. 4 Seed Johnstown 2-1 in Wild Card Game on April 5.
* Wheeling returns to postseason for first time since 1997-98 and for the 10th time in its 16-year history.
* In its third season, Reading is making its first Kelly Cup Playoff appearance.
* Wheeling became fifth team in league history to win 50 games and set team records for points (106), wins (50), home wins (28) and road wins (22).
* Nailers had 59 points in 2002-03 and 47-point increase in 2003-04 is the third-largest single-season point increase in league history.




2004 Kelly Cup Playoffs Southern Division Semifinals (Best-of-Five Series)
Series Tied 1-1

No. 1 Columbia Inferno (44-20-8) at No. 4 South Carolina Stingrays (39-28-5) 7:30 ET
* Robin Gomez scored two goals in South Carolina's 4-2 win in Game 2 at Columbia on Friday.
* Tim Smith scored three points (1g-2a) and was +1 in Inferno's 4-1 win at Columbia in Game 1 on Tuesday.
* Dustin Johner scored the Stingrays only goal, a power-play goal, in the third period of Game 1 on Tuesday.
* Inferno has advanced to the postseason in each of its three seasons, including the 2003 Kelly Cup Finals.
* Stingrays have qualified for the postseason in each of their 11 seasons, tying the ECHL record for playoff appearances, winning the Kelly Cup in 1997 and 2001.
* Columbia's Tim Smith led the ECHL in scoring with 92 points and in assists with 60.
* Ed Courtenay led South Carolina with 29 goals, 66 points, 15 power-play goals, and 31 power-play points.
* Columbia led the ECHL with 275 goals and 3.82 goals per game.
* South Carolina won the Kelly Cup Championship in 1997 and 2001.




2004 Kelly Cup Playoffs Central Division Semifinals (Best-of-Five Series)
Series Tied 1-1

No. 2 Mississippi Sea Wolves (45-20-7) at No. 3 Gwinnett Gladiators (42-22-8) 7:35 ET
* Gladiators' Rick Emmett leads defensemen in the postseason with two goals and two power-play goals.
* Sergei Kuznetsov scored the game-winning goal with 23 seconds remaining to give the Sea Wolves a 4-3 win in Game 2 at Mississippi on Friday.
* Chris Durno scored the game-winning goal in overtime as Gwinnett won 2-1 at Mississippi in Game 1 on Wednesday.
* Anthony Battaglia scored Mississippi's goal and Greg Gardner had 38 saves for the Sea Wolves in Game 1.
* Anthony Battaglia and Sergei Kuznetsov lead Mississippi in the playoffs with two goals and four points.
* Chris Goodjohn leads Gwinnett in the playoffs with three assists and three points.
* Mississippi's Steffon Walby was second in the ECHL in scoring with 88 points (33g-55a) in 59 games.
* Gwinnett's Kevin Doell led ECHL rookies with 33 goals and seven game-winning goals.
* Mississippi's Jim Baxter tied for the league lead among defensemen with five game-winning goals.
* Gladiators' Brandon Dietrich was second in the ECHL with 60 assists.
* Mississippi is in the playoffs for third year in a row and won the 1999 Kelly Cup.



2004 Kelly Cup Playoffs Southern Division Semifinals (Best-of-Five Series)
Louisiana Leads Series 2-0


No. 1 Louisiana IceGators (48-22-2)at No. 4 Pensacola Ice Pilots (40-23-9) 7:05 CT
* Louisiana's Konstantin Kalmikov leads the postseason with two shorthand goals and teammate Bruce Richardson is tied for second with one shorthand goal.
* Louisiana's Derek Gustafson is 2-0 with a goals against average of 2.00 and leads the playoffs with one shutout and a save percentage of .947.
* Derek Gustafson made 43 saves in Louisiana's 6-0 win in Game 2 at Louisiana on Thursday.
* Konstantin Kalmikov scored five points (2g-3a) and Jamie Johnson tallied two power-play goals in the IceGators 8-4 win in Game 1 at Louisiana on Wednesday.
* Ice Pilots' Peter Fregoe scored a power-play goal and had two points (1g-1a) at Louisiana in Game 1.
* Louisiana has advanced to the postseason in each of its nine seasons, including the 2000 Kelly Cup Finals.
* Pensacola is in the playoffs for the third straight year and the sixth time in its eight seasons in Pensacola.
* Louisiana's Derek Gustafson tied for the league lead in the regular season with five shutouts and ranked second with a 2.09 GAA.
* Pensacola defenseman Corey Neilson led the ECHL with 35 power-play assists and 44 power-play points.
* Louisiana's Ben Storey led league defensemen with 15 power-play goals.
* Pensacola's Brian Eklund set ECHL records with 2,194 saves and 3,724 minutes and tied the ECHL record with 38 wins.



2004 Kelly Cup Playoffs Pacific Division Semifinals (Best-of-Five Series)
Las Vegas Leads Series 2-0

No. 2 Las Vegas Wranglers (43-22-7) at No. 3 Idaho Steelheads (40-23-9) 7:05 MT
* Ryan Christie scored two goals and Marc Magliarditi made 29 saves in the Wranglers 3-2 win at Las Vegas in Game 2 on Friday.
* Tom Nelson scored the game-winning goal and had two points (1g-1a) in the Wranglers 4-2 win at Las Vegas in Game 1 on Tuesday.
* Idaho's Jan Kopecky scored a power-play goal in the second period as Idaho went 1-for-2 on the power play in Game 1.
* Tom Nelson and Greg Day lead Las Vegas in the postseason in assists with three and points with four.
* Wranglers' Greg Day scored three points (1g-2a) and was +2 against Idaho in Game 1.
* Las Vegas was 4-1-0 at home and 5-3-2 overall against Idaho in 2003-04.
* Idaho was 4-1-0 at home and 5-4-1 overall against Las Vegas in 2003-04.
* Jan Kopecky led Idaho with 24 goals, 54 points and 20 power-play points (8g-12a).
* Las Vegas' Dave Cousineau was tied for the league lead among defensemen with five game-winning goals and was tied for third with 17 goals.
* Wranglers' Marc Magliarditi was 29-14-4 and ranked eighth in the ECHL with a 2.25 goals against average.

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ECHL Stories from April 10, 2004


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