ECHL ECHL

ECHL Today

October 21, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Pensacola Ice Pilots (0-1-0) at Johnstown Chiefs (0-0-0) 7:00 p.m. ET
* Chiefs were one of original five teams when ECHL began in 1988-89.
* Defenseman Mario Joly scored the Ice Pilots goal on Friday.
* Randy Rowe, who was second on the team with 28 goals last season, returns for the Chiefs.
* Pensacola concludes season-opening three-game road trip on Sunday at Reading.

Trenton Titans (0-1-0) at Reading Royals (1-0-0) 7:05 p.m. ET
* Royals won home opener last season, 2-1 in overtime against Trenton after losing 3-2 to Titans in 2004-05.
* Titans have not lost back-to-back games to open the season since 2004-05.
* Yutaka Fukufuji made 35 saves in 3-2 win at Trenton as Reading won season opener for second year in row.
* John Laliberte and Troy Riddle each scored a goal for Trenton on Friday.

Columbia Inferno (1-0-0) at South Carolina Stingrays (0-1-0) 7:05 p.m. ET
* South Carolina was 17-11-8 at home in 2005-06, the fewest home wins in team's 13-year history.
* Inferno has won its last four road season openers after 7-3 win at Augusta on Friday.
* Stingrays are 0-2 in their last two home openers, including 5-4 shootout loss to Columbia last year.
* Defenseman Mike Jarmuth (2g-1a) and rookie Alex Foster (0g-3a) led the Inferno offense in season opener.

Wheeling Nailers (0-1-0) at Charlotte Checkers (1-0-0) 7:30 p.m. ET
* Charlotte has won its last three home openers, including the last two by combined score of 17-5.
* Kurtis McLean, who led the team with 31 goals last season, had two assists for the Nailers on Friday.
* Mark Lee (1g-4a) and Dusty Jamieson (3g-1a) led Checkers offense in 10-3 win over Wheeling on Friday.
* Nailers were 23-11-2 on the road a year ago, tying the team record for road wins.

Toledo Storm (1-0-0) at Cincinnati Cyclones (1-0-0) 7:30 p.m. ET
* Cyclones returned to ice for first time since 2004 with 3-1 win over Pensacola in front of 4,358 on Friday.
* Logan Koopmans had 33 saves in 2-0 win against Dayton as Toledo won its opener for fourth straight year.
* Torry Gajda led Cincinnati with two points, assisting on game-winning goal and adding insurance goal.
* Storm was 19-15-2 on the road last season, the most road wins since team record tying 21 in 1995-96.

Texas Wildcatters (1-0-0) at Florida Everblades (0-1-0) 7:30 p.m. ET
* Wildcatters won season opener for first time in team's three-year history with 5-2 win on Friday.
* Everblades were 23-10-3 at home a year ago, tying the team record for second most home wins.
* Kevin Baker (2g-0a) and defenseman Jean-Francois (JF) David (0g-2a) were offensive leaders for Texas.
* Defensemen Brett Peterson and Brett Carson scored Florida's goals.

Gwinnett Gladiators (1-0-0) at Augusta Lynx (0-1-0) 7:35 p.m. ET
* Gwinnett rookie Dave Caruso made 37 saves in professional debut Friday, a 6-2 win against South Carolina.
* Lynx were 4-1-0 at home and 5-4-1 overall against Gwinnett a year ago.
* Gladiators were 21-11-4 on the road last season, setting a team record for road wins.
* Louis Goulet (1g-1a) and Ryan Lang (1g-1a) led the Lynx offense in 7-3 loss to Columbia on Friday.

Idaho Steelheads (1-0-0) at Bakersfield Condors (0-1-0) 7:00 p.m. PT
* Condors were 4-2-0 against Idaho last season and are 11-7-4 all-time against the Steelheads.
* Idaho has won its last three season openers, including the last two against Long Beach.
* Bakersfield was 24-9-3 at home a year ago, setting the team record for home wins.
* Derek Nesbitt scored game-winning power-play goal in first game wearing a Steelheads uniform.

Utah Grizzlies (0-1-0) at Phoenix RoadRunners (1-0-0) 7:11 p.m. PT
* RoadRunners improved to 2-0-0 in season openers and both victories have been against Utah.
* Grizzlies' Rob McVicar made league opening night high 51 saves.
* Phoenix's Jake Ortmeyer had career-high three goals and tied career-high for points (3g-0) on Friday.
* Justin Cox and Mike Wirll each scored a goal for Utah.

Victoria Salmon Kings (0-1-0) at Alaska Aces (1-0-0) 7:15 p.m. AT
* Alaska has won its last three home openers, including 5-3 on Friday, to improve to 3-1-0 in home openers.
* Victoria rookie Darryl Lloyd scored his first professional goal in season opener.
* Mike Scott, who was second on team in 2005-06 with 50 assists and 87 points, led Aces scoring (0g-3a).
* Salmon Kings return home to Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre to host Idaho on Wednesday.

Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
* Affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League.
* 304 former ECHL players have played in NHL, including record 47 in 2005-06 and 158 in last five seasons.
* ECHL has been represented on last six Stanley Cup champions.
* Two NHL head coaches (Peter Laviolette & Jim Playfair) and nine assistant coaches have ECHL experience.
* Affiliations with 24 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey League.
* ECHL has been represented on last 17 Calder Cup champions.
* For each of the past four seasons, ECHL has had more players called up to AHL than all other professional leagues combined. From 2002-06 the ECHL had 1,646 call ups, involving almost 1,000 players, including 416 call ups involving 263 players last season.
* Idaho Steelheads and City of Boise will host the 15th Annual ECHL All-Star Game presented by Rbk Hockey on Jan. 17 and the 10th Annual ECHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Rbk Hockey on Jan. 16 at Qwest Arena.
* ECHL and its member teams contributed more than $2.3 million for charity and relief funds in 2005-06.

Check out the ECHL Statistics



ECHL Stories from October 21, 2006


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central