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Published on October 31, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Cincinnati Cyclones (0-3-1) at Reading Royals (1-3-0) 7:05 p.m. ET
- First meeting since Cyclones beat Reading in seven games in the division finals of the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs.
- Royals are tied for the league lead with two shorthand goals.
- Cyclones have won the last two regular season meetings at Reading and are 17-10-3 all-time against the Royals.
- Reading's Tyler Doig has five points (1g-4a) in his last two games.

Florida Everblades (2-2-0) at South Carolina Stingrays (2-1-0) 7:05 p.m. ET
- First two games at Florida saw Stingrays win 4-1 on Oct. 25 and Everblades win 5-3 on Oct. 24.
- Mark Lee leads the Everblades against South Carolina with three assists and three points in two games.
- Everblades are 43-25-11 all-time against the Stingrays, who are 36-34-9 all-time against Florida.
- Michael Dubuc leads the Stingrays against Florida with three goals and five points in two games.

Idaho Steelheads (2-1-1) at Elmira Jackals (3-3-0) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Marty Flichel led the Steelheads with two goals and three points in 4-3 win at Elmira on Wednesday.
- Jackals are seventh in the ECHL in scoring with 3.50 goals-per game.
- Steelheads are fourth in the league in goals-against average with 2.25.
- Elmira's Tyler Donati leads the league with 10 assists and 14 points in six games.

Dayton Bombers (3-0-0) at Wheeling Nailers (4-0-1) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Nailers have won the last two meetings at Wheeling and are 81-52-8 all-time against Dayton.
- Dayton's Dan Riedel has a three-game goal streak (4g) and a three-game point streak (4g-1a).
- Wheeling's Tommy Goebel leads ECHL rookies with eight assists and 13 points in five games.
- Bombers lead the ECHL with a goals-against average of 1.67.

Gwinnett Gladiators (1-0-2) at Mississippi Sea Wolves (2-2-1) 7 p.m. CT
- Gladiators won 6-2 at Gwinnett on Oct. 18 and are 8-6-2 all-time against Mississippi.
- Rookie Ryan Cruthers leads the Sea Wolves with four goals and seven points in five games.
- Gwinnett's Bruce Graham had three assists and four points in 6-2 win against Mississippi on Oct. 18.
- Mississippi's Ryan Munce is 2-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.35.

Augusta Lynx (3-2-1) at Charlotte Checkers (4-2-0) 8 p.m. ET
- Checkers have won the last nine meetings at Charlotte and are 31-26-8 all-time against Augusta.
- Augusta rookie Michael Mullen has a three-game point streak (1g-2a).
- Rookie Matthew Ford leads the Checkers with five goals and eight points in four games.
- Lynx rookie Riku Helenius is 2-0-0 with a shootout win in his first three professional starts.

Utah Grizzlies (2-2-0) at Victoria Salmon Kings (3-4-0) 7:05 p.m. PT
- Victoria's Dylan Yeo is second among league defensemen with six points (2g-4a) in seven games.
- Utah rookie Brandon Scero has two goals and three points in four games.
- Salmon Kings' Wes Goldie has a five-game goal streak (6g) and a five-game point streak (6g-2a).
- Utah rookie Vladimir Nikiforov scored his first pro goal and had a career-high two points on Wednesday.

Ontario Reign (3-2-0) at Phoenix RoadRunners (3-2-0) 7:05 p.m. PT
- Final game of season-opening six-game home stand for the RoadRunners.
- Ontario's Jon Francisco leads team with seven points (3g-4a), including four points (1g-3a) in his last two games.
- Phoenix's Kimbi Daniels has a five-game point streak (3g-5a) and leads the team with five assists and eight points.
- Reign's Todd Jackson has a two-game goal streak (3g) and a two-game point streak (3g-1a).

Stockton Thunder (2-3-0) at Las Vegas Wranglers (1-3-1) 7:30 p.m. PT
- Wranglers have won last seven meetings at Las Vegas and are 9-1-0 at home and 16-3-1 overall against Thunder.
- Stockton's Cory Urquhart has a five-game assist streak (6a) and leads the team with nine points (3g-6a).
- Wranglers' Mike Madill leads ECHL defensemen with three goals.
- Thunder are third in the league on the power play with 25 percent (7-for-28).

Fresno Falcons (3-0-0) at Alaska Aces (3-1-0) 7:15 p.m. AT
- Aces have won the last seven meetings at Alaska and are 29-7-3 overall against Fresno.
- Falcons are trying to begin the season 4-0-0 for the first time ever.
- Fresno rookie Joe Fallon is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.00 and a save percentage of .934.
- Alaska rookie Jean-Phillipe Lamoureux is 3-1-0 with goals-against average of 3.18 and a save percentage of .918.

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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 23 teams playing 828 games 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 26 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.
- 365 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 109 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 10 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 Greenville Grrrowl goaltender Jeff Deslauriers (Edmonton on Oct. 17) , 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 Charlotte Checkers defenseman Steve MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman Adam Pardy (Calgary on Oct. 9), former Gwinnett Gladiators center Jared Ross (Philadelphia on Oct. 11) , former Alaska Aces goaltender Marek Schwarz (St. Louis on Oct. 25), former Dayton Bombers and Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman Tyler Sloan (Washington on Oct. 21) and former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27).
- 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 as goaltender 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, Scott Gordon of the New York Islanders and Peter Laviolette of the Carolina Hurricanes. 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. 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 25 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 October 31, 2008


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