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November 1, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Idaho Steelheads (2-1-2) at Reading Royals (1-4-0) 7:05 p.m. ET
- Reading's Brock Hooton has a four-game point streak (2g-2a).
- Steelheads are 2-1-1 on current six-game road trip that concludes Sunday at Trenton.
- Royals' Tyler Doig has a three-game assist streak (5a) and a three-game point streak (1g-5a).
- Idaho rookie Ben Nelson has a four-game point streak (2g-3a).

Florida Everblades (2-2-1) at South Carolina Stingrays (3-1-0) 7:05 p.m. ET
- South Carolina has won the last three meetings at home and is 37-34-9 all-time against Florida.
- Everblades' Anton Khudobin is 1-0-0 with a goals-against average of 3.00 against South Carolina.
- Stingray rookie defenseman Johann Kroll has a four-game assist streak (5a) and a four-game point streak (0g-5a).
- Florida is sixth in the league on the power play with 85.0 percent (34-for-40).

Cincinnati Cyclones (1-3-1) at Dayton Bombers (3-1-0) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Bombers have won the first two meetings to improve to 29-28-9 all-time against Cincinnati.
- Cyclones are second in the league on the power play with 24.3 percent (9-for-37).
- Dayton's Jarret Lukin has a four-game assist streak (5a) and leads the team with five assists.
- Cincinnati is second in the league in scoring with 4.40 goals per game.

Trenton Devils (2-4-0) at Elmira Jackals (4-3-0) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Jackals won 3-2 on Oct. 19 at Trenton to improve to 8-4-1 all-time against the Devils.
- Trenton's Eric Castonguay has a five-game assist streak (6a) and a five-game point streak (2g-6a).
- Elmira's Wes Cunningham leads ECHL defensemen and is tied for the league lead with two game-winning goals.
- Devils' Jeff Frazee is 2-0-0 with a save percentage of .919 (79-for-86) in his last three games.

Johnstown Chiefs (3-3-0) at Wheeling Nailers (5-0-1) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Wheeling leads the league in scoring with 5.83 goals per game.
- Johnstown is 1-0-2 when they score the first goal.
- Nailers' Nick Johnson has a six-game goal streak (7g).
- Chiefs' defenseman Ray Macias had a career-high two assists on Thursday at Trenton.

Gwinnett Gladiators (1-1-2) at Mississippi Sea Wolves (3-2-1) 7 p.m. CT
- Mississippi is third in the league in scoring with 4.00 goals per game.
- Bruce Graham leads the Gladiators against Mississippi with three goals and four points in two games.
- Sea Wolves' Frederik Cabana had a career-high four points (2g-2a) on Friday against Gwinnett.
- Gladiators are tied for sixth in the league on the power play with 21.2 percent (7-for-21).

Phoenix RoadRunners (3-2-1) at Ontario Reign (4-2-0) 7 p.m. PT
- Reign are fourth in the league on the power play with 23.8 percent (10-for-42).
- RoadRunners lead the league on the penalty kill with 91.9 percent (34-for-37).
- Ontario's Geoff Walker is tied for third among league rookies with five assists.
- Phoenix is second in the league with a goals-against average of 2.17.

Stockton Thunder (2-4-0) at Bakersfield Condors (2-2-1) 7 p.m. PT
- Bakersfield won 7-4 on Oct. 22 to improve to 16-9-1 all-time against Stockton.
- Stockton rookie James Bates has a two-game goal streak (2g) and a two-game point streak (2g-1a).
- Rookie Matt Caruana leads the Condors with six goals and has had two two-goal games.
- Cory Urquhart (2g-1a) and Bryan Lerg (0g-3a) lead the Thunder in scoring against Bakersfield.

Utah Grizzlies (3-2-0) at Victoria Salmon Kings (3-5-0) 7:05 p.m. PT
- Victoria's Dan Gendur is tied for third among league rookies with five assists in five games.
- James Sanford leads the Grizzlies against Victoria with three assists and three points in two games.
- Salmon Kings' Olivier Labelle has four points (3g-1a) in his last two games.
- Utah's Evan Kotsopoulos had a career-high two goals on Friday.

Fresno Falcons (4-0-0) at Alaska Aces (3-2-0) 7:15 p.m. AT
- Aces are second in the league on the penalty kill with 89.7 percent (26-for-29).
- Fresno leads the league with a goals-against average of 1.75.
- Alaska's Josh Soares has a four-game goal streak (6g) and a five-game point streak (6g-4a).
- Falcon rookie Joe Fallon is 3-0-0 and is second in the league with a goals-against average of 1.67.

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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.
- 366 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 110 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 11 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 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 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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