ECHL ECHL

ECHL Today

Published on December 5, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


South Carolina Stingrays (11-5-2) at Charlotte Checkers (8-8-2) 7 p.m. ET
- Stingrays have won the last six meetings and this season are 3-0-0 at Charlotte and 4-0-0 overall.
- Charlotte's Mike Bayrack has seven points (4g-3a) in his last six games.
- South Carolina's Bobby Goepfert is 4-0-0 with a shutout and a goals-against average of 1.25 against Charlotte.
- Charlotte's Jeff Jakaitis is 3-1-1 with a goals-against average of 1.37 in his last five starts.

Wheeling Nailers (11-2-5) at Dayton Bombers (12-6-3) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Nailers won 3-2 in a shootout at Dayton on Nov. 28 to improve to 2-1-0 in season series and 83-53-8 all-time.
- Jarret Lukin leads the Bombers against Wheeling with three assists and five points in three games.
- Rookie Nick Johnson leads the Nailers against Dayton with five assists and seven points in three games.
- Wheeling's Curtis Darling is 4-1-0 with a shutout and a goals-against average of 1.80 in his last five starts.

Johnstown Chiefs (15-5-1) at Cincinnati Cyclones (10-7-3) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Rookie Andrew Sarauer leads the Chiefs against Cincinnati with four assists and six points in two games.
- Thomas Beauregard leads Cyclones against Johnstown with four goals and six points in two games.
- Cincinnati's Olivier Latendresse has a 13-game point streak (13g-8a) and a three-game goal streak (4g).
- Chiefs are fourth in the league in scoring with 3.48 goals per game and seventh in goals-against average with 2.67.

Florida Everblades (14-3-1) at Trenton Devils (5-11-3) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Trenton's Tyler Burton had career highs with three goals and three points in 7-6 win against Florida on Nov. 29.
- Everblades lead the ECHL with 33 power-play goals and a power-play percentage of 24.6 (33-for-134).
- Devils rookie Jeff Prough has four points (2g-2a) in his last three games.
- Florida's Yannick Tifu has a seven-game point streak (3g-12a) and a three-game assist streak (6a).

Reading Royals (5-15-1) at Elmira Jackals (9-7-2) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Elmira's Mitch O'Keefe is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.50 in two starts against Reading.
- Brock Hooton leads the Royals against Elmira with two points (1g-1a) in three games.
- Tyler Donati leads the Jackals against Reading with three goals and six points in two games.
- Royals won 3-2 in a shootout on Nov. 11 and are 2-2-0 in their last four games at Elmira.

Gwinnett Gladiators (8-6-3) at Mississippi Sea Wolves (9-8-2) 7 p.m. CT
- Gladiators have won the last two meetings and are 3-1-0 in season series and 10-7-2 all-time against Mississippi.
- Jason Tejchma leads the Sea Wolves against Gwinnett with five assists and seven points in four games.
- Bruce Graham leads the Gladiators against Mississippi with five goals and is tied for team lead with seven points.
- Mathieu Melanson leads Mississippi with 12 assists and 21 points in 19 games.

Las Vegas Wranglers (8-9-2) at Phoenix RoadRunners (10-8-2) 7:05 p.m. MT
- Ashton Rome leads the RoadRunners against Las Vegas with seven goals and nine points in five games.
- Las Vegas' Justin Taylor has six points (3g-3a) in his last four games.
- Phoenix's Kimbi Daniels has eight points (3g-5a) in his last five games.
- Wranglers' John DeCaro is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.50 in two starts against Phoenix.

Utah Grizzlies (7-9-2) at Idaho Steelheads (11-7-2) 7:10 p.m. MT
- Steelheads won 4-3 in a shootout on Wednesday and are 1-0-1 in season series and 17-4-5 all-time against Utah.
- Utah rookie Vladimir Nikiforov has four points (1g-3a) in his last four games.
- Steve Gainey leads the Steelheads against Utah with four assists and four points in two games.
- Mike Walsh leads the Grizzlies with 13 points (5g-8a) in 18 games.

Stockton Thunder (7-9-3) at Ontario Reign (11-7-2) 7 p.m. PT
- Reign won 4-2 at Stockton on Nov. 26 and are 2-0-1 overall and 1-0-1 at home against Thunder.
- Stockton rookie Andrew Perugini is 3-0-2 with a save percentage of .917 in five road starts.
- Ontario rookie John Murray is 3-0-0 with a shootout win and a goals-against average of 1.62 in his last three starts.
- Thunder's Cory Urquhart has a three-game point streak (2g-2a) and leads the team with 12 assists and 19 points.

Victoria Salmon Kings (11-8-2) at Fresno Falcons (13-6-1) 7:35 p.m. PT
- Falcons are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games against Victoria and 19-7-6 all-time against the Salmon Kings.
- Wes Goldie led Victoria against Fresno in 2007-08 with eight goals and 12 points in 10 games.
- Fresno rookie Michael Ouzas is 3-2-0 with two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.80 in his last five starts.
- Salmon Kings' Todd Ford is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.04 in his last four starts.

Bakersfield Condors (7-9-3) at Alaska Aces (13-6-1) 7:15 p.m. AT
- Condors won 3-2 on Wednesday to improve to 3-3-3 in their last nine games at Alaska.
- Alaska defenseman Bryan Miller has a five-game point streak (2g-7a).
- Bakersfield rookie Dale Reinhardt has a five-game point streak (2g-4a).
- Alaska's Colin Hemingway has an eight-game point streak (5g-8a).

Watch Games Live on B2 Networks, the "Official Broadband Broadcast Provider" of the ECHL



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 22 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.
- 374 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 117 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 19 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 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 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 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 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 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: 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.

Check out the ECHL Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from December 5, 2008


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