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December 12, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Elmira Jackals (11-8-3) at Reading Royals (7-17-1) 7:05 p.m. ET
- Royals won 6-5 in a shootout on Sunday to improve to 4-1-0 in their last five home games against Elmira.
- Chris Korchinski leads the Jackals in the last five games with five goals and six points.
- Reading's Tyler Doig has seven points (3g-4a) in his last four games.
- Elmira's Pierre-Luc Faubert has a five-game point streak (3g-3a).

Charlotte Checkers (10-10-2) at Dayton Bombers (13-8-3) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Checkers have won the last four meetings and are 13-5-1 all-time against Dayton.
- Bombers defenseman Joe Van Culin has a four-game point streak (1g-5a) and a three-game assist streak (5a).
- Charlotte's Peter Tsimikalis has a three-game point streak (1g-3a) and a three-game assist streak (3a).
- Dayton's Jarret Lukin has a three-game goal streak (4g) and eight points (4g-4a) in his last seven games.

South Carolina Stingrays (12-6-2) at Florida Everblades (15-3-2) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Everblades' Anton Khudobin is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.50 in two starts against South Carolina.
- Rookie Michael Dubuc leads the Stingrays against Florida with seven points (3g-4a).
- Florida's Yannick Tifu has a nine-game point streak (4g-14a).
- Stingray defenseman Brad Farynuk has a four-game goal streak (4g) and nine points (6g-3a) in his last six games.

Wheeling Nailers (12-3-5) at Cincinnati Cyclones (11-9-4) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Rookie Jordan Morrison leads the Nailers against Cincinnati with eight points (3g-5a) in four games.
- Thomas Beauregard leads the Cyclones against Wheeling with five goals and nine points in four games.
- Wheeling's David Brown is 3-1-1 with a goals-against average of 2.34.
- Cincinnati's Barret Ehgoetz has 11 points (4g-7a) in his last nine games.

Johnstown Chiefs (18-6-1) at Trenton Devils (6-12-3) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Rookie Tyler Burton leads the Devils against Johnstown with four assists and five points in five games.
- Chiefs' Kris Mayotte is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.62 in three starts against Trenton.
- Trenton rookie Jeff Prough has six points (3g-3a) in his last five games.
- Johnstown's Petr Pohl has a three-game point streak (2g-3a) and 10 points (5g-5a) in his last seven games.

Gwinnett Gladiators (10-7-4) at Mississippi Sea Wolves (11-9-2) 7:35 p.m. CT
- Mississippi rookie Alexandre Parent has six points (2g-4a) in his last six games.
- Bruce Graham leads the Gladiators against Mississippi with seven goals and is second on the team with 10 points.
- Rookie Ryan Cruthers leads the Sea Wolves with 11 goals and 23 points in 22 games.
- Gwinnett's Brad Schell has nine points (5g-4a) in his last five games.

Stockton Thunder (8-10-4) at Utah Grizzlies (8-11-2) 7:05 p.m. MT
- Grizzlies are 4-1-1 in their last six home games against Stockton and 12-7-2 overall against the Thunder.
- Thunder rookie Toby LaFrance has five points (1g-4a) in his last six games.
- Utah's Evan Kotsopoulos has a four-game assist streak (5a) and a six-game point streak (1g-6a).
- Stockton rookie Ryan Huddy has 14 points (7g-7a) in his last 10 games.

Phoenix RoadRunners (11-8-2) at Victoria Salmon Kings (14-9-2) 7:05 p.m. PT
- Victoria has won the last three meetings and is 3-2-0 in season series and 12-11-2 all-time against Phoenix.
- Phoenix's Mitch Carefoot has five points (2g-3a) in his last two games.
- Chris St. Jacques leads the Salmon Kings against Phoenix with eight points (3g-5a) in five games.
- RoadRunners' Ashton Rome has eight goals and 13 points in his last eight games.

Bakersfield Condors (8-11-3) at Fresno Falcons (16-8-1) 7:35 p.m. PT
- Condors won 2-1 at Fresno on Nov. 15 to improve to 25-15-9 all-time against the Falcons.
- Fresno rookie Michael Ouzas is 2-1-0 with a goals-against average of 1.95 in three starts against Bakersfield.
- Rookie Matt Pope leads the Condors with 11 goals and is second on the team with 19 points in 19 games.
- Falcons' Kenny MacAulay is tied for third among ECHL defensemen with 13 assists and is fourth with 16 points.

Idaho Steelheads (13-8-2) at Alaska Aces (14-7-1) 7:15 p.m. AT
- Aces have won the last three regular season meetings at Alaska and are 22-17-4 all-time against Idaho.
- Idaho rookie Matt Climie is 1-1-0 with a goals-against average of 1.45 in two starts against Alaska.
- Alaska rookie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux is 2-0-1 with a goals-against average of 0.97 in three starts against Idaho.
- Steelheads rookie Kris Sparre has a four-game point streak (4g-1a).

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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 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.
- 380 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 124 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 25 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 Florida Everblades defenseman Brett Carson (Carolina on Dec. 7) , former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Sean Collins (Washington on Dec. 6), 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 Idaho Steelheads left wing Warren Peters (Calgary on Dec. 7), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Corey Potter (New York Rangers on Dec. 7), 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 (Tampa Bay on Dec. 2), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27), former Wheeling Nailers right wing Tim Wallace (Pittsburgh on Dec. 10) and former Idaho Steelheads center Tom Wandell (Dallas on Dec. 10).
- 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.

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