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December 26, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Cincinnati Cyclones (12-11-5) at Dayton Bombers (16-9-3) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Dayton defenseman Joe Van Culin has an eight-game point streak (1g-9a) and a seven-game assist streak (9a).
- Cyclones are 4-1-2 in the season series against the Bombers including 2-0-1 at Dayton.
- Rookie Justin Bowers leads the Bombers against Cincinnati with seven assists and eight points in six games.
- Barret Ehgoetz leads the Cyclones against Dayton with five assists and eight points in seven games.

Johnstown Chiefs (19-8-1) at Elmira Jackals (14-12-3) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Chiefs have won the last two meetings and are 3-1-0 at Elmira and 6-3-2 overall against the Jackals.
- Elmira's David Shantz is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.43 in his last three games.
- Petr Pohl leads the Chiefs with 12 goals, 18 assists and 30 points in 28 games.
- Josh Aspenlind (7g-5a) and Pierre-Luc Faubert (5g-7a) lead the Jackals in December with 12 points each.

Reading Royals (8-20-2) at Wheeling Nailers (17-4-5) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Nailers have won the last three meetings to improve to 35-26-7 all-time against Reading.
- Dinos Stamoulis leads the Royals against Wheeling with two assists and two points in two games.
- Rob Sirianni leads the Nailers against Reading with four goals and four points in two games.
- Reading's Peder Skinner has eight assists and 10 points in his last nine games.

South Carolina Stingrays (15-7-3) at Gwinnett Gladiators (11-12-4) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Jordan Fox leads the Gladiators against South Carolina with four assists and four points in two games.
- South Carolina's Travis Morin has nine points (4g-5a) in his last five games.
- Gladiators' Josh Johnson is 1-0-1 with a goals-against average of 1.92 in two starts against South Carolina.
- Stingrays' Michal Neuvirth is 1-0-0 with a shootout win and a goals-against average of 1.85 against Gwinnett.

Utah Grizzlies (11-11-4) at Idaho Steelheads (16-11-2) 7:10 p.m. MT
- Steelheads have won the last two meetings and are 3-1-1 in season series with Utah including 2-1-0 at home.
- James Sixsmith (1g-4a) and Evan Kotsopoulos (0g-5a) lead the Grizzlies against Idaho with five points each.
- Idaho's Rejean Beauchemin is 2-0-1 with a goals-against average of 1.62 in three starts against Utah.
- Utah's James Sanford is 15th among ECHL defensemen with 15 points (3g-12a).

Stockton Thunder (10-14-4) at Bakersfield Condors (9-14-4) 7 p.m. PT
- Dave Bonk leads the Condors against Stockton with six points (2g-4a) in three games.
- Cory Urquhart leads the Thunder against Bakersfield with three goals and six points in three games.
- Chad Painchaud leads Bakersfield in December with seven assists and 11 points in nine games.
- Stockton's Mike Lalonde has seven points (2g-5a) in his last seven games.

Phoenix RoadRunners (12-11-3) at Las Vegas Wranglers (11-13-2) 7:30 p.m. PT
- RoadRunners have won the last two meetings and are 4-2-0 in the season series against Las Vegas.
- Wranglers' John DeCaro is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.50 in two starts against Phoenix.
- Ashton Rome leads the RoadRunners against Las Vegas with eight goals and 10 points in six games.
- Matt Beaudoin leads Las Vegas in December with six goals and eight points in six games.

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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 21 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.
- 385 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 129 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 30 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 Dayton Bombers center Philippe Dupuis (Colorado on Dec. 12), 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 South Carolina Stingrays right wing Andrew Gordon (Washington on Dec. 23), 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 Gwinnett Gladiators defenseman Scott Lehman (Atlanta on Dec. 18), 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 Charlotte Checkers, Columbia Inferno and Elmira Jackals defenseman Bryan Rodney (Carolina on Dec. 11), 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 Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman Tyson Strachan (St. Louis on Dec. 18), 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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