
ECHL Today
December 29, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
Mississippi Sea Wolves (13-15-3) at Gwinnett Gladiators (12-13-4) 7:05
p.m. ET
- Brad
Schell leads the Gladiators against Mississippi with 13 points (6g-7a)
in six games.
- Ryan
Cruthers leads the Sea Wolves against Gwinnett with 13 points (4g-9a)
in 10 games.
- Gwinnett's Josh
Johnson is 2-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.67 in three games
against Mississippi.
- Mississippi is 8-0-2 when leading after two periods.
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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.
ECHL Stories from December 29, 2008
- Gladiators Fall to Sea Wolves 4-3 - Atlanta Gladiators
- Jackson's Goal Powers Sea Wolves Past Gladiators - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Matt Thomas Named Second Head Coach in Thunder History - Stockton Thunder
- Royals Sign Defenseman Bobby Davey - Reading Royals
- Condors get back-to-back wins against Stockton and Ontario for Christmas - Bakersfield Condors
- Weekly Arrowhead - Johnstown Chiefs
- Grizzlies In Las Vegas Friday, Saturday - Utah Grizzlies
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Victoria On Record 10-Game Winning Streak - ECHL
- 2009 ECHL All-Star Game Announcement Schedule - ECHL
- Condors Fans Celebrate Boxing Day by Donating Goods - Bakersfield Condors
- Huxley Earns First Recall, Bina and Fisher Reassigned - Stockton Thunder
- Bombers Weekly Review - Dayton Bombers
- RoadRunners Host "Hooters On Ice" Tuesday - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
- Phoenix Hosts Bakersfield Tuesday at US Airways Center - Phoenix RoadRunners
- T-Devils beaten by Cyclones, busy week ahead with four games - Trenton Devils
- Rays Win Three in a Row - South Carolina Stingrays
- Gladiators Weekly Update - Atlanta Gladiators
- Reading Royals Weekly - Reading Royals
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Johnson Called-up to Portland; Pokulok Reassigned to Rays - South Carolina Stingrays
- Cyclones Take Two Of Three On Road - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Sea Wolves Weekly - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Wheeling Nailers Announce Additional New Years Eve Package - Wheeling Nailers
- Reign Drop Match to Condors, 6-2 - Ontario Reign
- Salmon Kings Set Team Record With Tenth Straight Win - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Condors throttle Ontario 6-2 - Bakersfield Condors
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.
