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January 3, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Dayton Bombers (17-11-4) at Trenton Devils (13-14-3) 7 p.m. ET
- Devils are fourth in the league on the power play with 21.0 percent (35-for-167).
- Dayton defenseman Mike Looby had season highs with two assists and two points on Friday.
- Trenton's Gerald Coleman is 5-0-1 with a goals-against average of 1.40 in his last seven starts.
- Bombers are 7-1-1 when they score first and 9-1-1 when leading after two periods.

South Carolina Stingrays (19-8-3) at Gwinnett Gladiators (12-15-4) 7:05 p.m. ET
- Stingrays lead the league with a goals-against average of 2.20.
- Jordan Fox leads the Gladiators with 13 goals and 31 points in 31 games.
- South Carolina's Jeff Corey has a four-game point streak (1g-3a).
- Gladiators are 7-4-4 when they score first and 7-0-1 when leading after two periods.

Cincinnati Cyclones (15-13-5) at Johnstown Chiefs (21-10-2) 7:05 p.m. ET
- Cyclones have won last two meetings and are 2-1-0 at Johnstown and 3-2-1 overall against the Chiefs this season.
- Johnstown's Andy Contois has a three-game point streak (3g-3a).
- Cincinnati rookie Jimmy Kilpatrick has seven goals and nine points in his last seven games.
- Chiefs lead the league with nine shorthand goals.

Charlotte Checkers (16-13-2) at Florida Everblades (20-8-2) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Checkers Michel Leveille has a three-game point streak (3g-2a) and a three-game goal streak (3g).
- Florida's David Leggio is 4-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.76 in his last five games.
- Charlotte's Jeff Miles has a three-game assist streak (5a) and a three-game point streak (0g-5a).
- Everblades' Kevin Baker leads the league with 12 power-play goals and 43 points.

Elmira Jackals (16-13-4) at Wheeling Nailers (20-6-5) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Jackals are 11-3-4 in one-goal games including 2-1 in overtime and 2-3 in shootouts.
- Bryan Ewing (3g-3a) and Jordan Morrison (1g-5a) lead the Nailers against Elmira with six points each.
- Elmira is 10th in the league with 3.06 goals per game.
- Wheeling's David Brown is 1-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.00 against Elmira.

Idaho Steelheads (19-11-2) at Ontario Reign (18-11-2) 7 p.m. PT
- Ontario rookie Tim Kraus has seven assists and 10 points in his last 10 games.
- Steelheads rookie Matt Climie has won his last five starts and is 8-1-0 in his last nine games.
- Reign rookie Geoff Walker has five assists and seven points in his last seven games.
- Idaho's Mark Bomersback has a three-game goal streak (3g) and a three-game point streak (3g-2a).

Bakersfield Condors (11-16-4) at Victoria Salmon Kings (22-9-2) 7:05 p.m. PT
- Salmon Kings have won club record 11 consecutive games including seven in a row at home.
- Condors' Matt Pope had two goals Friday and leads league rookies with 19 goals.
- Victoria rookie Curtis Billsten had career bests on Friday with two goals and three points.
- Bruce Graham has two points (0g-2a) in his first two games since being acquired by Condors from Charlotte.

Utah Grizzlies (11-13-5) at Las Vegas Wranglers (14-14-2) 7:30 p.m. PT
- Wranglers' John DeCaro is 3-1-0 with an overtime win and a goals-against average of 1.65 in his last three starts.
- Ryan Kinasewich leads the Grizzlies with 15 assists and is tied for the team lead with 20 points in 19 games.
- Las Vegas' Matt Beaudoin has a six-game point streak (5g-4a).
- Utah is fifth in the league with 33.62 shots per game.

Stockton Thunder (11-17-5) at Alaska Aces (18-13-1) 7:15 p.m. AT
- Stockton's 4-1 win on Friday was the first time that the Thunder have won in regulation at Alaska.
- Alaska leads the league on the penalty kill with 90.7 percent (166-for-183).
- Ryan Huddy leads the Thunder against Alaska with two goals and five points in three games.
- Alaska's Jean-Philippe Lamoureux leads the league with 14 wins and is second with 741 saves and 1,502 minutes.

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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.
- 130 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 31 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 Utah Grizzlies and ECHL All-Star forward Trevor Smith (New York Islanders on Dec. 31), 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 and ECHL All-Star 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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