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February 6, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Florida Everblades (33-9-2) at South Carolina Stingrays (22-18-5) 7:05 p.m. ET
- Everblades are 10-3-2 in their last 15 games at South Carolina.
- Travis Morin leads the Stingrays against Florida with eight assists and 13 points in 10 games.
- Florida's Anton Khudobin is 6-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.01 in his last seven games.
- Stingray rookie defenseman Josh Godfrey has four assists and five points in his last two games.

Reading Royals (14-29-3) at Trenton Devils (22-17-3) 7:30 p.m. ET
- Trenton's Eric Castonguay has a six-game point streak (2g-7a) and a four-game assist streak (5a).
- Royals' Michael Ouzas is 1-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.00 against Trenton.
- Devils' Charlie Effinger is 2-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.01 against Reading.
- Reading defenseman Tim Branham has three points (0g-3a) in his last two games.

Johnstown Chiefs (26-16-2) at Elmira Jackals (24-19-4) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Josh Aspenlind leads the Jackals against Johnstown with four goals and eight points in seven games.
- Johnstown's Petr Pohl has an eight-game point streak (7g-6a).
- Elmira's Paul McIlveen has a three-game point streak (1g-3a) and six points (2g-4a) in his last five games.
- Chiefs' Ian Keserich is 2-2-0 with a goals-against average of 2.27 against Elmira.

Dayton Bombers (22-20-5) at Wheeling Nailers (24-14-6) 7:35 p.m. ET
- Wheeling's Bryan Ewing leads ECHL rookies with 29 goals and 60 points in 43 games.
- Jarret Lukin leads the Bombers against Wheeling with seven goals and 11 points in eight games.
- Jordan Morrison leads the Nailers against Dayton with eight assists and 11 points in eight games.
- Dayton's Tomas Zaborsky has a three-game point streak (3g-1a) and a three-game goal streak (3g).

Cincinnati Cyclones (25-16-5) at Mississippi Sea Wolves (18-22-4) 7 p.m. CT
- Cyclones have won the last two meetings to improve to 2-1-1 all-time against Mississippi.
- Sea Wolves' Mathieu Melanson has six points in his last two games (2g-4a).
- Cincinnati rookie Jimmy Kilpatrick has an eight-game point streak (9g-10a) and an eight-game goal streak (9g).
- Mississippi's Ryan Munce is 3-2-0 with a save percentage of .913 in his last five games.

Phoenix RoadRunners (19-20-3) at Utah Grizzlies (15-14-13) 7:05 p.m. MT
- Grizzlies have gone past regulation in their last eight games and 11 times in the last 15 games.
- RoadRunners have won the last three meetings and are 3-1-0 in season series and 15-14-2 all-time against Utah.
- Utah's Michael Mole is 1-0-1 with a goals-against average of 0.96 against Phoenix.
- Phoenix's Craig Kowalski is 6-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.63 in his last seven games.

Stockton Thunder (21-20-5) at Ontario Reign (24-16-4) 7 p.m. PT
- Reign rookie John Murray is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.33 against Stockton.
- Stockton's Damian Surma has a six-game point streak (3g-5a) and a three-game assist streak (4a).
- Ontario rookie Tim Kraus has four assists and six points in his last five games.
- Thunder rookie Andrew Perugini is 6-0-0 with a shutout and a goals-against average of 1.81 in his last six games.

Alaska Aces (27-15-3) at Bakersfield Condor (14-26-6) 7 p.m. PT
- Bakersfield's Mark Derlago has three points (2g-1a) in the last two games and 10 points in his last 10 games.
- Aces' Jean-Philippe Lamoureux is 8-1-1 with two shutouts and a goals-against average of 2.28 in his last 10 starts.
- Condors' Matt Pope is second among ECHL rookies with 25 goals and tied for third with 47 points.
- Colin Hemingway leads Alaska against Bakersfield with seven assists and nine points in six games.

Las Vegas Wranglers (21-18-4) at Victoria Salmon Kings (29-13-4) 7:05 p.m. PT
- Victoria's Wes Goldie has four goals in his last four games and is second in the ECHL with 37 goals.
- Wranglers' Glenn Fisher is 4-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.00 in his last four starts.
- Chris St. Jacques leads the Salmon Kings in the last five games with five points (3g-2a).
- Las Vegas' Tyler Mosienko has a seven-game point streak (3g-5a).

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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 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.
* 393 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
* 137 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
* 38 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 Stockton Thunder and ECHL All-Star right wing Troy Bodie (Anaheim on Jan. 16), 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 left wing Chris Durno (Colorado on Jan. 18), 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 Augusta Lynx and Mississippi Sea Wolves goaltender Riku Helenius (Tampa Bay on Jan. 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 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), two-time All-Star and former Las Vegas Wranglers goaltender Mike McKenna (Tampa Bay on Feb. 3), former All-Star and Wheeling Nailers center Kurtis McLean (New York Islanders on Jan. 19), 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 center Jakub Petruzalek (Carolina on Feb. 5), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Corey Potter (New York Rangers on Dec. 7), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Kevin Quick (Tampa Bay on Jan. 13), 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 center 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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