
ECHL Today
February 8, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
Florida Everblades (33-11-2) at Charlotte Checkers (22-20-2) 4 p.m.
ET
- Checkers' Jeff
Jakaitis is 3-3-0 with a goals-against average of 2.83 against Florida.
- Mark
Lee leads the Everblades against Charlotte with seven assists and 10
points in eight games.
- Charlotte rookie defenseman Ethan
Graham has four assists and five points in his last five games.
- Florida rookie David
Leggio is 5-1-0 with a goals-against average of 3.10 against Charlotte.
Trenton Devils (23-17-4) at Elmira Jackals (26-19-4) 4:05 p.m.
ET
- Elmira's Mitch
O'Keefe is 3-1-0 with a goals-against average of 1.96 against Trenton.
- Eric
Castonguay leads the Devils against Elmira with nine assists and 12
points in nine games.
- Benoit
Doucet leads the Jackals against Trenton with four goals and nine
points in 10 games.
- Devils defenseman Matt
Cohen has three assists and five points in his last five games.
Johnstown Chiefs (26-18-2) at Dayton Bombers (23-21-5) 5 p.m.
ET
- Dayton rookie Tomas
Zaborsky has a five-game point streak (6g-2a).
- Chiefs' Petr
Pohl has eight goals and 15 points in his last 10 games.
- Bombers defenseman Greg
Labenski has four goals and six points in his last four games.
- Johnstown rookie Blair
Yaworski has three assists and four points in his last four games.
Cincinnati Cyclones (26-17-5) at Mississippi Sea Wolves (19-23-4) 5
p.m. CT
- Mississippi's Mathieu
Melanson has five assists and eight points in his last four games.
- Cincinnati rookie Ben
Gordon has six assists and nine points in his last six games.
- Sea Wolves' Ryan
Munce is 3-1-1 in his last five home starts.
- Cyclones' Justin
Johnson has four points (2g-2a) in his last four games.
Alaska Aces (27-17-3) at Stockton Thunder (22-20-5) 4 p.m.
PT
- Thunder have won the last four meetings and are 3-0-0 at home and 5-0-1
overall against Alaska this season.
- Luke
Erickson leads the Aces against Stockton with seven points in six
games.
- Rookie Ryan
Huddy leads the Thunder against Alaska with five goals and 10 points in
six games.
- Alaska rookie defenseman Ryan Turek has a three-game point streak
(1g-2a).
Las Vegas Wranglers (23-18-4) at Victoria Salmon Kings (29-15-4) 5:05
p.m. PT
- Wranglers have won the last four meetings and are 3-0-0 on the road and
4-1-1 overall against Victoria this season.
- Salmon Kings' Dan
Gendur has four assists and five points in his last four games.
- Las Vegas' Glenn
Fisher is 5-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.80 in his last five
starts.
Victoria leads the ECHL in goals-against average with 2.33.
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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.
ECHL Stories from February 8, 2009
- Salmon Kings Drop Weekend Finale In Overtime - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Owens and Lalande Lead Wranglers To 1-0 Overtime Win - Las Vegas Wranglers
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Thunder win fifth straight - Stockton Thunder
- Alaska Comes Up Empty on Road - Alaska Aces
- Sawatske Delivers Win For Cyclones - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Despite valiant effort early, Sea Wolves fall 5-2 to Cyclones - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Chiefs stonewall Bombers - Johnstown Chiefs
- Kyle Hagel Loaned To Rochester - Reading Royals
- Jackals Win 4th Straight - Elmira Jackals
- Bombers Fall to Chiefs 2-1 - Dayton Bombers
- Blades see skid hit three after falling 4-3 to Checkers - Florida Everblades
- Checkers stop their three game losing skid with home victory - Charlotte Checkers
- Devils Lose in Elmira, 4-3 - Trenton Devils
- Thunder Alters Roster Before Sunday Tilt - Stockton Thunder
- Bombers in Action Tonight - Dayton Bombers
- Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Alaska Aces - Stockton Thunder
- Reign Topple Aces, 3-1 - Ontario Reign
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Faubert Nets Shoot Out Game Winner - Elmira Jackals
- Steelheads Lose In Bakersfield, 4-3 - Idaho Steelheads
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