Sports stats

ECHL ECHL

ECHL's 25th Anniversary Season Opens Friday

October 8, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL's 25th Anniversary season begins on Friday with eight games in seven states, continues on Saturday with 11 games in nine states and concludes with one game on Sunday.

Began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league that has 23 teams in 16 states playing 828 games from Oct. 12, 2012 to March 30, 2013. The ECHL is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.

Four new teams enter the ECHL in 2012-13 as the League welcomes the Evansville IceMen, the Fort Wayne Komets, the Orlando Solar Bears and the San Francisco Bulls.

Three of the four new teams are in action on Friday, with Fort Wayne hosting the Kalamazoo Wings and San Francisco hosting the Bakersfield Condors. Orlando makes its ECHL debut on the road at Germain Arena against the defending Kelly Cup champion, Florida Everblades, who will raise their first Kelly Cup banner in team history to the rafters prior to the game. It will be a playoff rematch at First Arena as the Elmira Jackals host the Reading Royals. Elmira defeated Reading 3 games to 2 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals last spring. Other games on Friday's schedule include Greenville visiting Trenton, Colorado hosting Alaska, Utah traveling to Idaho and Stockton opening at home against Ontario.

Saturday's action is highlighted by the ECHL debut of the Evansville IceMen, who host Fort Wayne at Ford Center. Six other teams host home openers on Saturday with Reading hosting Trenton, Toledo versus Kalamazoo, South Carolina opening its 20th ECHL season at the North Charleston Coliseum against Gwinnett, Cincinnati entertaining Wheeling, and Ontario hosting Stockton and Utah against Idaho in the back end of home-and-home series.

Opening Weekend concludes on Sunday with Bakersfield hosting Las Vegas in the Condors home opener at Rabobank Arena.

There have been 490 players who have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL including 23 in 2011-12. The ECHL has had 298 players reach the NHL since 2002-03 when it changed its focus to become the primary developmental league for the NHL and the AHL. The ECHL had 97 players reach the NHL in its first 10 seasons and 215 in the first 15 years. There have been 234 ECHL players who have played their first NHL game in the last seven seasons for an average of more than 33 per year.

The ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 30 NHL teams in 2012-13, marking the 16th consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. The ECHL has affiliations with 24 of the 30 teams in the American Hockey League in 2012-13 and for the past 23 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion.

In the last eight seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 3,500 call-ups involving more than 1,800 players and in 2011-12 there were 10 times as many call-ups from the ECHL to the AHL than all other professional leagues.

The ECHL averaged 4,281 fans per game in 2011-12, marking the eighth consecutive season and the 20th time in the last 22 years that the ECHL has averaged over 4,000 fans.

Team Capsules

ATLANTIC DIVISION

Location: Elmira, New York

Arena (Capacity): First Arena (3,784)

Division: Atlantic

Coach: Dwight Mullins, First Season

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Eastern Conference Semifinals to Florida (4 games to 1)

NHL Affiliate: Ottawa Senators

AHL Affiliate: Binghamton Senators

2011-12 in review

Record: 45-22-5, 95 points

Atlantic Division Finish: 1st

Overall ECHL Finish: 2nd

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.17 (T-8th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 2.83 (7th)

Power Play (Rank): 21.1% (4th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 84.4% (4th)

Location: Reading, Pennsylvania

Arena (Capacity): Sovereign Center (7,160)

Division: Atlantic

Coach: Larry Courville, Fifth Season (132-99-23)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to Elmira (3 games to 2)

NHL Affiliate: Washington Capitals

AHL Affiliate: Hershey Bears

2011-12 in review

Record: 36-28-8, 80 points

Atlantic Division Finish: 3rd

Overall ECHL Finish: 12th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.18 (7th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.26 (14th)

Power Play (Rank): 17.1% (9th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 81.5% (11th)

Location: Trenton, New Jersey

Arena (Capacity): Sun National Bank Center (7,605)

Division: Atlantic

Coach: Vince Williams, Second Season (21-41-10)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Did Not Qualify

NHL Affiliate: Philadelphia Flyers

AHL Affiliate: Adirondack Phantoms

2011-12 in review

Record: 21-41-10, 52 points

Atlantic Division Finish: 4th

Overall ECHL Finish: 20th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 2.93 (14th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.76 (20th)

Power Play (Rank): 18.0% (8th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 77.2% (19th)

Location: Wheeling, West Virginia

Arena (Capacity): WesBanco Arena (5,406)

Division: Atlantic

Coach: Clark Donatelli, Second Season (26-20-9)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to Kalamazoo (3 games to 1)

NHL Affiliates: Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins

AHL Affiliates: Hamilton Bulldogs and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

2011-12 in review

Record: 37-26-9

Atlantic Division Finish: 2nd

Overall ECHL Finish: 9th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.04 (11th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 2.81 (6th)

Power Play (Rank): 17.0% (10th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 80.8% (T-13th)

N ORTH DIVISION

Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

Arena (Capacity): U.S. Bank Arena (6,955)

Division: North

Coach: Jarrod Skalde, Third Season (68-57-19)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Did Not Qualify

NHL Affiliates: Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators

AHL Affiliates: San Antonio Rampage and Milwaukee Admirals

2011-12 in review

Record: 35-28-9, 79 points

North Division Finish: 3rd

Overall ECHL Finish: 14th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.17 (T8th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.15 (12th)

Power Play (Rank): 16.4% (T17th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 84.0% (6th)

Location: Evansville, Indiana

Arena (Capacity): Ford Center (9,100)

Division: North

Coach: Rich Kromm, Third Season with Evansville; First Season in ECHL

NHL Affiliates: Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues

AHL Affiliates: Springfield Falcons and Peoria Rivermen

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Arena (Capacity): Memorial Coliseum (10,500)

Division: North

Coach: Al Sims, Tenth Season with Fort Wayne; Second Season in ECHL (27-36-9)

NHL Affiliate: Anaheim Ducks

AHL Affiliate: Norfolk Admirals

Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan

Arena (Capacity): Wings Stadium (5,113)

Division: North

Coach: Nick Bootland, Fifth Season with Kalamazoo; Fourth Season in ECHL (120-70-26)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Eastern Conference Finals to Florida (4 games to 1)

NHL Affiliate: Vancouver Canucks

AHL Affiliate: Chicago Wolves

2011-12 in review

Record: 38-26-8, 84 points

North Division Finish: 1st

Overall ECHL Finish: 5th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.67 (1st)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.29 (16th)

Power Play (Rank): 22.7% (T2nd)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 77.0% (20th)

Location: Toledo, Ohio

Arena (Capacity): Huntington Center (7,431)

Division: North

Coach: Nick Vitucci, Eighth Season (236-205-40)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Did Not Qualify

NHL Affiliates: Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings

AHL Affiliates: Rockford IceHogs and Grand Rapids Griffins

2011-12 in review

Record: 28-36-6, 62 points

North Division Finish: 4th

Overall ECHL Finish: 18th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 2.63 (19th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.58 (19th)

Power Play (Rank): 14.9% (19th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 80.8% (T14th)

SOUTH DIVISION

Location: Estero, Florida

Arena (Capacity): Germain Arena (7,186)

Division: South

Coach: Greg Poss, Third Season (76-56-12)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Won Kelly Cup

NHL Affiliates: Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning

AHL Affiliates: Charlotte Checkers and Syracuse Crunch

2011-12 in review

Record: 39-26-7, 85 points

South Division Finish: 3rd

Overall ECHL Finish: 8th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.61 (2nd)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.03 (10th)

Power Play (Rank): 23.0% (1st)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 81.7% (10th)

Location: Greenville, South Carolina

Arena (Capacity): BI-LO Center (7,044)

Division: South

Coach: Dean Stork, Third Season (87-47-10)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to Florida (3 games to 0)

NHL Affiliate: New York Rangers

AHL Affiliate: Connecticut Whale

2011-12 in review

Record: 41-25-6

South Division Finish: 2nd

Overall ECHL Finish: 7th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.22 (6th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 2.99 (8th)

Power Play (Rank): 22.7% (T2nd)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 81.8% (9th)

Location: Duluth, Georgia

Arena (Capacity): Arena at Gwinnett Center (11,355)

Division: South

Coach: John Wroblewski, Second Season (41-20-7)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to South Carolina (3 games to 1)

NHL Affiliate: Phoenix Coyotes

AHL Affiliate: Portland Pirates

2011-12 in review

Record: 41-20-7, 88 points

South Division Finish: 1st

Overall ECHL Finish: 4th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 2.97 (13th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 2.78 (5th)

Power Play (Rank): 16.7% (T11th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 82.5% (7th)

Location: Orlando, Florida

Arena (Capacity): Amway Center (9,555)

Division: South

Coach: Drake Berehowsky, First Season

NHL Affiliate: Minnesota Wild

AHL Affiliate: Houston Aeros

Location: North Charleston, South Carolina

Arena (Capacity): North Charleston Coliseum (6,712)

Division: South

Coach: Spencer Carbery, Second Season (37-28-7)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Eastern Conference Semifinals to Kalamazoo (4 games to 1)

NHL Affiliate: Boston Bruins

2011-12 in review

Record: 37-28-7, 81 points

South Division Finish: 4th

Overall ECHL Finish: 11th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 2.65 (18th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 2.50 (2nd)

Power Play (Rank): 16.6% (16th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 82.0% (8th)

MOUNTAIN DIVISION

Location: Anchorage, Alaska

Arena (Capacity): Sullivan Arena (6,399)

Division: Mountain

Coach: Rob Murray, Second Season (43-18-11)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Western Conference Finals to Las Vegas (4 games to 1)

2011-12 in review

Record: 43-18-11, 97 points

Mountain Division Finish: 1st

Overall ECHL Finish: 1st

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.11 (10th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 2.39 (1st)

Power Play (Rank): 16.7% (T11th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 85.7% (2nd)

Location: Loveland, Colorado

Arena (Capacity): Budweiser Events Center (5,289)

Division: Mountain

Coach: Chris Stewart, Eighth Season with Colorado; Second Season in ECHL (38-28-6)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Western Conference Quarterfinals to Stockton (3 games to 0)

NHL Affiliate: Winnipeg Jets

AHL Affiliate: St. John's IceCaps

2011-12 in review

Record: 38-28-6, 82 points

Mountain Division Finish: 2nd

Overall ECHL Finish: 10th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.47 (3rd)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.50 (18th)

Power Play (Rank): 20.9% (5th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 80.8% (T13th)

Location: Boise, Idaho

Arena (Capacity): CenturyLink Arena (5,006)

Division: Mountain

Coach: Brad Ralph, First Season

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Western Conference Semifinals to Las Vegas (4 games to 1)

NHL Affiliate: Dallas Stars

AHL Affiliate: Texas Stars

2011-12 in review

Record: 31-32-9, 71 points

Mountain Division Finish: 4th

Overall ECHL Finish: 17th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 2.69 (17th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.28 (15th)

Power Play (Rank): 16.4% (T17th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 79.2% (17th)

Location: West Valley City, Utah

Arena (Capacity): Maverik Center (10,207)

Division: Mountain

Coach: Kevin Colley, Fifth Season (128-122-38)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Western Conference Quarterfinals to Las Vegas (3 games to 0)

NHL Affiliate: Calgary Flames

AHL Affiliate: Abbotsford Heat

2011-12 in review

Record: 33-33-6, 72 points

Mountain Division Finish: 3rd

Overall ECHL Finish: 16th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 2.54 (20th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.11 (11th)

Power Play (Rank): 16.7% (T11th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 84.1% (5th)

PACIFIC DIVISION

Location: Bakersfield, California

Arena (Capacity): Rabobank Arena (9,000)

Division: Pacific

Coach: Matt O'Dette, Second Season (24-41-7)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Did Not Qualify

2011-12 in review

Record: 24-41-7, 55 points

Pacific Division Finish: 4th

Overall ECHL Finish: 19th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 2.76 (16th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.35 (17th)

Power Play (Rank): 14.6% (20th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 79.0% (18th)

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Arena (Capacity): Orleans Arena (7,773)

Division: Pacific

Coach: Ryan Mougenel, Fourth Season (114-81-21)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Kelly Cup Finals to Florida (4 games to 1)

2011-12 in review

Record: 42-22-8, 92 points

Pacific Division Finish: 2nd

Overall ECHL Finish: 6th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.26 (5th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 2.75 (4th)

Power Play (Rank): 19.4% (10th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 84.8% (3rd)

Location: Ontario, California

Arena (Capacity): Citizens Business Bank Arena (9,592)

Division: Pacific

Coach: Jason Christie, Second Season with Ontario; Tenth Season in ECHL (350-224-74)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Western Conference Quarterfinals to Idaho (3 games to 2)

NHL Affiliate: Los Angeles Kings

AHL Affiliate: Manchester Monarchs

2011-12 in review

Record: 43-21-8, 94 points

Pacific Division Finish: 1st

Overall ECHL Finish: 3rd

Goals Per Game (Rank): 3.36 (4th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 2.68 (3rd)

Power Play (Rank): 19.9% (6th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 87.5% (1st)

Location: San Francisco, California

Arena (Capacity): Cow Palace (11,089)

Division: Pacific

Coach: Pat Curcio, First Season

NHL Affiliate: San Jose Sharks

AHL Affiliate: Worcester Sharks

Location: Stockton, California

Arena (Capacity): Stockton Arena (9,737)

Division: Pacific

Coach: Matt Thomas, Fifth Season with Stockton; Ninth Season in ECHL (126-101-30 with Stockton; 305-1199-71 overall in ECHL)

2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs: Lost Western Conference Semifinals to Alaska (4 games to 1)

NHL Affiliate: Edmonton Oilers

AHL Affiliate: Oklahoma City Barons

2011-12 in review

Record: 34-33-5, 73 points

Pacific Division Finish: 3rd

Overall ECHL Finish: 15th

Goals Per Game (Rank): 2.83 (15th)

Goals-Against Average (Rank): 3.00 (9th)

Power Play (Rank): 16.7% (T11th)

Penalty Killing (Rank): 81.4% (12th)

Check out the ECHL Statistics



ECHL Stories from October 8, 2012


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central