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Eight Begin Season Undefeated

Published on October 25, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Eight teams are unbeaten after the opening weekend of the ECHL season, including Bakersfield, which won its first three games and sits atop the West Division and the league with six points. The Condors, who were winless in their first three games in 2003-04, will host Alaska on November 2 and San Diego on November 6.

Bakersfield is two points ahead of defending Kelly Cup Champion Idaho in the West Division. Idaho, which is 2-0-0 after posting back-to-back wins over Alaska on Friday and Saturday, will travel to Fresno for three games, beginning Friday.

In Sunday's 5-4 come-from-behind win at Long Beach, Bakersfield rookie defenseman Chris Twerdun scored the game-tying goal and with 30 seconds remaining scored the game-winning goal. In his first full professional season in North America, Twerdun also scored two goals in the Condors season opener on Friday, giving him four goals in the first weekend to lead the league, league rookies and league defensemen after the first weekend of play.

San Diego rookie right wing Guillaume Fournier scored two power-play goals and assisted on three other goals in San Diego's 7-2 win on Saturday. The 21-year-old Fournier leads league rookies with five points (2g-3a) and is tied for the league scoring lead with Idaho right wing David Morisset, who is tied for the league lead with four assists, and Bakersfield's Mike Hofstrand (2g-3a).

In the North Division, Trenton and Toledo are both 2-0-0 as the Titans swept a home-and-home with Reading and Toledo won back-to-back home games against Wheeling and Dayton. Trenton travels to Atlantic City on Friday while Toledo hosts Peoria on Friday and travels to Wheeling on Saturday.

In the East Division, Charlotte and Pee Dee are each 2-0-0 as the Checkers won road games at Greenville and South Carolina and the Pride won a pair of home games, defeating Atlantic City and Augusta. Charlotte travels to Columbia on Friday and hosts the Inferno on Saturday while Pee Dee plays at South Carolina on Tuesday before traveling to Johnstown on Friday and Saturday.

In the South Division, Gwinnett is 2-0-0 following wins at Augusta and Columbia while Pensacola is also undefeated, following a 4-2 win at Mississippi on Saturday. Gwinnett travels to Florida on Tuesday and Mississippi on Saturday while hosting Augusta in its season opener on Friday and Greenville on Sunday. Pensacola will host Florida in its home opener on Saturday.

Victoria Plays First Games

The first ECHL team outside the United States, Victoria opened its inaugural season going 1-2-0. Following back-to-back losses at Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday, the Salmon Kings beat Fresno 5-0 on Sunday, picking up their first win and their first shutout in the same game, as David Brumby made 37 saves and Jeff Williams scored two goals.

The Salmon Kings, who are the first professional hockey team in Victoria since the Victoria Maple Leafs in 1966-67, played their first two games at Bakersfield, losing 7-2 on Friday and falling 2-1 on a goal scored with 45 seconds remaining on Saturday.

Victoria will not hit the ice again until November 5 and 6 when it travels to Boise to meet the defending Kelly Cup Champion Idaho Steelheads. The Steelheads swept the Salmon Kings in two preseason games played in British Columbia.

Born in Victoria, rookie center Ryan Wade scored the first-ever Salmon Kings goal at 6:40 of the first period on Friday and he leads Victoria with three points and is tied for the team lead with two assists. Williams leads the team with two goals and is tied for second with two points. A native of Victoria, Brumby, who ranks fourth all-time in the ECHL with 15 career shutouts, is 1-2-0 with a goals-against average of 2.42 and a save percentage of .933.

Opening Night Features Seven Sellouts

Seven sellouts and four record crowds made opening weekend in the ECHL a success as 17 teams played their home opener and 149,319 fans attended 29 games. The six sellouts surpasses the four sellouts on opening weekend in 2003-04 while the average of 5,149 per game for the first 29 games is up more than nine percent from last season's first three days.

The 17 home openers drew 105,325 for an average of 6,196 per game, up more than 14 percent from 5,426 for the 22 home openers played on opening weekend in 2003-04.

San Diego had 11,922 on Saturday, the largest crowd in the Gulls' ECHL history and the seventh-largest crowd in team history. South Carolina had 8,165 on Saturday, marking the second season in a row that the Stingrays have set a team attendance mark on opening night, having drawn 8,053 in 2003.

Toledo welcomed a sellout crowd of 5,361 to the Toledo Sports Arena on Friday, marking the second straight year that the Storm has sold out its home opener. Opening its fourth season in the league, Columbia had a sold out record crowd of 6,231 for its game against South Carolina on Friday. The Inferno broke the team record of 6,016 set on October 12, 2001, the first game in team history also against South Carolina. Reading had a sellout crowd of 7,248 on Saturday, breaking the team record of 7,235 set on March 12, 2004 against Johnstown, while Trenton had a sold out crowd of 7,879 on Friday.

There were 7,211 watching as Florida raised its 2004 Eastern Conference Champion banner at Germain Arena on Friday, marking the second season in a row that the Everblades have sold out their home opener. Idaho had 5,044 to witness its Kelly Cup Champion banner ceremony on Friday, the second year in a row that the Steelheads had a capacity crowd for their first game. The Steelheads led the league in 2003-04 with 10 regular season sellouts while the Everblades were second with eight sellouts. The two met in the 2004 Kelly Cup Finals and for the first time in the 16-year history of the ECHL, every game of the Finals was sold out and the league had a record 11 sellouts in the postseason.

Augusta had a sellout crowd of 5,668 for its opener on Friday, almost 1,400 more than its home opener last season, while Pee Dee's crowd of 4,840 on Friday was up almost 1,300 from its opener in 2003-04, and Peoria's crowd of 7,593 was up more than 500 from last year.

There are eight home openers this weekend with Alaska, Atlantic City, Dayton and Gwinnett on Friday and Charlotte, Pensacola, Texas and Wheeling on Saturday. Las Vegas will play its home opener on November 2 and Louisiana will play its first home game on November 6. The last team to play a home game will be Victoria on December 5.

ECHL Feature Games Of The Week

North Division

Trenton at Atlantic City
Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET
* Trenton coach Mike Haviland led Atlantic City to the 2003 Kelly Cup Championship.
* Titans were 6-3-1 against Atlantic City in 2003-04.

South Division

Gwinnett at Mississippi
Saturday at 7:35 p.m. CT
* Gladiators upset Mississippi in five games in the 2004 Central Division Semifinals.
* Sea Wolves were 1-1 against Gwinnett in 2003-04.

East Division

Pee Dee at South Carolina
Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET
* Stingrays were 4-3-0 in 2003-04 against the Pride.
* Pee Dee eliminated the Stingrays from the 2003 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

West Division

San Diego at Alaska
Friday at 7:15 p.m. AT
* Alaska swept San Diego in the 2004 Pacific Division Semifinals.
* Gulls were 6-3-1 against Alaska in 2003-04.

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ECHL Stories from October 25, 2004


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