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Eight ECHL Players, Three Coaches In AHL All-Star Game

Published on January 24, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The ECHL will be well represented with eight former players and three coaches scheduled to participate in the 2009 American Hockey League All-Star Classic on Monday in Worcester, Mass.

The Canadian AHL All-Star Team has former ECHL goaltenders Mike Brodeur, Barry Brust and Tyler Weiman as well as Chris Minard and Andrew MacDonald while the PlanetUSA AHL All-Star Team has Keith Aucoin and Jeff Frazee. Martin St. Pierre was selected to the Canadian AHL All-Star Team, but will miss the game after being called up to Boston of the National Hockey League.

Former ECHL and current Chicago Wolves coach Don Granato and former ECHL and current Chicago assistant coach Jason Christie will be behind the bench for PlanetUSA while former ECHL and current Hershey Bears coach Bob Woods will direct the Canadian club.

The ECHL has had affiliations with 20 or more teams in the AHL the last eight years and in the past seven seasons there have been more ECHL players called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined.

For the 19th year in a row the Premier 'AA' Hockey League was represented on the AHL champion as the Chicago Wolves had a record 14 former ECHL players on their roster.

Seven times in the last eight years the winner of the AHL Coach of the Year award has been a former ECHL coach including the last three selections with Scott Gordon, Mike Haviland and Kevin Dineen. Former ECHL coaches won the award four consecutive years from 2001-04 with Don Granato, Bruce Cassidy, Geoff Ward and Claude Noel. The first former ECHL coach to win the award was Peter Laviolette in 1999.

Six former ECHL players have been named Reebok/AHL Player of the Week this season: Keith Aucoin for period ending Oct. 12, former Stockton Thunder and 2007 ECHL All-Star goaltender Devan Dubnyk for the period ending Nov. 16, former Gwinnett Gladiator and 2006 ECHL All-Star left wing Pascal Pelletier for the period ending Nov. 30, former Phoenix RoadRunners goaltender Josh Tordjman for the period ending Dec. 7, and former ECHL goaltender Mike Brodeur for the period ending Dec. 14 and former Gwinnett Gladiators center Jared Ross for the period ending Jan. 18.

Ten former ECHL players won the weekly award in 2007-08 while former ECHL players were chosen to receive the Rbk X-Pulse/AHL Goaltender of the Month four times, the CCM/AHL Player of the Month award three times and the Rbk Edge/AHL Rookie of the Month two times.. The ECHL was represented by three players on both the First Team All-AHL and the Second Team All-AHL while goaltender John Curry was named to the All-Rookie Team and Andrew Hutchinson was named Defenseman of the Year.

Barry Brust and Nolan Schaefer won the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award, presented each season to the goaltender(s) appearing in at least 25 games for the team allowing the fewest goals, for 2007-08. It is the seventh season in a row and the 12th time in the last 15 years that the award has been won or shared by a former ECHL goaltender.

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ECHL Stories from January 24, 2009


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