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Fedotenko Named MeiGray Group ECHL Alumnus Of The Month

March 2, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Former Trenton and current Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ruslan Fedotenko is the MeiGray Group ECHL Alumnus of the Month for February.

Fedotenko scored five points (3g-2a) and had 12 penalty minutes in February as the Lightning went 4-2-0 and improved to 32-23-4 and second in the Southeast Division. He tied the team record for fastest goal to start a game when he scored 11 seconds into a 5-0 win against Washington on Feb. 4 and finished the game with three points (1g-2a) to tie his career best for points in a game. He is sixth on the team with 17 goals and is eighth in scoring with 27 points in 57 games.

In his first professional season in 1999-2000, Fedotenko scored eight points (5g-3a) in eight games with Trenton and 50 points (16g-34a) in 67 games with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League.

After scoring 39 points (17g-22a) in 77 regular season games for Tampa Bay in 2003-04, the 27-year-old raised his level of play during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs and finished tied with teammate Brad Richards for second in the league with 12 goals, including both goals in the Lightning's 2-1 win in Game 7 of the Finals. He was one of three former ECHL players on the Tampa Bay roster marking the fifth consecutive year that the ECHL has been represented on the Stanley Cup.

He signed with Tampa Bay before the 2002-03 season and has 98 points (53g-45a) and 106 penalty minutes in 210 regular season games and 15 points (12g-3a) and 16 penalty minutes in 33 playoff games for the Lightning.

Fedotenko started his NHL career in 2000-01 and played two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers scoring 62 points (33g-29a) in 152 games. In his fifth season in the NHL, he has 160 points (86g-74a) and 221 penalty minutes in 362 career regular season games and 17 points (13g-4a) and 22 penalty minutes in 44 career playoff games.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League has affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the NHL and there are over 100 players on ECHL rosters under contract to an NHL team. Carolina Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette began his career in the ECHL and there are 12 assistant coaches, 13 referees and five linesmen currently in the NHL who have ECHL experience.

There have been 41 former ECHL players who have made their NHL debut in 2005-06 raising the total number of players who have played in the NHL after the ECHL to 297.

The leading distributor of game-worn hockey jerseys and "Official Game-Worn Jersey Source of the ECHL," MeiGray has sold almost 3,000 game-worn ECHL jerseys since the program began in 2002-03, including almost 900 each of the past two seasons.

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