
Florida's Khudobin Is RBC Financial ECHL Saver Of The Month
December 5, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - Anton
Khudobin of the Florida Everblades is the RBC Financial Group ECHL Saver of the
Month for November.
The 22 year old was 7-0-0 with three shutouts, a goals-against average of
1.36 and a save percentage of .954 in eight starts to help the Everblades
go 11-1-0. Florida set ECHL records for longest shutout sequence on the
road (214:19) and longest shutout sequence for the regular season (214:19)
and tied the record for consecutive shutouts (3) as Khudobin went 2-0-0
with two shutouts and did not allow a goal for 122:21.
He is 9-1-0 and leads the league with three shootouts while ranking third
with nine wins, a goals-against average with 1.74 and a save percentage of
.936.
Selected in the seventh round (206th overall) by Minnesota in the 2004
NHL Entry Draft and under NHL contract to the Wild, the native of
Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan was 20-1-4 and led ECHL goaltenders with a
goals-against average of 1.98 and a save percentage of .934 as a rookie in
2007-08. He was named the Rbk Hockey ECHL
Goaltender of the Year becoming the first rookie to win the award since
Frederic Cloutier in 2001-02 and the seventh rookie selected since the
honor began in 1993-94. He was also voted to the ECHL
All-Rookie Team and First
Team All-ECHL while also being selected to the ECHL
All-Star Game.
Runners-Up: Jean-Phillipe
Lamoureux, Alaska (8-2-1, 1.90 GAA, .936 save pct.) and Kris
Mayotte, Johnstown (10-2-1, 2.33, .922 save pct.).
Also Nominated: Jeff
Jakaitis (Charlotte), Paul
Drew (Dayton), Josh
Johnson (Gwinnett), John
DeCaro (Las Vegas), Ryan
Munce (Mississippi), John
Murray (Ontario), Michal
Neuvirth (South Carolina), Andrew
Perugini (Stockton), Charlie
Effinger (Trenton), Michael
Mole (Utah) and Jonathan
Boutin (Victoria).
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 22 teams in 16 states and British Columbia in
2008-09.
- The Reading Royals, the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center will
host the 17th
Annual ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21, 2009 and the 12th Annual All-Star
Skills Competition on Jan. 20, 2009.
- 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.
- 374 former ECHL
players have played in NHL.
- 117 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 19 Nineteen 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 Bakersfield Condors center
Alexandre
Bolduc (Vancouver on Nov. 27), 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 Gwinnett Gladiators right wing Pat
Dwyer former Columbus Cottonmouths and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks left
wing Mitch
Fritz (New York Islanders on Oct. 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 Charlotte Checkers
defenseman Steve
MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Florida Everblades left wing Kenndal
McArdle (Florida on Dec. 2), 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 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 Johnstown Chiefs and Mississippi
Sea Wolves forward Radek
Smolenak and former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett
Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27).
- 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 December 5, 2008
- Royals Drop Seventh Straight in Elmira, 6-3 - Reading Royals
- Grizzlies Beat Idaho 5-2 - Utah Grizzlies
- Steelheads Fall to Utah, 5-3 - Idaho Steelheads
- RoadRunners Neutralize Wranglers 4-1 - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Devils Use Shootout to Beat Everblades, 4-3 - Trenton Devils
- Chiefs Stymie Cincinnati - Johnstown Chiefs
- RoadRunners Fly Past Wranglers 4-1 - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Gladiators Fall in Eighth Round of Shootout as Munce Stands Tall - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Wheeling Becomes First ECHL Organization to Earn 700 Victories - Wheeling Nailers
- Gladiators Fall in Shootout to Sea Wolves 4-3 - Atlanta Gladiators
- Jackals Break Streak, Win 6-3 - Elmira Jackals
- Wheeling Nailers Blast Bombers 5-2 - Wheeling Nailers
- Johnstown 'Fights' For 3-1 Win Over Cyclones - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Blades Gain Point in Standings After 4-3 Shootout Loss - Florida Everblades
- Stingrays Win Big in Charlotte - South Carolina Stingrays
- Bombers Downed By Wheeling 5-2 At Home - Dayton Bombers
- Checkers Lose to Stingrays, 5-1 - Charlotte Checkers
- Blades see changes to roster - Florida Everblades
- Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Ontario Reign - Stockton Thunder
- Royals Acquire Forward David Nimmo - Reading Royals
- Blades sweep ECHL Monthly Awards - Florida Everblades
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Game Preview: Ontario Reign vs. Stockton Thunder - Ontario Reign
- Pelletier Named Reebok/AHL Player Of The Week - ECHL
- Kroll Recalled to Hershey; Busniuk Signed - South Carolina Stingrays
- Royals' Coach Jason Nobili Hires Larry Courville as Assistant - Reading Royals
- Another Falcon Gets Call Up - Fresno Falcons
- Ryan Kinasewich Returns Tonight In Idaho - Utah Grizzlies
- Florida's Khudobin Is RBC Financial ECHL Saver Of The Month - ECHL
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Bombers In Action Tonight vs. Wheeling - Dayton Bombers
- Everblades' Baker Is CCM TACKS ECHL Player Of The Month - ECHL
- Rays Host Teddy Bear Toss Tomorrow Night - South Carolina Stingrays
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.
