Former ECHL Coach Torchetti Named Chicago Assistant Coach
Published on May 17, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release
CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League
announced that they have added former ECHL player and assistant coach John
Torchetti to the team's coaching staff as an assistant coach. Torchetti,
who began his career behind the bench in 1992-93 as an assistant coach with
the Greensboro Monarchs of the ECHL, becomes the 10th NHL assistant coach
with have an ECHL background.
Torchetti scored 42 points (16g-26a) in 30 regular season games and helped
the Carolina Thunderbirds win the inaugural ECHL Championship scoring 10
points (5g-5a) in 11 playoff games with the Carolina Thunderbirds in
1988-89. He scored 44 points (23g-21a) in 47 regular season games and one
point (1g-0a) in four playoff games with the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds of
the ECHL in 1989-90. He concluded his playing career in 1990-91 scoring 41
points (19g-22a) in 47 games with Winston-Salem.
He is one of five ECHL coaches that has been a head coach in the NHL,
having been named interim head coach of the Florida Panthers in 2003-04 and
interim head coach of the Los Angeles Kings in 2005-06. Current Carolina
head coach Peter Laviolette and current Calgary head coach Jim Playfair
both coached in the ECHL as did Bruce Cassidy, who coached Washington to
the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a rookie head coach in 2002-03, and Dave
Allison, who coached Ottawa for 25 games in 1995-96.
The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the
30 teams in the National Hockey League in 2006-07, marking the 10th
consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20
teams in the NHL. There have been 329 players who have played in the NHL
after the ECHL and 184 who have made their debut in the last five seasons,
including 26 in 2006-07.
The ECHL had 34 players, six coaches and seven former on-ice officials
when the Stanley Cup Playoffs began and all 16 teams have a former ECHL
player or coach. It is the second year in a row that there have been more
than 30 former ECHL players in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the fourth
straight season that over 25 players with ECHL experience have played in
the NHL postseason. It is the third straight time that the ECHL has had at
least six coaches in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The ECHL has been represented on the last six Stanley Cup champions
including 2006 by Laviolette, who became the first ECHL coach to hoist the
coveted trophy, Chad LaRose, Andrew Hutchinson and assistant athletic
trainer Chris Stewart.
There are 11 former ECHL players whose names are on the Stanley Cup: Chad
LaRose and Andrew Hutchinson (Carolina - 2006), Ruslan Fedotenko, Nolan
Pratt and Andre Roy (Tampa Bay - 2004), Corey Schwab (New Jersey - 2003),
Manny Legace (Detroit - 2002), David Aebischer and Nolan Pratt (Colorado -
2001), Krzysztof Oliwa (New Jersey - 2000) and Kevin Dean (New Jersey -
1995). Pratt is the only ECHL player to have his name engraved twice on the
Stanley Cup.
ECHL
The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.
The ECHL has affiliations with 24 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey
League in 2006-07 and for the past 17 years there has been an ECHL player
on the Calder Cup champion.
In each of the last two seasons there have been more than 225 players who
have played in both the ECHL and the AHL and there were over 800 call-ups
involving more than 500 players.
In the last five 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 May 17, 2007
- 'Blades force Game Seven with 6-3 win - Florida Everblades
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Former ECHL Coach Torchetti Named Chicago Assistant Coach - ECHL
- Aces Hold Fan Appreciation Party At Sully - Alaska Aces
- Nailers Voted One of the Best in the Ohio Valley - Wheeling Nailers
- Help The Lynx Support Children's Medical Center At Carrabba's From 11-1 Today - Augusta Lynx
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Callahan moving up to AHL - Augusta Lynx
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.
