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Former ECHL Goaltender Legace Named NHL First Star

January 8, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The National Hockey League announced that former ECHL and current St. Louis Blues goaltender Manny Legace has been selected as the 'First Star' in the NHL's "Three Stars" for the week ending Jan. 6. Each Monday, the NHL recognizes three players who delivered the top performances over the past week.

The Kelly Cup champion Alaska Aces are the ECHL affiliate of the Blues and the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League.

Legace recorded two shutouts in three appearances to help the Blues move within two points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. He registered his second shutout of the season making 31 saves in a 2-0 win against Detroit on Dec. 31 and had stopped three shots in the first period before leaving the game due to illness in a 3-2 overtime loss to Edmonton. He ended the week with 27 saves in a 1-0 win against Carolina for his 21st career shutout, improving to 15-10-2 with a goals-against average of 2.09 and a save percentage of .921.

When Detroit won the NHL championship in 2002, Legace became the fifth former ECHL player to hoist the Stanley Cup, a number that grew to 13 in 2007 as the ECHL was represented on the Stanley Cup champion for the seventh consecutive year with Anaheim assistant coach Dave Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.

There have been 341 players who have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL including 12 who have played their first game this season: former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Kevin Doell (Atlanta on Jan. 4), former Roanoke Express and Wheeling Nailers left wing Jason Jaffray (Vancouver on Dec. 12), former Toledo Storm goaltender Drew MacIntyre (Vancouver on Dec. 13), former San Diego Gulls left wing Cody McLeod (Colorado on Dec. 19), former Columbia Inferno center Brandon Nolan (Carolina on Dec. 22), former Johnstown Chiefs and Fresno Falcons goaltender Dmitri Patzold (San Jose on Oct. 7), former Reading Royals goaltender Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles on Dec. 6), former Stockton Thunder left wing Liam Reddox (Edmonton on Dec. 7), former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Colin Stuart (Atlanta on Dec. 29), former San Diego goaltender Tyler Weiman (Colorado on Oct. 4), former Charlotte Checkers right wing Craig Weller (Phoenix on Oct. 4) and former Phoenix RoadRunners center Daniel Winnik (Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 4).

There were 69 former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters and there have been 196 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past six seasons. Twenty-six former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2006-07, including two who played in both the ECHL and the NHL as goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji played for Reading and Los Angeles while defenseman Bryan Young skated for Stockton and Edmonton. Dave McKee played for Augusta and dressed for five games as the backup goaltender for Stanley Cup champion Anaheim.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL, and there are 14 coaches in the NHL who have ECHL experience. The ECHL is represented for the seventh consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2007 with Anaheim assistant coach Dave Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.

ECHL
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08, the ECHL is the Premier 'AA' Hockey League and 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 25 teams playing 900 games in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08.

The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League in 2007-08 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.

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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.


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