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Fresno Opens at Home with Huge Crowd

November 17, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


The final ECHL team to play its home opener, Fresno had a crowd of 12,462 on Sunday in a 4-3 overtime loss against Bakersfield. It was the first game for the Falcons, who opened the season with an 11-game road swing, at the new $100 million Save Mart Center at Fresno State.

The crowd of 12,462 is the second-largest opening night crowd in ECHL history surpassing the 12,247 by the New Orleans Brass for the opener at the New Orleans Arena, a 2-1 loss to Baton Rouge. The largest opening night crowd is 14,108 by Greenville when the Grrrowl opened the BI-LO Center with a 9-6 win over Charlotte on October 16, 1998. The largest crowd in ECHL history is 20,911 by the Greensboro Monarchs at the Greensboro Coliseum for a 7-1 win over Charlotte on January 15, 1994.

Six ECHL teams (Florida, Greenville, Johnstown, Reading, Texas and Toledo) had sellout crowds and five others (Columbia, Fresno, Idaho, Las Vegas and Trenton) were over 90 percent of capacity for opening night as the ECHL drew 187,907 and averaged 6,062 fans for its 31 home openers. The 22 former ECHL teams drew 124,792 and averaged 5,672 for their home openers, up more than 10 percent from the average of 5,125 in 2002-03. The 28 ECHL and WCHL teams that played in 2002-03 drew 165,928 and averaged 5,926 for their home openers, up almost 14 percent compared to 129,963 and 5,199 in 2002-03.

Johnstown had a standing room only crowd of 4,191, the largest crowd to watch an ECHL game at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, for its 3-1 win over Wheeling on Friday. The Chiefs already have two sellouts in 2003-04 and are averaging 2,623 per game, up almost 17 percent from 2002-03.

In the first five weeks of the season, the ECHL has drawn 741,736 for 195 games and is averaging 3,804 per game, up almost eight percent from the ECHL average of 3,531 for the 172 games played during the first five weeks of 2002-03. The ECHL and WCHL combined to draw 760,695 for 203 games in the first five weeks of 2002-03, an average of 3,747 per game.


Ito Becomes Second Japanese Player To Score In ECHL

Japanese defenseman Kengo Ito, who is a regular on the Japanese National Team and regarded as the top player in Japan, made his North American professional debut on Friday finishing +1 in Charlotte's 6-2 loss at Florida. Coming to Charlotte from the Nippon Paper Cranes of the Japanese Hockey League, Ito became only the second Japanese player in ECHL history to score a point when he had an assist in the Checkers 3-2 shootout loss on Saturday. The first Japanese player to score a point was Takahito Suzuki, who had 49 points (24g-25a) in 72 games as a rookie for Charlotte in 2002-03. Daisuke Obara became the fifth Japanese player in the league when he played for Peoria earlier this season. The other Japanese players in the ECHL were Cincinnati's Yutaka Fukufuji, who became the first Japanese-born goaltender to play in the ECHL in 2002-03; Hiroyuki Miura, who played six games with the Wheeling Thunderbirds in 1993-94; and Hideji Tsuchida, who played five games with Dayton in 1996-97.


ECHL Has Six More Shutouts, 1-0 Shootout

Goaltenders continued to accumulate shutouts recording six more during the past week, including a 1-0 shootout win by Long Beach on Saturday that saw both the Ice Dogs' Colin Zulianello, who stopped all six shooters in the shootout to pick up the win, and San Diego's Trevor Koenig, who stopped the first five shooters in the shootout, record shutouts. Koenig leads the league with two shutouts while 24 other goaltenders each have one shutout.

The duel between Zulianello and Koenig was one of three shutouts on Friday. Augusta's Jason Saal made 37 saves in a 3-0 win against Columbus and Trenton rookie Chris Houle made 34 saves to record his first professional shutout with a 2-0 win over Toledo. On Wednesday, Johnstown rookie Cory Campbell made 23 saves in a 2-0 win at Atlantic City and Alaska's Dan Murphy stopped 30 shots in a 3-0 win against San Diego.

Alaska, Atlantic City, Idaho, Johnstown, Long Beach, Reading, and South Carolina are tied for the team lead with two shutouts. In the first 195 games of 2003-04 there has been a shutout every 7.8 games compared to a shutout every 9.8 games in 2002-03 and a shutout every 11.4 games in 2001-02.


Titans' Rookie Houle Impressive In First Pro Week
Making his first professional start on Wednesday, Trenton rookie Chris Houle made 19 saves in a 3-1 win over Toledo. The 21-year-old started again on Saturday and made 34 saves, including 14 in the third period, for his first professional shutout, a 2-0 win against Toledo. He closed out the week making 19 saves in a 2-1 win over Las Vegas which entered the game atop the ECHL with 21 points.

In his first three games as a professional, the 6-3 and 197-pound Houle is 3-0-0 and tied for the league lead in goals against average with 0.67. He is second in the league with a save percentage of .973 and tied for second with one shutout.

Houle earned Second-Team All-Rookie honors in the Ontario Hockey League in 2002-03 after going 22-14-3 with two shutouts, a 2.58 goals against average and a .917 save percentage while helping the London Knights advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.


Northern Division
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies
 * Bullies rank second in the ECHL in goals allowed with 2.08 goals per game.
* Scott Stirling is tied for third in the ECHL with seven wins.
* Atlantic City hosts Las Vegas on Tuesday, travels to Trenton on Friday and hosts Trenton on Saturday.

Cincinnati Cyclones
 * Ryan Brindley leads the team in scoring with 11 points (4g-7a).
* Cyclones are 3-0-0 when leading after the first period and 2-3-0 in one-goal games.
* Cincinnati hosts Dayton on Wednesday and Peoria on Friday before traveling to Peoria on Saturday.

Dayton Bombers
 * Jason Deskins is tied for the ECHL lead with two shorthand goals.
* Bombers' penalty kill ranks 30th in the ECHL with 75.5 percent (37-for-49).
* Dayton travels to Cincinnati on Wednesday, Toledo on Friday and Johnstown on Saturday before hosting Roanoke on Sunday.

Johnstown Chiefs
 * Rookie Corey Campbell leads the ECHL with a .975 save percentage and is tied for the ECHL lead with a 0.67 goals against average.
* Chiefs lead the ECHL in fewest goals allowed averaging1.71 goals per game.
* Johnstown hosts Wheeling on Friday and Dayton on Saturday.

Peoria Rivermen
 * Trevor Baker leads the team in scoring with 11 points (3g-8a).
* Randy Rowe has 10 points (7g-3a) in his last 10 games.
* Peoria travels to Cincinnati on Friday before hosting Cincinnati on Saturday.

Reading Royals
 * Royals lead the ECHL on the penalty kill (95.9 percent) and power play (28.8 percent).
* Cody Rudkowsky ranks fourth in the ECHL with a 1.38 goals against average.
* Reading hosts Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday.

Toledo Storm
 * Paul Ballentyne is tied for the ECHL lead among defensemen with two game-winning goals.
* Storm ranks 30th in the ECHL on the power play with 7.7 percent (5-for-65).
* Toledo hosts Dayton on Friday and Wheeling on Saturday.

Trenton Titans
 * Scott Bertoli scored his first goal on Saturday, and has six points in his last five games.
* Matt Zultek is tied for the ECHL lead with five power-play goals.
* Trenton hosts Atlantic City on Friday and plays at Atlantic City on Saturday.

Wheeling Nailers
 * Jason Jaffray leads the team in scoring with 15 points (7g-8a).
* Chris McNamara has three goals and five assists in his last five games.
* Nailers travel to Johnstown on Friday and Toledo on Saturday.

Southern Division
Charlotte Checkers
 * Dusty Jamieson leads the team in scoring with seven points (3g-4a).
* Checkers are tied for second in the ECHL with three shorthand goals.
* Charlotte hosts Gwinnett on Wednesday and Greenville on Friday.

Columbia Inferno
 * Josh Blackburn is 3-1-1 with a 2.04 goals against average in his last five games.
* Tim Smith has 12 points (3g-9a) in his last 10 games.
* Columbia travels to Columbus on Saturday and Greenville on Sunday.

Florence Pride
 * Victor Gervais and Mike Souza each have 10 points (4g-6a) in their last five games.
* Mark McRae is tied for the ECHL lead among defensemen with two game-winning goals.
* Florence travels to Florida on Friday and Saturday.

Florida Everblades
 * Brian McCullough ranks second in the ECHL in scoring with 24 points (10g-14a).
* Everblades ranks second in the ECHL in scoring with 3.86 goals per game.
* Florida hosts Florence on Friday and Saturday.

Greensboro Generals
 * Daniel Berthiaume ranks second in the ECHL with eight wins and 346 saves.
* Generals are tied for fourth in the ECHL in scoring with 3.62 goals per game.
* Greensboro hosts Mississippi on Thursday, Roanoke on Friday and South Carolina on Sunday.

Greenville Grrrowl
 * Mike Henderson leads the team in scoring with nine points (3g-6a).
* Grrrowl rank 29th in the ECHL in goals allowed with 3.80 goals per game.
* Greenville hosts Mississippi on Tuesday, travels to Charlotte on Friday and Gwinnett on Saturday, and hosts Columbia on Sunday.

Roanoke Express
 * Rick Kowalsky has five goals and five assists in his last five games.
* Tim O'Connell is tied for the ECHL lead among defensemen with five goals.
* Roanoke hosts Las Vegas on Wednesday before traveling to Greensboro on Friday and Dayton on Sunday.

South Carolina Stingrays
 * Ed Courtenay has six points (1g-5a) in his last five games.
* Stingrays' road power play ranks seventh in the ECHL with 87.1 percent (27-for-31).
* South Carolina travels to Gwinnett on Thursday and Greensboro on Sunday.

Central Division
Augusta Lynx
 * Jason Saal earned his first shutout of the season in a 3-0 win against Columbus on Saturday.
* Lynx scored shorthand goals against Columbus on Saturday and Mississippi on Sunday.
* Augusta travels to Texas on Friday and Louisiana on Saturday.

Columbus Cottonmouths
 * J.F. Plourde is tied for second among ECHL rookies with six goals.
* Cottonmouths rank 28th in the ECHL in goals allowed with 3.67 goals per game.
* Columbus hosts Pensacola on Friday and Columbia on Saturday before traveling to Louisiana on Sunday.

Gwinnett Gladiators
 * Michael Garnett is 5-1-0 with a 1.95 goals against average in his last six games.
* Mike Vigilante has a nine-game point streak (3g-8a) dating back to October 29.
* Gwinnett travels to Charlotte on Wednesday before hosting South Carolina on Thursday and Greenville on Saturday.

Louisiana IceGators
 * Kenny Corupe has a career-best nine-game point streak (3g-8a).
* IceGators rank third in the ECHL in goals allowed with 2.27 goals per game.
* Louisiana hosts Augusta on Saturday and Columbus on Sunday.

Mississippi Sea Wolves
 * Louis Dumont played in his 600th career game on Sunday and tallied an assist.
* Steffon Walby leads the ECHL in scoring with 25 points (8g-17a).
* Mississippi travels to Greenville on Tuesday and Greensboro on Thursday before hosting Texas on Sunday.

Pensacola Ice Pilots
 * Ice Pilots lead the ECHL in scoring with 3.92 goals per game.
* Corey Neilson leads the ECHL with 11 power-play points and nine power-play assists.
* Pensacola plays at Columbus on Friday and at Texas on Saturday.

Texas Wildcatters
 * Bob Cunningham has a 10-game point streak (10g-9a) dating back to October 19.
* Wildcatters rank 31st in the ECHL in goals allowed with 4.33 goals per game.
* Texas hosts Augusta on Friday and Pensacola on Saturday before traveling to Mississippi on Sunday.

Pacific Division
Alaska Aces
 * Charles Linglet leads ECHL rookies with 17 points (6g-11a).
* Aces are tied for fourth in the ECHL in scoring with 3.62 goals per game.
* Alaska hosts Idaho on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Bakersfield Condors
 * Kevin Riehl leads the team in scoring with 11 points (3g-8a).
* Bakersfield ranks second in the ECHL in shots allowed with 25.38 shots per game.
* Condors host Long Beach on Wednesday, San Diego on Friday and Fresno on Saturday before traveling to Long Beach on Sunday.

Fresno Falcons
 * Fresno had an ECHL season-high crowd of 12,462 for its home opener on Sunday.
* Greg Bullock (6g-12a) has a point in each of the Falcons first 12 games.
* Falcons travel to San Diego on Wednesday, host Long Beach on Friday and travel to Bakersfield on Saturday.

Idaho Steelheads
 * Blair Allison ranks third in the ECHL with a 1.17 goals against average.
* Jan Kopecky leads the team in scoring with 14 points (7g-7a).
* Idaho travels to Alaska on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Las Vegas Wranglers
 * Greg Day is tied for the ECHL lead with 17 assists.
* Marc Magliarditi leads the ECHL with nine wins and 373 saves.
* Las Vegas travels to Atlantic City on Tuesday, Roanoke on Wednesday and Reading on Friday and Saturday.

Long Beach Ice Dogs
 * Colin Zulianello earned his first shutout of the season in Saturday's 1-0 shootout win against San Diego.
* Ice Dogs' penalty kill ranks third in the ECHL with 90.5 percent (57-for-63).
* Long Beach travels to Bakersfield on Wednesday and Fresno on Friday before hosting Bakersfield on Sunday.

San Diego Gulls
 * Trevor Koenig is 4-1-2 with a 2.67 goals against average and leads the ECHL with two shutouts.
* Gulls are tied for 28th in the ECHL in scoring with 2.11 goals per game.
* San Diego hosts Fresno on Wednesday and travels to Bakersfield on Friday.

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