
Grizzlies' Kinasewich Is CCM ECHL Player Of The Month
February 5, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - Ryan Kinasewich of the Utah Grizzlies is the CCM ECHL Player of the Month for January.
Kinasewich led the ECHL in January with 18 assists and 29 points in 13 games including a nine-game point streak (9g-15a) and a five-game assist streak (10a) to conclude the month.
He had eight multiple-point games, including three games with four points and three games with three points, and had a team-leading plus-minus rating of +9.
The 25 year old is seventh in the league with a team-high 49 points in 32 games while his 32 assists are first on the Grizzlies and his 17 goals are second.
Kinasewich has led the Grizzlies in scoring each of the past three seasons and he has 249 points (105g-144a) in 178 regular season games and 14 points (10g-4a) in 16 Kelly Cup Playoff games. He was named Second Team All-ECHL in 2005-06 after tying for the league lead with 39 goals and finishing fourth with 85 points in 60 games.
He played for Reading as a rookie in 2004-05 and was named to the ECHL All-Star Game while scoring 38 points (16g-22a) in 43 regular season games and six points (1g-5a) in five Kelly Cup Playoff games.
Runners Up: Jimmy Kilpatrick, Cincinnati (13 gp, 10g, 13a, 23 pts) and Bryan Ewing, Wheeling (14 gp, 14g, 11a, 25 pts).
Also nominated: Dave Bonk (Bakersfield), Mike McLean (Dayton), Chris Korchinski (Elmira), Kevin Baker (Florida), Matt Siddall (Gwinnett), Ben Nelson (Idaho), P.J. Fenton (Phoenix), Brock Hooton (Reading), Travis Morin (South Carolina), Matt Cohen (Trenton) and Wes Goldie (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 21 teams in 16 states and British Columbia in 2008-09.
* 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.
* 392 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
* 136 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
* 37 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 Stockton Thunder and ECHL All-Star right wing Troy Bodie (Anaheim on Jan. 16), former Bakersfield Condors center Alexandre Bolduc (Vancouver on Nov. 27), former Florida Everblades defenseman Brett Carson (Carolina on Dec. 7), former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Sean Collins (Washington on Dec. 6), 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 Dayton Bombers center Philippe Dupuis (Colorado on Dec. 12), former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Chris Durno (Colorado on Jan. 18), 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 South Carolina Stingrays right wing Andrew Gordon (Washington on Dec. 23), former Augusta Lynx and Mississippi Sea Wolves goaltender Riku Helenius (Tampa Bay on Jan. 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 Gwinnett Gladiators defenseman Scott Lehman (Atlanta on Dec. 18), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Steve MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Florida Everblades left wing Kenndal McArdle (Florida on Dec. 2), two-time All-Star and former Las Vegas Wranglers goaltender Mike McKenna (Tampa Bay on Feb. 3), former All-Star and Wheeling Nailers center Kurtis McLean (New York Islanders on Jan. 19), 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 Idaho Steelheads left wing Warren Peters (Calgary on Dec. 7), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Corey Potter (New York Rangers on Dec. 7), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Kevin Quick (Tampa Bay on Jan. 13), former Charlotte Checkers, Columbia Inferno and Elmira Jackals defenseman Bryan Rodney (Carolina on Dec. 11), 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 Utah Grizzlies and ECHL All-Star center Trevor Smith (New York Islanders on Dec. 31), former Johnstown Chiefs and Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Radek Smolenak (Tampa Bay on Dec. 2), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27), former Las Vegas Wranglers and ECHL All-Star defenseman Tyson Strachan (St. Louis on Dec. 18), former Wheeling Nailers right wing Tim Wallace (Pittsburgh on Dec. 10) and former Idaho Steelheads center Tom Wandell (Dallas on Dec. 10).
* 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.
Check out the ECHL Statistics
ECHL Stories from February 5, 2009
- Checkers can't hold back surging Gladiators, lose 4-3 - Charlotte Checkers
- Gladiators Clip Checkers 4-3 - Atlanta Gladiators
- Ryan Kinasewich Loaned To Lake Erie - Utah Grizzlies
- Steelheads' Shelast loaned to Hamilton - Idaho Steelheads
- McLean Loaned to Lake Erie Monsters - Dayton Bombers
- James Sixsmith Goes Back To AHL, Milwaukee - Utah Grizzlies
- Condors acquire LaPointe from Dayton - Bakersfield Condors
- Goaltender Mannino Assigned By Islanders - Utah Grizzlies
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Steelheads Team up with Sliers to Benefit Pediatric Patients and Special Olympics Athletes - Idaho Steelheads
- Salmon Kings' Host Second Annual Pink In The Rink Night This Saturday - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Bombers Trade LaPointe to Bakersfield - Dayton Bombers
- ECHL Joins Hockey Weekend Across America Celebration - ECHL
- Jackals Weekend Preview - Elmira Jackals
- Cincinnati's Kilpatrick Is CCM ECHL Rookie Of The Month - ECHL
- Chiefs Announce USA Hockey Scavenger Hunt - Johnstown Chiefs
- Kilpatrick Named CCM ECHL Rookie of the Month - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Local Kids Benefit From Crosby Program - Wheeling Nailers
- Grizzlies' Kinasewich Is CCM ECHL Player Of The Month - ECHL
- Ryan Kinasewich Named ECHL Player Of The Month - Utah Grizzlies
- Inferno Bus Trip to Charlotte - Columbia Inferno
- Nailers Power Hour Returns Tonight - Wheeling Nailers
- ECHL Today - February 5 - ECHL
- Royals Bounced By Bombers, 4-2 - Reading Royals
- Alaska Unbeaten Streak Ends at Eight Games - Alaska Aces
- Thunder win third straight, surpass .500 mark - Stockton Thunder
- Idaho storms back on Condors for 4-3 win - Bakersfield Condors
- Salmon Kings Comeback Falls Short - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Steelheads Win In Bakersfield, 4-3 - Idaho Steelheads
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