ECHL ECHL

Grizzlies Tied For First In West After Six Wins In A Row

November 14, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Three road wins in three nights increased Utah's winning streak to six games and allowed the Grizzlies to climb into a first-place tie with Idaho in the West Division at 8-3-0, two points ahead of Alaska (6-3-2) and three points ahead of Las Vegas (6-1-1) which has won its last three games.

After scoring four unanswered goals to win 4-1 at Fresno on Friday, the Grizzlies traveled to Long Beach where they beat Ice Dogs 5-1 on Saturday and 2-0 on Saturday as goaltender Alfie Michaud made 54 saves in the two games and ECHL all-time leading scorer Louis Dumont had four points (2g-2a). Utah returns home to host Phoenix on Friday and Saturday. The RoadRunners won the first meeting 4-2 at Utah on October 21, but the Grizzlies won the next two games, 5-4 on October 22 and 7-3 on October 23, as rookie Matt Craig had four points (3g-1a) and both game-winning goals.

Michaud has won his last six starts to improve to 7-2-0 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 2.37 and a save percentage of .917. In his last five games he has a shutout, a goals-against average of 0.99 and a save percentage of .966. The 29-year-old leads the league in wins and is tied for the league lead in shutouts and overtime wins. Craig leads the league with 10 goals while his 14 points (10g-4a) rank him third on the team while tying him for the rookie scoring lead and tying him for 11th overall in the ECHL. In the last five games, Dumont has eight points (5g-3a) and Jeff Miles has seven points (0g-7a) while Anthony Battaglia (2g-4a) and defenseman Tom Reimann (1g-5a) each have six points. Dumont (6g-9a) and Miles (3g-12a) are tied for the team scoring lead and tied for eighth in the league with 15 points while Battaglia (5g-8a) is fourth on the team and tied for 18th in the league with 13 points. Reimann (3g-8a) and James Laux (4g-7a) are tied for second among league defensemen in scoring. Among defenseman, Laux ranks second with four power-play goals and tied for second in goals while Reimann is tied for fourth with eight assists.

Alaska beat Idaho 5-2 on Wednesday and 8-3 on Friday before the Steelheads won 4-3 on Saturday. The Aces host Las Vegas on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday while Idaho will travel to Victoria on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Las Vegas improved its home record to 5-0-0 with a 5-2 win against Fresno on Tuesday, a 6-2 win against Bakersfield on Friday and a 4-3 shootout win against Bakersfield on Saturday. Marc Magliarditi is 3-0-0 in his last three starts and 5-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.01 and a save percentage of .924. Magliarditi is tied for the league lead in shutouts with one and tied for second in wins with five.

Victoria went 2-0-1 against Stockton and averaged 5,318 in the first three games at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre as the Salmon Kings improved to 4-6-1. Victoria will remain home to host Idaho on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Four Consecutive Wins Pull Toledo Closer To Nailers

Beating first-place Wheeling 3-0 on Friday and defending Kelly Cup Champion Trenton 4-1 on Saturday, Toledo extended its winning streak to four games. The Storm is 7-2-1 and in second place in the North Division, one point behind Wheeling (8-2-0) and two points ahead of Reading (6-2-1) and four points ahead of Trenton (5-3-1).

Toledo, which has allowed only two goals in its last three games, concludes its six-game home stand when it hosts Stockton on Friday and Johnstown on Saturday. The Storm has won its last five home games to improve to 6-0-1 at home.

Todd Jackson has a four-game scoring streak (2g-6a) and in the last six games he has 11 points (3g-8a) and each of the goals has been the game winner, tying him for the league lead. In his second professional season, Jackson (6g-10a) is tied with Ken Magowan (9g-7a) for second on the team and for fifth in the league with 16 points. Magowan leads the league with six power-play goals and he is tied for second in the league with nine goals. The Storm is led offensively by Scooter Smith, who is tied for second in the league with 11 assists and tied for third in scoring with 17 points.

After its six-game winning streak ended with a 3-0 loss at Toledo on Friday, Wheeling won 4-2 at Johnstown on Saturday and 4-1 against Johnstown on Sunday to improve to 8-2-0, the best start in the 14-year history of the team. The Nailers, who played six games in 10 days, have only one game this week, traveling to Trenton on Friday.

Rookies Kurtis McLean (7g-7a) and Sean Collins (5g-9a) are tied for the team scoring lead with 14 points while Brendon Hodge (5g-5a) and Arpad Mihaly (2g-8a) are tied for third with 10 points. The 14 points ties McLean and Collins for the ECHL rookie scoring lead and for 11th overall. McLean is tied for the rookie lead with five assists and tied for second among rookies and tied for fifth overall in goals. Collins is tied for the rookie lead in assists and is tied for second among rookies with three power-play goals, a plus-minus rating of +6 and six power-play points (3g-3a).

Following a 3-0 loss at Trenton on Wednesday, Reading returned home and beat Dayton 7-4 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday to improve its home record to 3-0-0. The Royals continue their six-game home stand on Friday against Dayton and Saturday against South Carolina.

Reading defenseman T.J. Kemp had five assists on Friday which ties the ECHL season-high for assists and points and ties the Royals record for assists in a game set by Jeff Giuliano in a 7-3 win on October 11, 2002. Cody Rudkowsky is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.44 and a save percentage of .947 in two starts at home and 4-1-0 with a goals-against average of 1.98 and a save percentage of .928 in five starts overall. Rich Peverley (4g-9a) and Greg Hogeboom (2g-9a) lead the Royals in scoring while Doug Christiansen (6g-1a) is the team leader in goals.

Inferno Wins Four Straight To Move Atop League Standings

Columbia extended its winning streak to four games with three wins in three days and leads the ECHL and the South Division with 17 points and an 8-2-1 record. Charlotte and Gwinnett are each 5-1-1 and tied for second with 11 points, one point ahead of Augusta (4-3-2) and two points ahead of South Carolina (2-4-5).

Columbia, which plays at Greenville on Tuesday and hosts Augusta on Friday, has won its last three away games to improve to 5-1-1 on the road.

Robert Gherson has won his last three starts and is 4-0-1 and ranks fourth in the league with a goals-against average of 1.98 and a save percentage of .939 while Chris Houle has won his last two starts to improve his record to 4-2-0 with a goals-against average of 2.96 and a save percentage of .922. David Bonk leads the Inferno with eight assists and 12 points while Mike Stathopoulos leads the team with five goals and is second in scoring with 10 points.

Gwinnett, which hosts Pensacola on Tuesday and Greenville on Friday, has won its last three home games, including back-to-back wins on Friday and Saturday against Florida, to improve to 3-0-1 with the only loss being 1-0 in a shootout on opening night. Chris Durno has a six-game goal-scoring streak (7g), the longest streak in the league in 2005-06, and he leads the Gladiators with seven goals and 12 points. Sean Fields, who made 19 saves in a 5-2 win on Friday and a season-high 40 saves in a 3-1 win on Saturday, is 5-0-0 with a save percentage of .931 and he is tied for second in the league in wins while ranking third with a goals-against average of 1.98.

Charlotte, which became the last team in the league to lose in regulation when it lost 3-2 at Pensacola on Friday, is 4-1-1 on the road and will travel to Florida on Friday and Saturday. Dusty Jamieson (3g-4a) and Ryan Cuthbert (3g-4a) are tied for the Checkers scoring lead with seven points while defenseman Kenton Smith leads the team with six assists and rookie Hugh Jessiman leads in goals with four.

Augusta travels to Columbia on Friday and to Pensacola on Sunday looking to improve its road record from 1-2-2. Brian Passmore leads the Lynx with six assists and nine points and he is tied for the team goal-scoring lead with Nicolas Corbeil, Sam Ftorek and Joe Pereira, who has a goal in each of the last two games.

South Carolina will travel to Trenton on Wednesday, Johnstown on Friday and Reading on Saturday as the Stingrays look to end their six-game winless streak (0-3-3) and three-game road winless streak (0-1-2). Rookie Ty Morris leads South Carolina with eight assists and his 10 points tie him for the team scoring lead with J.F. David, who is tied for fourth among league defensemen with three goals and tied for sixth in scoring. Dave Spina leads the team with seven goals which ties him for second among league rookies and ties him for fourth overall.

Stanley Cup Visits Trenton, Reading, Pensacola

The Stanley Cup Tour of the ECHL continues this weekend with visits to Trenton on Friday, Reading on Saturday and Pensacola on Sunday.

For more information on the Stanley Cup Tour of the ECHL visit ECHL.com.

The National Hockey League and the Hockey Hall of Fame are touring the Stanley Cup to 20 teams in the ECHL between October 26 and December 17 to help raise awareness and money for hurricane relief efforts. The Stanley Cup has already visited Johnstown, Wheeling, Dayton and Toledo.

Every ECHL team was given the opportunity to host the Stanley Cup and only three teams that submitted requests were not able to be included in the current tour schedule. The NHL is making every effort to incorporate visits to San Diego and Stockton in conjunction with the Stanley Cup's annual visit to the ECHL All-Star Game which will be hosted by the Fresno Falcons at Save Mart Center on January 25 and the NHL is also continuing to work on a visit to Estero, Florida.

Proceeds benefit charities assisting in hurricane relief efforts including, but not limited to, the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the United Way. The Tour is another addition to the National Hockey League's charitable efforts which have included a joint donation with the NHL Players' Association of $1 million to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief.

Almost 20,000 Watch Gladiators Sweep Series With Florida

The Gwinnett Gladiators had a sellout crowd of 11,355 on Friday and 8,608 on Saturday to raise their average attendance from 4,743 to 7,362 and the ECHL saw its average attendance climb from 4,216 to 4,277.

The crowd on Friday was the third sellout of the season in the ECHL and the third time in the last two seasons that the Gladiators have had a capacity crowd at The Arena At Gwinnett Center.

The Victoria Salmon Kings had 6,406 for their home opener at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Thursday and the first 24 home openers have drawn 147,459 for an average of 6,144. The home openers have included a standing-room-only crowd of 13,001 in San Diego, a sellout crowd in Toledo for the third straight season, crowds of more than 8,000 in Bakersfield and Charlotte and over 7,000 in Dayton, Fresno, Reading, South Carolina and Trenton. The final home opener is December 10 when the Stockton Thunder hosts the Phoenix RoadRunners at the new 10,000-seat Stockton Arena.

Did You Know... The longest winning streak in the ECHL is 14 games. Louisiana IceGators, Nov. 23 - Dec. 22, 2001 & Knoxville Cherokees, Dec. 28, 1993 - Jan. 29, 1994.

Feature Games Of The Week

North Division
Johnstown at Toledo - Saturday at 7:35 p.m. ET
* Teams are meeting for the 84th time.
* Storm is 42-30-11 all-time against Chiefs.

South Division
Greenville at Gwinnett - Friday at 7:35 p.m. ET
* Gladiators are 3-0-1 at home and Greenville is 2-0-0 on road.
* Grrrowl won first meeting 5-4 at home on November 5.

West Division
Las Vegas at Alaska - Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. AT
* Wranglers have won three in a row.
* Aces have won four of last five and were 6-2-1 against Las Vegas in 2004-05.

Pacific Division
Long Beach at Bakersfield - Saturday at 7:15 p.m. PT
* Condors are three points behind second place Ice Dogs.
* Ice Dogs have won four of the last five meetings, dating back to 2004-05.

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