
Guardian Wear Is Presenting Sponsor For All-Star Game
January 9, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that Guardian Wear⢠will be the
presenting sponsor for the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game and All-Star Skills
Competition.
"We're very excited to partner with the ECHL - their astounding efforts to
give back to the community and their promotion of a family-friendly game
environment aligns perfectly with our mission," said Rich Patterson,
Managing Partner/Founder of Guardian Wearâ¢. "Our goal is to promote
positive youth development through sport, and we are thrilled with the
action, excitement and dedication the ECHL brings to fans of all ages."
The Reading Royals, the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center will host
the 17th Annual ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21, 2009 and the 12th Annual
All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 20, 2009.
"We are thrilled to be working with Guardian Wear⢠on our premiere event,"
said ECHL Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Richard
Lisk. "Having seen this company grow from Rich's initial idea and holding
steadfast to their principles to where it is today is very exciting. We
are honored to be a partner with Guardian Wearâ¢."
Guardian Wear⢠will receive promotional opportunities; in-arena signage,
including dasherboards; television, radio and print advertisements;
internet exposure and web site presence.
Guardian Wear⢠designs and manufactures high-quality, innovative and
affordable athletic apparel and products with a 100% satisfaction
guarantee. Kids, parents, teams and individual athletes can now afford top
of the line performance apparel without sacrificing quality. Based in
Souderton, PA, Guardian Wear⢠also works closely with communities and
athletic organizations to develop fundraising initiatives and contributes
significant charitable funds to local and international communities in
need. For more information, visit EveryonePlays.com.
There have been four coaches and 46 players from the All-Star Game who
have advanced to the National Hockey League. Twenty-nine players from the
All-Star Game have gone on to play in the NHL since 2002 when the lineups
began having players who coaches felt were prospects to move up to a higher
level.
The Stanley Cup and the Patrick J. Kelly Cup will both be on display
throughout the event, marking the ninth time in the last 10 years that the
NHL championship trophy and the ECHL championship trophy have been
displayed together at the All-Star Game.
Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- Watch Games Live on B2 Networks, the "Official
Broadband Broadcast Provider" of the ECHL.
- Watch ECHL Games Around The Clock On ECHL
TV on B2CableTV.com.
- 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.
- 386 former ECHL
players have played in NHL.
- 130 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 31 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 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 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 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), 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 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.
ECHL Stories from January 9, 2009
- Grizzlies Fall 3-2 In Overtime - Utah Grizzlies
- Steelheads Beat Reading, 3-1 - Idaho Steelheads
- Wranglers Hang On For 3-2 Overtime Win - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Gladiators Weekly Update - Atlanta Gladiators
- Game Preview: Ontario Reign At Victoria Salmon Kings - Ontario Reign
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Phoenix's Burke Suspended One Game, Fined - ECHL
- Guardian Wear Is Presenting Sponsor For All-Star Game - ECHL
- Chiefs Blank Jackals - Johnstown Chiefs
- Bombers Score Early And Often, Beat Wheeling 8-4 - Dayton Bombers
- Tough Goaltending Edges Jackals - Elmira Jackals
- Nailers Fall to Bombers 8-4 - Wheeling Nailers
- Leggio's 3rd Shutout Leads Blades to 3rd Straight Win - Florida Everblades
- Trenton Scores Early In 4-1 Win at Cincinnati - Trenton Devils
- Devils Settle Down Cyclones, 4-1 - Trenton Devils
- Munce's 47 Saves Not Enough as Blades Chomp Sea Wolves - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Checkers Defeated by Gladiators, 5-3 - Charlotte Checkers
- Gladiators Beat Checkers 5-3 - Atlanta Gladiators
- Mosienko and Carpentier Return From AHL - Las Vegas Wranglers
- RoadRunners Announce Second Schedule Revision - Phoenix RoadRunners
- O'Brien, Goepfert Called up to AHL - South Carolina Stingrays
- All-Star Bowers Gets First Call-Up - Dayton Bombers
- Bakersfield Condors vs. Alaska Aces - Bakersfield Condors
- Bouchard called up to Albany - Florida Everblades
- Cyclone Barret Ehgoetz Selected to 2009 ECHL All-Star Game - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Salmon Kings' Gladue Named Performer Of The Month - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Thunder Announces Revised 2008-09 Schedule - Stockton Thunder
- Victoria's Gladue Named PaySourceUSA ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for December - ECHL
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Cyclones Ehgoetz Replaces Teammate Latendresse As American Conference Starter - ECHL
- Ice set, game is on - Elmira Jackals
- Thunder Strikes Down RoadRunners 8-2 - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Thunder end five-game road trip at 4-0-1, Urquhart notches hat trick - Stockton Thunder
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