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Gwinnett's Schell Is Most Valuable Player

Published on April 12, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL on Thursday announced that Gwinnett Gladiators center Brad Schell has been named the CCM Vector Most Valuable Player for 2006-07.

The annual award is presented to the ECHL player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team as voted by the coaches of the ECHL teams.

Jeff Campbell of Gwinnett captured the honor in 2005-06 making the Gladiators the only team since Erie in 1988-89 with Daryl Harpe and 1989-90 with Bill McDougall to have back-to-back winners.

Schell became the first player since 2002-03 to score 100 points finishing as the ECHL leader with 110 points in 63 games and he led the league with 85 assists which is the fourth-most assists in ECHL history. The 85 assists and 110 points are the most scored in the league since 1999-2000 when John Spoltore of Louisiana had 92 assists and 119 points in 66 games. The last ECHL player to score 100 points was Buddy Smith of Arkansas, who led the ECHL with 104 points in 2002-03.

Schell was named First Team All-ECHL last week and was selected as a starter for the 2007 ECHL All-Star Game where he scored the first goal in the American Conference's 6-3 win. Under contract to the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League, the 22-year-old is currently playing in the American Hockey League where he has four points (2g-2a) in nine games for the Chicago Wolves. In his third professional season, Schell has 242 points (62g-180a) in 194 regular season games and 19 points (3g-16a) in 25 games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for Gwinnett.

Las Vegas goaltender Mike McKenna (38 gp, 27-4-7, 5 shutouts, 2.21 GAA, .927 save pct.) finished second while Dayton goaltender Adam Berkhoel (43 gp, 23-17-3, 2.44 GAA, .910 save pct.) and Dayton center Yannick Tifu (78 gp, 28g, 61a, 89 pts) were third and fourth.

CCM Vector Most Valuable Player Award Winners
2006-07 Brad Schell, Gwinnett Gladiators
2005-06 Jeff Campbell, Gwinnett Gladiators
2004-05 Scott Gomez, Alaska Aces
2003-04 Scott Stirling, Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies
2002-03 Buddy Smith, Arkansas RiverBlades
2001-02 Frederic Cloutier, Louisiana IceGators
2000-01 Scott King, Charlotte Checkers
1999-00 Andrew Williamson, Toledo Storm
1998-99 Chris Valicevic, Louisiana IceGators
1997-98 Jamey Hicks, Birmingham Bulls
1996-97 Mike Ross, South Carolina Stingrays
1995-96 Hugo Belanger, Nashville Knights
1994-95 Vadim Slivchenko, Wheeling Thunderbirds
1993-94 Joe Flanagan, Birmingham Bulls
1992-93 Trevor Jobe, Nashville Knights
1991-92 Phil Berger, Greensboro Monarchs
1990-91 Stan Drulia, Knoxville Cherokees
1989-90 Bill McDougall, Erie Panthers
1988-89 Daryl Harpe, Erie Panthers

ECHL

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

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League in 2006-07, marking 10th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

There have been 329 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06 and 26 in 2006-07. There have been 184 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past five seasons and 107 former ECHL players have skated in the NHL this season. More than 100 players under contract to NHL teams have played in the ECHL this season.

The ECHL was represented for the sixth consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team, including Carolina Hurricanes head coach Peter Laviolette, who is the first ECHL coach to win the Stanley Cup.

The ECHL has affiliations with 24 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey League in 2006-07 and for the past 17 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion. The ECHL has had more players called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined each of the past four seasons with 1,646 call ups involving almost 1,000 players.

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