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Hamel, Harris, Walker Earn Media Relations Awards

June 12, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that John Hamel of the Cincinnati Cyclones is the American Conference recipient of the ECHL Media Relations Director of the Year award while Jeff Harris and Mike Walker of the Victoria Salmon Kings were selected as the winners in the National Conference.

The recipients were chosen in voting by the league media relations and broadcasters as well as members of the media.

Harris oversees the team's media and community relations department as well as handling the play-by-play duties for Salmon Kings games. The 36 year old began his career in media relations in the Western Hockey League in 2006-07 as the assistant communication coordination for Calgary.

In addition to media relations, the 19-year-old Walker is a member of the media relations department as well as providing color commentary on home game broadcasts.

Hamel has been the director of public relations and broadcasting and the play-by-play voice of the Kelly Cup Champions since the team returned to the ice in 2006-07. He was assistant director of media relations for Cincinnati from 1996-2000 and was responsible for the management and ice programming at SportsPlus, the team's practice facility, from 2000-06. He helped Cincinnati be named the International Hockey League Public Relations Staff of the Year three years in a row from 1997-2000.

ECHL Media Relations Award Winners

Year Recipient Team
2007-08 John Hamel Cincinnati Cyclones (American Conference)
Jeff Harris and Mike Walker Victoria Salmon Kings (National Conference)
2006-07 Dustin Bixby Gwinnett Gladiators (American Conference)
Josh Fisher Las Vegas Wranglers (National Conference)
2005-06 Jeremy Zager San Diego Gulls
2004-05 Jeremy Zager San Diego Gulls
2003-04 Mike Kelly Mississippi Sea Wolves
2002-03 Ryan Stanzel Louisiana IceGators
2001-02 Bill McLaughlin Greenville Grrrowl
2000-01 Darren Abbott South Carolina Stingrays
99-2000 Darren Abbott South Carolina Stingrays
1998-99 Mark Simpson Charlotte Checkers
1997-98 Andy Davis Richmond Renegades
1996-97 Peter Kostos Louisiana IceGators

ECHL
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08, the ECHL is the Premier 'AA' Hockey League and 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 that will play with 24 teams in 16 states and British Columbia in 2008-09.

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

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL in 2007-08, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

There have been 355 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including 99 in the last three seasons. There have been 210 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past seven seasons.

There are 15 coaches in the NHL who have ECHL experience including former Wheeling coach Peter Laviolette, who is head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Mississippi coach Bruce Boudreau, who is head coach of the Washington Capitals.

The ECHL is represented for the eighth consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2008 with Detroit Red Wings forward Aaron Downey.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League in 2007-08 and for the past 18 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion.

In each of the last two seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL and there were over 800 call-ups involving more than 500 players. In the last five 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.

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