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Houle Becomes 310th Player To Play In NHL After ECHL

December 14, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Former Trenton Titans goaltender Martin Houle made his National Hockey League debut on Wednesday with the Philadelphia Flyers, stopping two shots while playing 2:12 in the second period in relief of Antero Niittymaki, in an 8-4 loss at Pittsburgh.

Houle becomes the 310th player overall and the seventh this season to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL. He is the fifth former ECHL goaltender to play his first NHL game this season, joining former Reading goaltender Barry Brust (Los Angeles on Nov. 30), former Toledo goaltender Joey MacDonald (Detroit on Oct. 19), former ECHL All-Star goaltender Mike Smith (Dallas on Oct. 21) and former Augusta goaltender Mike Wall (Anaheim on Nov. 26). The other two players to make their NHL debut are former Columbia right wing Jesse Schultz (Vancouver on Nov. 28) and former Florida center Drew Larman (Florida on Nov. 13).

Houle had dressed as the Flyers backup goaltender for last six games after being recalled on Dec. 4 from the American Hockey League where he is 5-4-0 with a goals-against average of 3.67 and a save percentage of .893 in 10 games with the Philadelphia Phantoms.

Selected in the eighth round (232nd overall) by the Flyers in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, the 21-year-old was 4-3-0 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 2.10 and a save percentage of .935 in seven games for Trenton as a rookie in 2005-06. He was named Rookie of the Year with the Phantoms in 2005-06 after finishing 18-18-1 with two shutouts, a goals-against average of 2.54 and a save percentage of .914 in 40 games.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League in 2006-07, marking the 10th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. There were a record 47 former ECHL players who made their NHL debut in 2005-06, including five goaltenders who played a game in both leagues. Since 2000-01 there have been 164 players who have played in the NHL after the ECHL and in 2005-06 there were 112 former ECHL players who played in the NHL and all 30 teams had a former ECHL player take the ice for at least one game.

There are two NHL head coaches (Peter Laviolette and Jim Playfair) and nine NHL assistant coaches who have an ECHL background. The ECHL was represented for the sixth consecutive year on the Stanley Cup champion in 2006 by Laviolette, who is the first ECHL coach to hoist the coveted trophy, Chad LaRose, Andrew Hutchinson and assistant athletic trainer Chris Stewart.

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

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.

The ECHL raised its average attendance for the third straight year in 2005-06 drawing 3,934,794 for 900 games which is an average of 4,372 per game, an increase of more than nine percent from 2004-05 and the largest per-game average since 1999-2000. Six teams surpassed 200,000 and nine teams averaged 5,000 per game for the first time since 1999-2000 as the league welcomed 40 sellout crowds and 13 of the 22 returning teams raised their average attendance from a year ago.

The Idaho Steelheads and the City of Boise will host the 15th Annual ECHL All-Star Game presented by Rbk Hockey on Jan. 17 and the 10th Annual ECHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Rbk Hockey on Jan. 16 at Qwest Arena.

In 2005-06 the ECHL and its member teams contributed more than $2.3 million for charity and relief funds, including those benefiting victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, while also making thousands of appearances by players, coaches, team personnel and mascots at schools, hospitals, libraries and charity functions.

Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at www.ECHL.com.

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