ECHL ECHL

Ice Pilots Move Up In South, Florida Remains In First

Published on January 16, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Pensacola begins the week with a season-high four-game winning streak and is 15-18-3 and in seventh place in the South Division, only two points behind Augusta at 16-19-3 and three points behind South Carolina at 13-13-10. Florida has won its last three games and is in first place at 25-9-2, one point ahead of Gwinnett at 23-8-5 and nine points in front of Greenville at 21-11-1.

The Ice Pilots, who have won their last four road games, play at Greenville on Monday, at Charlotte on Tuesday and at Florida on Friday before returning home to host Gwinnett on Saturday.

PensacolaÕs Todd Ford has won his last four starts, including an overtime win and a shootout win, to improve to 9-10-0 while lowering his goals-against average to 3.53 and raising his save percentage to .903. Adam Courchaine has eight points (2g-6a) during the Ice PilotsÕ four-game winning streak while defenseman Steven Later has eight points (3g-5a) in the last five games.

Gwinnett, which beat Columbia 6-2 on Monday afternoon to improve to 10-2-1 in its last 13 games, plays at Greenville on Friday and at Pensacola on Saturday.

Florida is 3-1-0 on its five-game trip to the west and will look to avenge the only loss on Tuesday when it visits Fresno, which beat the Everblades 4-1 on Jan. 10 in the first game of the trip. Florida, which is 6-1-0 in its last seven games and 11-2-1 in its last 14 games, returns home to host Pensacola on Friday and Augusta on Saturday. Steve Saviano has five assists in his last two games and has scored in each of the seven games since being reassigned from Lowell of the American Hockey League (5g-12a) to increase his scoring streak to nine games (7g-13a).

Greenville has won its last three games to improve to 6-1-0 in the last seven games and 9-2-0 in the last 11 games. The Grrrowl hosts Pensacola on Monday and Gwinnett on Friday before traveling to Charlotte on Saturday. Les Haggett has a six-game assist (8a) and six-game scoring streak (1g-8a) and Rory McMahon has a three-game scoring streak (2g-1a) and seven points (4g-3a) in his last six games.

Dayton, Johnstown Climb In North Division

The teams in Ohio gained some ground in the North Division as Dayton swept its two-game series with Trenton and Toledo is 2-0-0 in the last two games and 5-1-1 in its last seven games.

Toledo is 15-11-4 and in fifth place with 34 points, two points behind Johnstown, while Dayton is 12-22-3 and in sixth place with 27 points. Wheeling leads the division at 24-11-2 while Reading is second at 23-9-2 and Trenton is third at 18-16-2.

The Storm hosts Johnstown on Friday and Wheeling on Saturday while Dayton plays at Trenton on Friday and Saturday.

In the last seven games, Ken Magowan leads the Storm with six assists and 10 points while Chris Blight has a team-leading two game-winning goals and five goals and nine points (5g-4a). Acquired in a trade with Charlotte on Dec. 31, goaltender Bernd Bruckler is 2-1-0 with a goals against of 1.68 and a save percentage of .931 and has two assists in his first three games with Toledo.

DaytonÕs Scott Cameron has a three-game goal-scoring streak (3g) and a three-game scoring streak (3g-2a) while Tim Konsorada has a three-game assist streak (4a) and a three-game scoring streak (2g-4a) and Jeff Szwez has a three-game assist (4a) and three-game scoring streak (0g-4a).

Wranglers Streaking Again

Going a perfect 3-0-0 and outscoring its opponents 15-4, Las Vegas extended its win streak to five games and improved to 29-6-3 to remain in first place in the West Division, four points ahead of Alaska at 23-9-2. The Wranglers will travel to Phoenix on Thursday and San Diego on Friday while Alaska hosts Stockton on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

During the current winning streak, Marc Magliarditi (3-0-0) and All-Star Game selection Mike McKenna (2-0-0) have stopped 117 shots for a save percentage of .951 and have allowed only six goals in the last five games for a goals against of 1.27. Magliarditi stopped all 20 shots in a 2-0 win against Phoenix on Saturday to move into a tie for the league lead with three shutouts while adding to his ECHL career record for shutouts with 25.

Posting back-to-back wins at Idaho for the second time this season, Victoria improved to 14-23-1 and needs only one more win to equal its win total from 2004-05 (15-52-5). The Salmon Kings have won four of their last six games and are 2-0-0 on their current five-game road trip that continues at Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday and concludes on Sunday at Long Beach.

All-Star starter Steve Lingren has four points (2g-2a) in the last three games and leads ECHL defensemen with 15 goals and 10 power-play goals while he is tied for the lead with three game-winning goals and ranks second with 30 points. Ryan Wade has a seven-game scoring streak (8g-3a) while in the last six games Lanny Gare has a game-winning goals and seven points (4g-3a) and Mike Wirll has 10 points (3g-7a).

After going 6-2-0 on its eight-game road trip, Alaska will host Stockton on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at Sullivan Arena where the Aces are 14-2-1.

Michael Mole made 35 saves for first professional shutout as Phoenix beat Alaska 3-0 on Jan. 10, ending the RoadRunners team record six-game home winless streak and team record eight-game winless streak.

Marks Sets ECHL Record With 879th Game

Greenville's 4-1 win at Augusta on Saturday was the 879th career ECHL game for John Marks, who is now the ECHL career leader for games coached. Marks surpassed the record of the legendary John Brophy for whom the ECHL Coach of the Year award is named.

Brophy coached 13 seasons in the ECHL with Hampton Roads from 1989-2000 and Wheeling from 2001-03 and is the career leader with 480 regular season wins. He is the all-time leader with three championships (1991, 1992 and 1998) and holds the career postseason records for games (94), wins (55) and appearances (11).

In his eighth season in Greenville and the only coach in team history, Marks is in his 13th season in the ECHL which ties Brophy's record for most years coached. Prior to Monday's game against Pensacola, Marks was 251-235-47 with the Grrrowl and 442-355-82 overall and ranks second to Brophy in wins.

Marks and Brophy share the distinction of being the only two ECHL coaches to lead teams to both the Riley Cup and the Kelly Cup while Marks and Mike Haviland are the only coaches to lead two different teams to the ECHL title. Marks led Charlotte to the Riley Cup championship in 1996 and coached Greenville to the Kelly Cup championship in 2002.

Marks has led his teams to the postseason nine times and is 42-33 in the playoffs while ranking second in the ECHL in titles (2), appearances (9), games (75) and wins (42). The Grrrowl improved by 50 points from 2003-04 (33 points) to 2004-05 (83 points) which is the largest single-season point increase in league history.

Ice Dogs Win Season-High Four Straight

Winning a season-high four games, Long Beach improved to 18-15-4 and moved into second place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of San Diego, which has won its last two games and is 17-14-4. Fresno continues to lead the division at 20-6-8 going 10-2-1 in the last 13 games.

The Ice Dogs host San Diego on Saturday and Victoria on Sunday. In the last five games, Justin Aikens leads the team with seven assists and 10 points while Sean McAslan has a team-high four goals and is second with seven points. Jaroslav Halak is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.23 in his last four games while Greg Hewitt is 1-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.85 in his last game.

Fresno hosts Florida on Tuesday and then travels to play at Idaho on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Shawn Mather has two game-winning goals and three points (3g-0a) in the last four games while John Wroblewski leads the team in the last five games with five goals and six points.

San Diego hosts Las Vegas on Friday and Bakersfield on Sunday while it travels to Long Beach on Saturday. In the last five games, Pierre-Luc Sleigher has a team-leading eight assists and nine points while All-Star forward Jesse Bennefield has a team-high five goals and is second with eight points. Tyler Weiman is 2-1-0 in his last four games and 4-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.42 in the last seven games.

Did You Know ... Wheeling had no penalty minutes against Trenton on Sunday, tying the league record for fewest penalty minutes by one team in a game. The Nailers are the 11th team to finish a game without any penalty minutes.

Feature Games Of The Week

North Division

Wheeling at Reading - Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET
* Reading is 1-2-0 at home and 2-2-1 against Wheeling.
* Sean Collins leads Wheeling against Reading with eight assists and10 points.

South Division

Gwinnett at Greenville - Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET
* GrrrowlÕs Colin Pepperall has nine points (1g-8a) against Gwinnett.
* Grrrowl won the last two meetings against Gwinnett.

West Division

Phoenix at Utah - Friday at 7:05 p.m. MT
* Utah has won the last four meetings and is 2-1-0 at home and 4-1-0 overall against Phoenix.
* Phoenix won first meeting 4-2 at Utah on Oct. 21.

Pacific Division

San Diego at Long Beach - Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PT.
* Ice Dogs are 1-0-0 at home and 2-1-0 overall against San Diego.
* San Diego is 15-5-1 all-time against the Ice Dogs.

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ECHL Stories from January 16, 2006


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