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Johnstown's Wharton Is PaySourceUSA ECHL Plus Performer Of The Month

December 4, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Kyle Wharton of the Johnstown Chiefs is the PaySourceUSA ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for November after leading the league with a plus-minus rating of +13.

Selected in the second round (59th overall) by Columbus in the 2004 National Hockey League Entry Draft and under contract to the Blue Jackets, the 22 year old is tied for the league lead among defensemen with two shorthand assists and two shorthand points and is tied for fourth in plus-minus rating with +10.

Wharton, who was reassigned to Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Nov. 29, was +1 or better in nine of 12 games and tied his career high with +3 on Nov. 7 against Reading. The native of Ottawa, Ontario has seven points (1g-6a) and 14 penalty minutes in 13 games for the Chiefs.

The 6-foot-3 and 192-pound defenseman played in the ECHL in 2007-08 and had 11 points (4g-7a) and 46 penalty minutes in 32 games for Elmira while also playing in the AHL where he had three points (2g-1a) and 29 penalty minutes in 13 games for Syracuse.

In his first professional season in 2006-07, he had four penalty minutes in two games with Syracuse and also played in Germany where he had eight points (3g-5a) and 36 penalty minutes in 30 regular season games and 14 penalty minutes in three playoff games for Berlin.

Before turning professional Wharton played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League and had 89 points (20g-69a) and 205 penalty minutes in 197 regular season games and 23 points (7g-16a) and 28 penalty minutes in 29 playoff games for Ottawa, Saul Ste. Marie and Guelph.

Runners Up: Mitch Ganzak, Wheeling (+12) and Ross Carlson, Florida (+11).

Top Plus Performer(s) for Each Club: Alaska - Colin Hemingway, Cam Keith and Matt Shasby (+10); Bakersfield - Jason Bailey, Tylor Michel and Matt Pope (Even); Charlotte - Peter-James Corsi and Jared Nightingale (+1); Cincinnati - Olivier Latendresse (+8); Dayton - Justin Bowers and Nathan Schwartzbauer (+9); Elmira - Travis Gawryletz and Slavomir Tomko (+4); Fresno - Spencer Carbery and Dustin Sproat (+6); Gwinnett - Dirk Southern (+8); Idaho - Bryan McGregor (+8); Las Vegas - Chris Ferraro and Tyler Mosienko (+8); Mississippi - Mark Rooneem (+3); Ontario - PJ Atherton and Andrew Martens (+3); Phoenix - Brett Peterson (+6); Reading - Kevin Harvey (+6); South Carolina - Zach Tarkir (+10); Stockton - Cory Urquhart (+7); Trenton - Chris Poli (+2); Utah - Jon Gleed (+4) and Victoria - Shaun Landolt (+8).

Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- 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 22 teams in 16 states and British Columbia in 2008-09.
- 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.
- 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.
- 374 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 117 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 19 Nineteen 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 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 Gwinnett Gladiators right wing Pat Dwyer former Columbus Cottonmouths and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks left wing Mitch Fritz (New York Islanders on Oct. 30), 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 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 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 Johnstown Chiefs and Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Radek Smolenak and former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27).
- 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.
- 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.

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