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Las Vegas, Victoria Continue To Lead National Division

Published on December 3, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Las Vegas and Victoria have continued their torrid pace to lead the National Conference.

The Wranglers, who had an 11-game win streak end with a 2-1 shootout loss to Idaho on Dec. 1, are 14-2-1 and lead the ECHL with a winning percentage of .853. Las Vegas has 29 points to lead the Pacific Division and the conference, one point ahead of Victoria at 14-5-0.

Victoria will travel to Phoenix on Thursday and Friday to meet the RoadRunners (6-9-3) while Las Vegas travels to Stockton to face the Thunder (8-10-2).

Las Vegas has lost only twice in regulation in the last 31 regular season games, including winning the first four games of the season to extend their regular season winning streak to an ECHL record 17 games, surpassing the record of Louisiana (Nov. 23-Dec. 22, 2001) and Knoxville (Dec. 28, 1993-Jan. 29, 1994). The Wranglers won the Brabham Cup for the regular season point championship with 106 points (53-13-6) in 2006-07 after finishing second in 2005-06 with 112 points (53-13-6) which is the third-highest point total in ECHL history.

The Salmon Kings, who have won their last three games to improve to 9-2-0 in their last 11 games, lead the West Division with 28 points, seven points ahead of Alaska (10-8-1) and Utah (19-9-1) and eight in front of defending Kelly Cup champion Idaho (7-5-6). Victoria is 23-5-0 in its last 28 games including a nine-game winning streak to close out the 2006-07 regular season.

Las Vegas rookie right wing Brandon Kaleniecki and Victoria right wing Wes Goldie are tied for the ECHL lead with four game-winning goals each. Ash Goldie of Victoria is tied for second in the league with 14 goals and three game-winning goals while Peter Ferraro of Las Vegas is tied for second with three game-winning goals.

The Wranglers have used four different goaltenders and lead the ECHL with a goals-against average of 2.00. The current netminder is rookie Kevin Lalande who is 4-0-1 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 1.18 and a save percentage of .950 in his first five games. Las Vegas is second in the league in scoring with 3.72 goals per game as 16 different players have scored a goal and 22 have recorded a point.

Utah, which has won its last two games and is 6-1-1 in its last eight games, will host Phoenix on Monday and Tuesday. Alaska, whose five losses in a row ties its team records for winless streak and road winless streak, returns home to host Bakersfield on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.



Everblades' Rookie Melanson On A Roll

Florida rookie Mathieu Melanson has scored a point in an ECHL season-high 12 consecutive games and has been held scoreless only one time in his first 17 games.

The 22 year old leads Florida and is tied for the league rookie lead with 14 goals, including scoring a goal in each of his last three games (5g) and in six of his last seven contests (8g). His 26 points lead all rookies and the Everblades while his six power-play goals and three game-winning goals lead the team and tie him for first among rookies. He is tied for second overall in goals and scoring and tied for third overall in power-play goals and game-winning goals.

Melanson has scored a goal in 11 games, including three games with two goals, and has an assist in nine games, including three assists at South Carolina on Nov. 17. He has seven multiple-point games, including a career-high four points at South Carolina on Nov. 17.

He began his professional career in 2006-07 and had 26 points (14g-12a) in 17 regular season games, registering a point in every game but two including a six-game streak and a five-game streak. He also played in all six Kelly Cup Playoff games for the Thunder and had three assists.



Augusta, Florida, South Carolina Heat Up South Division

Augusta, Florida and South Carolina climbed in the South Division standings after all three picked up six points last week. Texas went 2-0-1 in its showdown with Gwinnett to improve to 14-2-4 and lead the ECHL with 32 points.

Florida climbed into second place with 26 points (13-6-0) after sweeping its series with Alaska to improve to 7-1-0 in the last eight games. The Everblades will play at Gwinnett on Thursday and Friday before traveling to Columbia on Saturday. Gwinnett is in third place with 25 points (12-5-0).

South Carolina, which has won its last three games to improve to 21 points (10-9-1) and move into fifth place, plays at Augusta on Friday before hosting the Johnstown Chiefs on Saturday and Sunday. Augusta has won three in a row to improve to 5-1-1 in the last seven games to move into fourth place with 24 points (11-7-2). The Lynx will host Johnstown on Tuesday, South Carolina on Friday and Mississippi on Saturday.

Justin Peters of Florida is 5-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.17 and a save percentage of .943 in his last five starts to improve to 9-3-0. He leads the league in wins while his save percentage of .936 is fourth and his goals-against average of 2.05 is fifth.

Peter Aubry of Texas is 4-0-1 with a goals-against average of 1.77 and a save percentage of .947 in his last five starts to improve to 8-2-1 and a tie for second in the league in wins.

Augusta rookie Bobby Goepfert is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 0.97 and a save percentage of .960 after allowing only one goal in each of his first two starts.



North Division Leaders Cincinnati, Elmira Meet This Weekend

It will be a North Division showdown at U.S. Bank Arena when Cincinnati hosts Elmira for games on Friday and Saturday.

The Cyclones have won their last three games, including a 7-1 win against Elmira on Nov. 28, to move into first place at 13-5-1, percentage points ahead of Elmira at 13-6-1. Cincinnati will host Dayton, which has gone 3-0-2 in its last five games to move into fourth place at 8-6-5, on Wednesday while Elmira will host Trenton on Wednesday. The 7-1 loss on Nov. 28 ended Elmira's team record seven-game winning streak as well as its team record four-game road-winning streak.

Reading has won its last two games to move into third place at 11-8-1 while Johnstown has won its last four home games to improve to 9-7-1. The Royals will host Wheeling on Wednesday and Saturday and Trenton on Friday while the Chiefs travel to meet Augusta on Tuesday, Columbia on Wednesday, Charlotte on Friday and South Carolina on Saturday and Sunday.

Jean-Michel Daoust of Cincinnati has scored in 11 of his last 12 games and he is tied for second in the ECHL and leads the team with 26 points in 19 games. He is tied for third in the league with a team-high three game-winning goals while his 11 goals are also best on the team and his three power-play play goals tie him for the lead.

Cincinnati's Dov Grumet-Morris has won his last two starts to improve to 7-2-0 with a goals-against average of 2.62 and a save percentage of .887 while Cedrick Desjardins, who was called up to the American Hockey League by Hamilton on Dec. 3, is 6-3-1 and leads the ECHL with three shutouts while his goals-against average of 2.01 is fifth in the league. Joel Martin of Elmira is 8-3-0 and tied for second in the league in wins.

Yannick Tifu of Dayton has a nine-game point streak (3g-12a) and he leads the league with 23 assists and 29 points in 19 games. He has a point in 15 of his last 17 games and has 10 multiple-point games during that stretch including a career-high five assists and five points on Nov. 3 against Trenton. He had an ECHL season high eight-game assist streak from Nov. 16-30 and in four of the eight games he had two assists.

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ECHL Stories from December 3, 2007


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