Lynx partner with Anaheim Ducks

Published on July 12, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Augusta Lynx News Release


Augusta, GA-The Augusta Lynx are proud to announce today that they have entered into an affiliation agreement with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks for the 2006-07 season.

Coming off a successful playoff run that saw Anaheim reach the Western Conference Finals after finishing the regular season with a 43-27-11 record, the Ducks organization also experienced success at the American Hockey League level, with the Portland Pirates posting a 53-19-5-3 record and progressing to the Eastern Conference Final against the eventual Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears.

"For us to be associated with such a successful organization is a tremendous opportunity for us," said Lynx head coach and director of hockey operations Bob Ferguson. "Anaheim is a young, up-and-coming team committed to developing their talent. Augusta will benefit from some of the Ducks' younger players starting their careers here. They will certainly help add depth to our roster, while our free agent players will get the chance to be seen by the Anaheim organization."

Anaheim Ducks senior vice president of hockey operations Bob Murray also stressed the importance of developing players in the ECHL.

"In today's game, with the new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) you have to spend time and energy on development," he said. "We were competitive at the NHL level last season and competitive at the AHL level as well, and we certainly look to be competitive in Augusta this season."

Murray also added that Lynx fans can expect to see a mix of prospects and depth players identified by the Ducks organization in Augusta.

Last season the Lynx shared eight players with the Pirates: goaltenders Mike Wall and Nathan Marsters; defenseman Ken Scuderi; and forwards Ryan Lang, Joel Stepp, Jake Riddle, Pierre Parenteau, and Joel Perrault.

Lynx season tickets are on sale now through the team office at 551 Greene Street by calling (706) 724-4423, with seats starting at just $360 each. Call to reserve your seat with a $50 deposit, or check out www.augustalynx.com for more information.

About the ECHL

The Premier "AA" Hockey League, the ECHL had affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League in 2005-06.

There have been 303 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 who made their NHL debut in 2005-06.

Since 2000-01, 158 former ECHL players have made their NHL debut.

The ECHL had affiliations with 21 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey League in 2005-06 and for the past 17 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion.

The ECHL had 416 call ups to the AHL, involving 263 players, in 2005-06. 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 39 sellout crowds and 13 of the 22 returning teams raised their average attendance.

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