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MacIntyre Becomes 337th Player To Play In NHL After ECHL

December 14, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Former Toledo goaltender Drew MacIntyre became the 337th player to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL when he made his National Hockey League debut with the Vancouver Canucks in a 5-2 loss at San Jose on Thursday.

MacIntyre stopped nine of the 11 shots he faced after replacing another former ECHL goaltender Curtis Sanford at 7:18 of the second period with Vancouver trailing 3-0.

He becomes the fourth former ECHL player in the past week to play his first NHL game and is the eighth this season. He joins former Roanoke Express and former Wheeling Nailers left wing Jason Jaffray (Vancouver on Dec. 12), former Johnstown Chiefs and Fresno Falcons goaltender Dmitri Patzold (San Jose on Oct. 7), former Reading Royals goaltender Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles on Dec. 6), former Stockton left wing Liam Reddox (Edmonton on Dec. 7), former San Diego goaltender Tyler Weiman (Colorado on Oct. 4), former Charlotte right wing Craig Weller (Phoenix on Oct. 4) and former Phoenix RoadRunners center Daniel Winnik (Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 4).

Selected in the fourth round (121st overall) by Detroit in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, the 24 year old played parts of three seasons for Toledo where he was 30-12-2 with two shutouts, a goals-against average of 2.25 and a save percentage of .921 in 46 regular season games from 2003-06.

In 2005-06 with Toledo, he was 24-7-2 with two shutouts while leading the ECHL with a goals-against average of 2.06 and ranking third with a save percentage of .926 in 33 regular season games. He was 5-1 and led the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs with a goals-against average of 2.00 while tying for fourth with a save percentage of .924. He also played for Grand Rapids in the American Hockey League in 2005-06 and was 15-12-0 with a 2.78 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage in 37 regular games and 3-1 with a goals-against average of 1.62 and a save percentage of .940 in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

He has played each of the last two seasons in the AHL including 2006-07 when he appeared in a career-high 41 games and was 24-12-2 with a career-high three shutouts while setting team records with a goals-against average of 2.17 and a save percentage of .922.

Before being called up to the Canucks on Monday, MacIntyre was 11-4-1 in 16 games for Manitoba this season with a 2.28 goals-against average and a save percentage of .926.

There have been 192 former ECHL players who have played their first NHL game in the past seasons. Twenty-six former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2006-07, including two who played in both the ECHL and the NHL as goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji played for Reading and Los Angeles while defenseman Bryan Young skated for Stockton and Edmonton. Dave McKee played for Augusta and dressed for five games as the backup goaltender for Stanley Cup champion Anaheim.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. There are 15 coaches in the NHL who have ECHL experience including former Wheeling coach Peter Laviolette, who is head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Mississippi coach Bruce Boudreau, who is interim head coach of the Washington Capitals. The ECHL is represented for the seventh consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2007 with Anaheim assistant coach Dave Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.

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

ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league with 25 teams playing 900 games in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League in 2007-08 and for the past 17 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion.

In each of the last two seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL and there were over 800 call-ups involving more than 500 players.

In the last five 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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