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Marks Can Tie ECHL Career Wins Record Friday

February 21, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Pensacola Ice Pilots head coach John Marks can tie John Brophy's ECHL record for most regular season wins on Friday with a victory against the Gwinnett Gladiators.

The Ice Pilots will travel to Mississippi on Sunday.

Marks, who coached Charlotte from 1993-98 and Greenville from 1998-2006, returned to the ECHL for a record 14th season after coaching Fayetteville to the Southern Professional Hockey League Championship in 2006-07.

His record in the ECHL is 479-401-90 and he is the league career leader with 970 games coached. He was the first coach to lead two different teams to the ECHL championship as Charlotte won the Riley Cup in 1996 and Greenville won the Kelly Cup in 2002. His teams have reached the postseason 10 times and he has a postseason record of 42-32.

Brophy is the record holder with 480 wins in 13 seasons with Hampton Road from 1989-2000 and Wheeling from 2001-03. The ECHL coach who is voted by his peers as coach of the year is presented with the John Brophy Award. The legendary Brophy led Hampton Roads to the postseason in each of his 11 seasons and won back-to-back championships in 1991 and 1992 and a league record third title in 1998. He is also the ECHL record holder for most playoff appearances (11), most playoff games (94) and most playoff wins (55).

Marks' teams in Charlotte had a winning percentage over .600 and reached the postseason all five seasons, including 1995-96 when the Checkers were 13-3 in the postseason and won the Riley Cup. Charlotte hosted the ECHL All-Star Game in 1997 and Marks coached the Checkers to a 7-6 win over the ECHL All-Stars. His teams in Greenville reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs five times, including 2001-02 when they went 13-4 to win the Kelly Cup and 2003-04 when they improved by 50 points from the previous season, tying the ECHL record for largest single-season point increase.

Marks coached six seasons in the International Hockey League with Kalamazoo and Indianapolis from 1987-93, reaching the playoffs four times. He began his coaching career in 1982 as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of North Dakota who he helped guide to the NCAA Championship in 1987.

A two-time All-American as a defenseman at North Dakota, Marks was chosen in the first round (ninth overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1968 National Hockey League Amateur Draft. He played 12 seasons in the Blackhawks organization including 10 years in the NHL where he had 275 points (112g-163a) and 330 penalty minutes in 657 regular season games and 14 points (5g-9a) and 60 penalty minutes in 57 playoff games and was selected to the Campbell Conference All-Star Team in 1976.

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