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Marks Coaches 1,400th Career Game On Sunday

December 20, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


One of only three coaches who have won multiple ECHL championships, Greenville's John Marks will reach another milestone on Sunday when he coaches his 1,400th career game as the Grrrowl visit Pee Dee. Marks ranks seventh among professional coaches and is the leader among active professional coaches. Scotty Bowman is the all-time leader with 2,571 career professional games.

In his 18th season as a head coach, Marks has a career record of 697-578-124 and with three more victories will become the seventh professional coach to reach the 700-win plateau, joining Bowman (1,511), Al Arbour (904) John Brophy (846), Tommy McVie (708), Mike Keenan (792), and John Muckler (726). Marks, who coached six seasons in the International Hockey League with Kalamazoo and Indianapolis, won the last Riley Cup Championship in 1996 with Charlotte and the Kelly Cup Championship with Greenville in 2002.

Marks ranks second in the ECHL in regular season games (800), regular season wins (394), years coached (12), postseason games (64), postseason wins (41), and postseason appearances (8). Brophy is the ECHL career leader in regular season games (878), regular season wins (480), years coached (13), postseason games (94), postseason wins (55), and postseason appearances (11) while ranking third among all coaches in career games (1,739) and wins (846).

Marks began his coaching career in 1982 as an assistant at the University of North Dakota, his alma mater, and helped guide the Fighting Sioux to the 1987 NCAA Championship. A two-time All-American at North Dakota, he was a first-round selection (ninth overall) of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1968 National Hockey League Amateur Draft. He played 12 seasons in the Blackhawks organization, including 10 in the NHL, and in 1976 was named to the NHL's Campbell Conference All-Star team. Following a broken leg, Marks concluded his playing career with Indianapolis in the Central Hockey League, helping the Checkers win the 1982 CHL title.


Division Races Tight Heading Into Holiday Weekend

Heading into the holiday break there are less than 10 points separating the top 17 teams in the ECHL, and 22 of the 28 teams in the league are within 11 points of overall leader Atlantic City.

In the North Division of the National Conference, Atlantic City is 13-2-3 in its last 18 games, improving to 16-6-4 overall with a two-point lead over Wheeling (17-9-0) and Trenton (15-4-4). Eleven points separate the top six teams in the eight-team division with the top four finishers advancing to the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Wheeling has won five consecutive games and 13 of its last 16 while Trenton has gone 7-2-1 in its last 10 games.

In the West Division of the National Conference, Bakersfield is 14-5-4 and has a three-point lead over Idaho (14-8-1) and a four-point lead over San Diego (13-7-2) and Alaska (13-11-2). Ten points separate the top seven teams in the eight-team division with the top four making the Kelly Cup Playoffs. San Diego has won a season-high four consecutive games and is 9-2-0 in its last 11 games.

In the East Division of the American Conference, Charlotte (15-8-2) and Pee Dee (15-7-2) are tied for the lead with 32 points, five points ahead of Columbia (12-7-3) and Greenville (12-11-3) while six points separate first and fifth place in the six-team division. Columbia is 9-2-0 in its last 11 games while Greenville has registered a point in seven of its last nine games (5-2-2).

In the South Division of the American Conference, Gwinnett has gone 10-3-1 in its last 14 games to improve to 15-6-4 and has a four-point lead over Pensacola (14-5-2) and a five-point lead over Florida (14-11-1) with nine points between the first and fifth-place teams in the six-team division. Pensacola has gone 8-2-2 in its last 12 games, picking up 18 of a possible 24 points, while Florida has gone 8-2-1 in its last 11 games, getting 17 of a possible 22 points.

Because of geographical proximity in the American Conference, first-round playoff berths will be awarded to the top eight (8) teams - the first-place team in each division (based on regular-season point totals), as well as the next six-best teams (based on regular-season point totals). The two division winners will be seeded first and second (in order of points) and the next six-best teams (in order of points) will be seeded third through eighth. In the Conference Quarterfinals, the first-place team will meet the eighth-place team, the second-place team will meet the seventh-place team, the third-place team will meet the sixth-place team, and the fourth-place team will meet the fifth-place team. Home ice in the Conference Quarterfinals is granted to those teams seeded first through fourth.

The playoff qualifiers in the National Conference will be the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the North Division and the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the West Division. The Division Semifinals will be best-of-five series with the first-place finisher meeting the fourth-place finisher and the second-place finisher meeting the third-place finisher.

Sabourin Gets Team Record, League-Leading Fifth Shutout

Wheeling goaltender Dany Sabourin posted his league-leading and team record fifth shutout on Saturday, stopping 14 shots in a 2-0 win against Peoria. Sabourin made 28 saves in a 3-2 win against Peoria on Sunday, posting his third win in three days to finish the weekend 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.33 and a save percentage of .953.

In his last five starts, Sabourin is 5-0-0 with two shutouts, a goals-against average of 1.20 and a save percentage of .962. In his last 12 starts, Sabourin is 11-1-0 with three shutouts, a goals-against average of 1.45 and a save percentage of .953. In his only American Hockey League start, Sabourin made 22 saves in a 4-1 win against Norfolk, improving to 1-1-0 with a goals-against average of 1.22 and a save percentage of .949.

Sabourin leads the league with 15 wins and is tied for the league lead with two overtime wins and three shootout wins while ranking second in save percentage (.955) and minutes (1110) while ranking third in saves (512) and goals-against average (1.30).


ECHL Feature Games Of The Week

National Conference - North Division
Peoria at Dayton
Sunday at 4 p.m. ET
* Peoria has lost its last three games and Dayton has not won in its last six
games.
* Peoria leads season series 3-2.

American Conference - East Division
Augusta at Charlotte
Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET
* Five of Augusta's seven wins have come on the road as the Lynx look to snap a seven game losing streak.
* Charlotte is 3-0 against the Lynx in 2004-05.

American Conference - South Division
Pensacola at Louisiana
Sunday at 5:05 p.m. CT
* Louisiana eliminated Pensacola in 2003-04 Kelly Cup Playoffs.
* Pensacola leads 2004-05 season series 3-2.

National Conference - West Division
Long Beach at Bakersfield
Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT
* Long Beach is 3-1-3 in last seven games, while Bakersfield is 1-4-2 in its last seven.
* Condors are 2-1 against Long Beach in 2004-05.

Announcement
Schedule

Tuesday, January 4
4 p.m. ET
Coaches and Support Staff
Wednesday, January 5
4 p.m. ET
American Conference
All Stars
Thursday, January 6
4 p.m. ET
National Conference
All Stars

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ECHL Stories from December 20, 2004


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