Matt Underhill named ECHL goaltender of the Week
December 6, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska goaltender Matt Underhill has been named the Reebok Hockey ECHL Saver of the Week for November 28-December 4.
Underhill and his counterpart, Chris Beckford-Tseu, who owns two weekly awards this season as well as ECHL Goaltender of the Month honors for October, have been instrumental in Alaska's recent club-record eight-game winning streak. The two goalies have allowed just eight goals in those eight victories, and Underhill recorded his first shutout of the season and the sixth of his pro career with 25-saves in a 5-0 pasting of Long Beach last Friday.
Playing five games in six nights for the first time all year, the Aces won all five last week, three courtesy of Underhill, who out-dueled Utah's Alfie Michaud with 26 stops in a 2-1 victory November 29 and polished off a perfect road trip with 32 saves in a 5-1 triumph over Fresno Sunday. The 26-year-old Underhill joined Alaska late last season and has gone 10-3-1 in an Aces sweater, and this year ranks third among ECHL goalies with a 1.91 goals against average and fifth with a .932 save percentage.
Alaska's goaltending duo has helped the team compile a 1.79 goals against average for the season, by far the lowest in the ECHL (Las Vegas is second at 2.28). Underhill, originally from Campbell River, BC and a stand-out at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., prior to turning pro, started an NHL game for the Chicago Blackhawks on March 7, 2004, stopping 29 of 33 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to Edmonton.
Defenseman Ryan Gaucher was runner-up for ECHL Player of the Week honors after scoring three game-winning goals and handing out six assists with a plus-five rating during Alaska's 5-0 week.
The Aces, currently 14-3-2 overall and the West Division leader by three points over Idaho and Utah, look to keep their winning streak intact this week at Sullivan Arena against the Fresno Falcons, beginning tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m. ADT and continuing Friday and Saturday at the same time. All Alaska Aces games, home and away, are broadcast live on KFQD AM 750 and at www.alaskaaces.com. In addition, all home games and selected road contests will be available on a pay-per-view basis on the internet, courtesy of B2 Networks.
ECHL Stories from December 6, 2005
- Wranglers shutout Johnstown, 4-0, move to 10-0-1 at home - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Checkers fall 0-1 to Inferno - Charlotte Checkers
- Ice Pilots Lose at South Carolina 7-4 - Pensacola Ice Pilots
- McVicar assigned to Salmon Kings from Canucks - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Gladiators Bite Lynx, 7-1 - Atlanta Gladiators
- Corbeil scores only goal in loss to Gwinnett - Augusta Lynx
- Matt Underhill named ECHL goaltender of the Week - Alaska Aces
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Lawson Recalled To Lowell - San Diego Gulls
- Salmon Kings Week in Review - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Magowan Returns To Toledo - Toledo Walleye
- Teddy Bear Toss To Benefit The Childrens Medical Center Of Dayton - Dayton Bombers
- Coaches Show Tonight - Dayton Bombers
- Courchaine Named In Glas Co ECHL Player of the Week - Pensacola Ice Pilots
- Gladiators Sign Bennett - Atlanta Gladiators
- Aces' Underhill Named Reebok Hockey ECHL Goaltender Of The Week - ECHL
- Ice Pilots' Courchaine Named In Glas Co ECHL Player Of The Week - ECHL
- Royals and Y102 Join Forces To Pack The House - Reading Royals
- Utah Grizzlies Make Trade, Add Depth - Utah Grizzlies
- Lynx get Battaglia and Leinweber from Grizzlies - Augusta Lynx
- The Stanley Cup is Coming to Columbia - Columbia Inferno
- Lynx add forward from Portland, defenseman - Augusta Lynx
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Estrada Recalled to Lowell - Florida Everblades
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