ECHL ECHL

McConvey Leads Rookie Leavitt By One In Scoring Race

April 3, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Alex Leavitt of Alaska enters the final week of the season trailing D'Arcy McConvey by only one point in the ECHL scoring race as Leavitt looks to become the first rookie in 15 years and only the third in league history to finish first in points.

Daryl Harpe of Erie had 122 points (38g-84a) in 60 games as a rookie to lead the ECHL in its inaugural season in 1988-89 and Bill McDougall of Erie had 148 points (80g-68a) in 57 games as a rookie in 1989-90.

The 22-year-old Leavitt has 85 points in 68 games and is also tied for the league lead with 61 assists while the 24-year-old McConvey, who is in his second professional season, has 86 points in 58 games, including a league-high 39 goals.

Luke Curtin of Fresno is third with 82 points (21g-61a) in 64 games while Leavitt's teammate Mike Scott is fourth with 81 points (34g-47a). Gwinnett's Jeff Campbell (30g-50a) is fifth with 80 points in 59 games while Ryan Kinasewich of Utah (36g-43a) and Brad Schell of Gwinnett (23g-56a) are tied for sixth with 79 points. Daniel Sisca of Florida is eighth with 78 points (28g-50a) in 69 games.

McConvey has only one game remaining as Idaho travels to San Diego on Wednesday while Leavitt and Scott each have four games left as the Aces play at Fresno on Tuesday and Friday, at Stockton on Wednesday and at Bakersfield on Saturday. Curtin was placed on injured reserve on Mar. 26 and is not expected to return to the lineup for Fresno until the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Schell has three games remaining as Gwinnett hosts Florida on Tuesday, South Carolina on Friday and Augusta on Saturday. Campbell is currently on loan to Lowell of the American Hockey League and could be back for the Gladiators games on Friday and Saturday.

McConvey has 24 points in his last 11 games including 13 goals allowing him to move atop the league with 39 goals in 58 games. McConvey passed teammate Garett Bembridge, who had 36 goals and 75 points in 52 games before being loaned to Portland of the American Hockey League on Feb. 21.

Leavitt has four points (2g-2a) in four games against Fresno while scoring 15 points (5g-10a) in five games against Stockton and five points (1g-4a) in five games against Bakersfield. Scott has five points (2g-3a) in four games against Fresno while scoring 11 points (6g-5a) in five games against Stockton and four points (1g-3a) in five games against Bakersfield.

Schell, who has scored in 14 of his last 17 games (3g-22a), has eight points (0g-8a) in 10 games against Florida while scoring nine points (2g-7a) in seven games against South Carolina and six points (3g-3a) in eight games against Augusta.

Kinasewich is tied with Bembridge for second place with 36 goals while Brock Radunske of Greenville and Doug Christiansen of Reading are tied for fourth with 35 goals each.

Kinasewich, who has scored a goal in each of his last two games and six goals in his last eight games, has four games remaining as Utah hosts Bakersfield on Monday and Wednesday and travels to Victoria on Friday and Saturday. Kinasewich has four goals in three games against Bakersfield and one goal in five games against Victoria.

Radunske, who has five goals in his last four games including a pair of two-goal games, has three games left as Greenville hosts South Carolina on Tuesday, Augusta on Friday and Charlotte on Saturday. He has five goals in seven games against South Carolina and seven goals in nine games against Charlotte.

Christiansen, who has two goals in his last three games, has two games remaining as Reading hosts Dayton on Friday and play at Trenton on Saturday. He has scored seven goals in 10 games against the Bombers and four goals in 11 games against the Titans.

Sisca, who has 11 points (7g-4a) in his last eight games, has three games remaining as the Everblades travel to Gwinnett on Tuesday and Pensacola on Friday and Saturday. He has four points (2g-2a) in 10 games against Gwinnett and 15 points (5g-10a) in 10 games against Pensacola.

Aces Hold One-Point Lead Over Wranglers

Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Alaska Aces have a one-point lead over the Las Vegas Wranglers and a four-point lead over the Gwinnett Gladiators in the race for the Brabham Cup.

Presented to the ECHL regular-season point champion every year since the league began in 1988-89, the Brabham Cup is named in recognition of Henry Brabham, who was a founding member of the ECHL and the first owner of the Erie Panthers. A former mayor and businessman who was a major force in professional hockey in Virginia for more than 15 years, Brabham worked tirelessly to establish the ECHL during its early years.

The Aces are 50-11-7 with 107 points while the Wranglers are 50-13-6 with 106 points and the Gladiators are 48-14-7 with 103 points. The most ECHL teams to finish with 100 points in a season is three in 2003-04 with San Diego (108 points), Wheeling (106 points) and Atlantic City (100 points). Fresno can reach 100 points with two points in its last three games while Florida needs to win each of its last three games to reach 100 points.

There have been 18 teams who have reached 100 points and the league record for most points is 116 by Louisiana in 2001-02. The second-highest total is 108 points by San Diego in 2003-04 and Florida in 1999-2000. Alaska has tied Pensacola (2004-05) for the fourth-highest point total in ECHL history while Las Vegas has tied Wheeling (2003-04) and Pee Dee (1998-99) for the sixth-highest total.

It is the first time in ECHL history that more than one team has reached 50 wins, and the two are the seventh and eighth teams to record 50 victories. The Aces and Wranglers both need one win to move into a tie for third place with Pensacola (2004-05), Wheeling (2003-04) and Pee Dee (1998-99) for the most wins in a season and two wins to move into a tie for second place with Florida which won 53 games in 1999-2000. The ECHL record for most wins is 56 by Louisiana in 2001-02.

Las Vegas has set team records for wins (50), points (106) and road wins (24) while tying its record for home wins (26). The Wranglers play at Phoenix on Tuesday before hosting Long Beach on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday.

Alaska has set team records for wins (50), points (107) and home wins (30) and needs three wins to tie its record for road wins (23). The Aces play at Fresno on Tuesday and Friday, at Stockton on Wednesday and at Bakersfield on Saturday.

Gwinnett has set team records for wins (48), points (103), home wins (27) and road wins (21). The Gladiators host Florida on Tuesday, South Carolina on Friday and Augusta on Saturday.

League Attendance Continues To Rise Heading Into Last Weekend

Back-to-back sellouts on Friday and Saturday in both Alaska and Florida combined with the fifth crowd of more than 10,000 in San Diego on Saturday allowed the ECHL to raise its average attendance for the 12th consecutive week to 4,343 per game which is an increase of over nine percent from last season.

The league has surpassed 3.5 million fans for the 11th season in a row as it continues to move towards having the highest average attendance since 1999-2000 when it averaged 4,774 per game.

There have been 39 sellout crowds in the ECHL led by Charlotte with 10 sellouts and Idaho and Florida with seven sellouts each. Stockton has five sellouts, including four crowds of 10,117, and Alaska has had four capacity crowds.

The league has had 14 crowds of more than 10,000 led by San Diego with five and Stockton with four crowds while Gwinnett has two crowds in excess of 10,000, including a sellout of 11,355 on Nov. 11. Charlotte drew 10,894 on Nov. 25 and 10,945 on Feb. 18 and Fresno had 10,814 on Mar. 18.

Playing its final two home games, Florida had 7,512 on Friday and 7,523 on Saturday to move back into first place in the league in total attendance with 224,628 fans and average attendance with 6,239 per game, up from 6,207 a year ago. The Everblades have led the ECHL in total and average attendance each of the past five seasons.

Stockton had 6,732 on Sunday to raise its total attendance to 204,534 and its average attendance to 6,198 per game. Looking to become the first team other than the Everblades since 2000-01 to lead the league in attendance, the first-year team will play its final three games at home hosting Alaska on Wednesday, Bakersfield on Friday and San Diego on Saturday.

Charlotte had 5,898 on Thursday and finishes the season with an average of 5,837 per game which is an increase of more than 15.5 percent from a year ago. The Checkers have a league-leading 10 sellouts at Bobcats Arena which has a listed capacity of 6,800. Charlotte had a pair of crowds that exceeded 10,000 and four crowds of more than 9,000.

South Carolina drew more than 13,000 for its final two home games on Friday and Saturday and the Stingrays raised their average attendance from a year ago to 5,000 per game. Alaska tied its regular season single-game attendance record with 6,451 on both Friday and Saturday as the Aces recorded their third and fourth sellouts of the season and raised their average by more than three percent from last season to 4,883 per game.

San Diego is fourth in the league with 5,826 per game while Gwinnett is fifth with 5,569 per game. The Gulls, who have increased their average by more than two percent from a year ago, will host Idaho on Wednesday and Phoenix on Friday while the Gladiators host Florida on Tuesday, South Carolina on Friday and Augusta on Saturday.

Bakersfield is sixth in the league averaging 5,529 per game followed by Reading with 5,521 per game and Las Vegas with 5,443 per game. The Condors, who have raised their average by more than two percent, host Alaska on Saturday while the Royals, who have also seen their average increase by more than two percent, will host Dayton on Friday. The Wranglers, who have increased their average by almost five percent, will host Long Beach on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday.

Trio Continues Battle In North Division

The race for the North Division comes down to the final week as Toledo and Reading are tied for first with 91 points and Wheeling is only one point back. Toledo has three games remaining while Reading has two games left to play and Wheeling has four games left.

The ECHL regular season ends on Saturday and the Kelly Cup Playoffs are scheduled to begin on Apr. 10 with the Kelly Cup Finals scheduled for May 22-June 3.

Toledo is 43-21-5 and will visit Wheeling on Thursday before hosting Johnstown on Friday and traveling to Johnstown on Saturday. The Storm is 7-4-1 against the Nailers and is 6-4-0 against Johnstown.

Reading is 42-21-7 and will host Dayton on Friday before traveling to Trenton on Saturday. The Royals are 9-2-0 against Dayton and 8-3-0 against Trenton.

Wheeling is 42-20-6 and visits Trenton on Tuesday and Dayton on Saturday while hosting Toledo on Thursday and Trenton on Friday. The Nailers are 5-5-1 against Trenton while going 5-6-1 against Toledo and 11-0-0 against Dayton.

Trenton and Johnstown will meet in the best-of-three division quarterfinals that will be played Apr. 10-13 with the winner meeting the regular season winner in the North Division in the best-of-five division semifinals scheduled Apr. 14-23. The best-of-five division finals will be played Apr. 24-May 3 and the best-of-seven American Conference Finals are scheduled for May 5-20.

Gwinnett is 48-14-7 has clinched both the American Conference and the South Division with 103 points, giving the Gladiators a bye in the first round of the division playoffs. Florida is 45-20-4 and has clinched second place and a bye in the first round of the division playoffs with 94 points. Greenville is 42-24-3 and has secured third place in the first round against the sixth-place finisher while South Carolina is 31-24-14 and has clinched fourth place and home ice in the first round against the fifth-place finisher. Charlotte is in fifth place at 32-33-5 and 69 points, three points ahead of Augusta at 30-34-6.

The best-of-three quarterfinals will be played Apr. 10-13 with the best-of-five semifinals scheduled for Apr. 14-23. The best-of-five division finals will be played Apr. 24-May 3 and the best-of-seven American Conference Finals are scheduled for May 5-20.

The best-of-seven division semifinals in the National Conference will be played Apr. 10-22 with the best-of-seven division finals scheduled for Apr. 24-May 6. The best-of-seven National Conference Finals will be played May 8-20.

Fresno has clinched the Pacific Division with 98 points and a record of 42-13-14. Long Beach is in second place at 36-25-9 and 81 points, one point ahead of Bakersfield at 37-25-6 and six points in front of fourth-place San Diego at 34-28-7.

Alaska and Las Vegas continue their battle for the Brabham Cup, the West Division and the National Conference. The Aces are 50-11-7 with 107 points, one point ahead of Las Vegas at 50-13-6. The winner will meet third-place Idaho in the division semifinals while the runner-up will meet Utah.

Falcons Chase ECHL Record

Fresno needs a win or an overtime/shootout loss on Saturday against Long Beach to become the first team in ECHL history to go an entire season without a regulation loss to a team within its own division.

The Falcons beat Bakersfield 3-2 on Mar. 28 and lost 2-1 in overtime to Stockton on Sunday to improve to 21-0-7 against the Pacific Division. Fresno's winning percentage of .875 surpasses the winning percentage of .818 by Louisiana in 2001-02 when the Ice Gators were 52-10-4 in the Southwest Division while winning a league record 56 games and finishing with a league record 116 points.

Making its first-ever appearance in the Kelly Cup Playoffs, Fresno has clinched the Pacific Division and has set team records for wins (42), points (98), home wins (23) and road wins (19). The Falcons will host Alaska on Tuesday and Friday before their showdown on Saturday against the Ice Dogs.

Did You Know ... There have been 78 shutouts in 2005-06 and 17 have been 1-0 games. In 2004-05, there were 119 shutouts and 11 were 1-0 games.

Feature Games Of The Week

North Division

Toledo at Wheeling - Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET
- Toledo's Logan Koopmans is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 goals against and a.957 save percentage against Wheeling.
- Brendon Hodge leads the Nailers at home with 27 assists and 34 points in 33 games.

South Division

Florida at Gwinnett - Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET
- Scott Kelman leads the Gladiators against Florida with 11 assists and 14 points in 10 games.
- Everblades Phil Osear is a perfect 4-0-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average in his last four games.

West Division

Utah at Victoria - Friday at 7:00 p.m. PT
- Jeff Miles had a hat trick and the game winner in 5-3 win over Victoria on Dec. 3.
- Victoria's Taggart Desmet has scored in six of his first 10 professional games (3g-11a).

Pacific Division

Long Beach at Fresno - Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PT
- Fresno is 21-0-7 against the Pacific Division and can be first ECHL team to not have a regulation division loss.
- Long Beach's leading scorer Christian Larrivee has five points (3g-2a) against Falcons.

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ECHL Stories from April 3, 2006


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