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North Division Playoff Picture Clearing Up

March 24, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Going 1-0-1 at division leader Cincinnati, Johnstown improved to 31-30-5 and moved closer to securing its berth in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Chiefs have 67 points and are three points ahead of Dayton, which is in fifth place at 27-28-10. Trenton is 25-34-7 and seven points behind Dayton for the final playoff spot.

Cincinnati is 50-10-5 and with 105 points has clinched the division title to secure home ice throughout the division playoffs. The fourth seed and the fifth seed will play a best-of-three series in the Division Quarterfinals with the winner advancing to meet the Cincinnati in the Division Semifinals, a best-of-seven series that will also have the second seed playing the third seed. The winners will advance to the best-of-seven Division Finals with the winner advancing to the American Conference Finals to meet the winner of the South Division in a best-of-seven series.

The Chiefs are looking to reach the postseason for the third straight year for the first time since advancing in 2000, 2001 and 2002 while Dayton is trying to make its first back-to-back Kelly Cup Playoff appearances since 2001 and 2002. Johnstown plays at Wheeling on Friday before hosting Cincinnati on Saturday and Trenton on Sunday while Dayton hosts Reading on Tuesday, Wheeling on Wednesday and Elmira on Saturday and Sunday.

In their first season in the ECHL, Elmira is 38-20-7 and in second place with 83 points, three points ahead of Reading at 37-22-6. The Jackals host Trenton on Wednesday before traveling to Cincinnati on Friday and Dayton on Saturday and Sunday. The Royals, who missed the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time in three years last season, play at Dayton on Tuesday and at Cincinnati on Wednesday before hosting Trenton on Friday, Wheeling on Saturday and Cincinnati on Sunday.



Alaska, Idaho, Victoria Battle For West Division Lead



The battle for the West Division regular season title has Victoria at 39-21-5 and Idaho at 37-22-9 tied for the lead with 83 points and Alaska only two points behind at 38-23-5.

The Salmon Kings are at Stockton on Wednesday and Saturday, at Bakersfield on Friday and at Fresno on Sunday. Defending Kelly Cup champion Idaho visits Stockton on Friday and Fresno on Saturday while Alaska returns home to host Phoenix on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

The last week of the regular season will have Alaska traveling to Victoria for games on Apr. 2, 4 and 5 and Idaho hosting Fresno on Apr. 4 and 5.

The winner of the division will be seeded second for the Kelly Cup Playoffs as none of the three can finish higher than Las Vegas. The remaining six teams are seeded third through eighth in order of points. Teams are not re-seeded in the National Conference and all series will be best-of-seven games.

Fresno is 39-18-8 and in second in the Pacific Division and the conference with 86 points. The Falcons play at Bakersfield on Monday before hosting Las Vegas on Friday, Idaho on Saturday and Victoria on Sunday.

Victoria is in the postseason for the second straight season while Idaho and Alaska have never missed the Kelly Cup Playoffs since joining the ECHL as expansion teams in 2003-04. The Steelheads won the Kelly Cup in 2004 and 2007 while Alaska won the title in 2006 and reached the conference finals in 2005 and 2007.

The battle for the final two spots in the National Conference continues with Stockton at 25-37-3 and Phoenix at 22-35-9 holding them with 53 points, two points ahead of Bakersfield at 21-36-9. The Thunder and RoadRunners are looking to reach the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the second straight season while the Condors are trying to avoid missing the postseason for the first time since 2004. Stockton hosts Victoria on Wednesday and Saturday and Idaho on Friday while Phoenix plays at Alaska on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and Bakersfield hosts Fresno on Monday, Victoria on Friday and Utah on Saturday.



South Division Set For Kelly Cup Playoffs



The field for the South Division in the Kelly Cup Playoffs is set as Mississippi secured the eighth and final spot over the weekend.

The Sea Wolves, who missed the last two seasons because of Hurricane Katrina, are making their fifth consecutive postseason appearance having reached the conference finals in 2002 and 2003.

Texas is 50-7-11 and with 111 points has clinched the division title to secure home ice throughout the division playoffs. The next seven teams will be seeded second through eighth in order of points. Teams will be re-seeded according to the same criteria in the Division Semifinals and the Division Finals. The South Division playoff series will all be best-of-five games.

Gwinnett is 41-20-5 and in second place with 87 points, two points ahead of South Carolina at 41-22-3. The Gladiators have secured home ice for the first round while the Stingrays need one point to secure home ice for the first round. Florida is 35-23-8 and in fourth place with 78 points while Charlotte is 33-26-6 and in fifth place with 72 points and Columbia is 30-27-10 and in sixth place with 70 points.

The Gladiators, who have won 40 games for the fifth consecutive season, will play at Florida on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. South Carolina, which returns to the postseason a league record 14th time, will host Charlotte on Tuesday, Mississippi on Friday and Columbia on Saturday.

Augusta is celebrating its 10th season in Georgia by making its third Kelly Cup Playoff appearance in a row which ties the Lynx record for consecutive appearances set the first three seasons. Augusta visits Pensacola on Monday and Tuesday before hosting Columbia on Friday and Mississippi on Saturday.

In the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2005, Columbia hosts Mississippi on Wednesday before visiting Augusta on Friday and South Carolina on Saturday. The Inferno reached the postseason each of their first four seasons including the Kelly Cup Finals in 2003.

Charlotte is in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the fourth season in a row, which is the most consecutive appearances since they advanced to the postseason in each of their first five seasons from 1994-98. The Checkers visit South Carolina on Tuesday before traveling to Texas on Friday and Saturday.



Crowds In Las Vegas, Wheeling Help ECHL Raise Attendance



The ECHL was able to raise its attendance for the seventh consecutive week following sellout crowds in Charlotte and Idaho combined with the largest crowds of the year in Las Vegas and Wheeling and the second largest crowd of the year in Fresno.

The league has welcomed more than 3.3 million fans and is averaging 4,094 per game, which has it on pace to draw over 3.6 million fans for the 13th season in a row. Nine teams have raised their average attendance from a year ago led by Cincinnati with 25.3 percent, Victoria with 11.9 percent and Mississippi with 9.6 percent.

Charlotte had its 11th sellout of the year on Mar. 21 to surpass 200,000 fans for the third year in a row and the eighth time in its history while raising its average to 5,918 per game, which is third in the league and 87.0 percent of the listed capacity for hockey at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The Checkers are second in the league with 11 sellouts after leading the league each of the past two seasons with 11 in 2006-07 and 10 in 2005-06.

Idaho raised its average to 4,355 per game after its eighth sellout of the season and the 42nd standing-room-only crowd since it joined the ECHL as an expansion team in 2003-04.

Las Vegas had its biggest crowd of the year with 7,427 on Mar. 21 to raise its average to 4,901 while Wheeling welcomed a season-high 5,131 on Mar. 22.

Victoria continued its attendance growth to 4,752 per game while Fresno moved over 5,000 per game after its second-largest crowd of the year with 11,582 on Mar. 22.

Averaging over 6,300 the past two weeks Reading raised its average to 5,384 while Cincinnati had over 4,100 for a special school day game on Mar. 19 to raise its average to 2,311.

Elmira continues to lead the league with 13 sellouts and the Jackals are averaging 93.3 percent of capacity of First Arena and up 3.0 percent from a year ago.

There have been 41 sellouts this season and Bakersfield (8,895 on Nov. 24, 2007), Johnstown (4,238 on Nov. 30, 2007), Elmira (4,981 on Dec. 29, 2007), Idaho (5,631 on Jan. 16), South Carolina (10,565 on Jan. 19) and Charlotte (12,256 on Feb. 23) have had the largest crowd in their history.



Cincinnati, Texas Reach 50 Wins, Continue Brabham Cup Battle



Cincinnati became the 10th team in history to reach 50 wins with a 4-3 win at Wheeling on Mar. 22 while Texas became the 11th team to reach the milestone a day later with a 5-1 win at Mississippi. The 50 wins ties Cincinnati and Texas with Trenton (2000-01) and Gwinnett (2005-06) for the eighth-most victories in league history.

The ECHL record for wins is 56 by Louisiana in 2001-02 while the second-most wins is 53 by Florida (1999-2000), Alaska (2005-06) and Las Vegas (2005-06). The next highest total is 51 wins by Pee Dee (1998-99), Wheeling (2003-04) and Pensacola (2004-05).

Three times in ECHL history a team has won 50 games, but did not won the Brabham Cup: Gwinnett and Las Vegas in 2005-06 and Wheeling in 2003-04.

Texas has 111 points (50-7-11) and enters the final two weeks of the regular season with a six-point lead over Cincinnati (50-10-5) and a 13-point lead over Las Vegas (43-12-12) in the race for the Brabham Cup. The Cyclones, however, have three games in hand on the Wildcatters so if the two were to win their remaining games they would both finish with 119 points. Cincinnati would be awarded the Brabham Cup as it would finish with 57 wins compared to 54 wins for Texas.

The award is named in recognition of Henry Brabham, who founded the ECHL in 1988-89 with five teams in four states. Brabham, who was the first inductee into the ECHL Hall of Fame, owned three of the original five teams, including the legendary Johnstown Chiefs who are celebrating their 20th season in 2007-08. The dedication of the Virginia businessman was crucial to the league surviving to span from coast-to-coast while advancing 350 players and countless coaches, on-ice officials and front office personnel to the National Hockey League.

Texas and Cincinnati have already clinched their respective division titles while Las Vegas needs three points to secure its second consecutive regular season division title and conference title. Cincinnati and Texas are guaranteed home ice throughout the division playoffs while Las Vegas is trying to secure home ice throughout the conference playoffs.

The Cyclones will host Reading on Wednesday and Elmira on Friday before visiting Johnstown on Saturday and Reading on Sunday. The Wildcatters host Charlotte on Friday and Saturday while Las Vegas visits Utah on Wednesday and Fresno on Friday.

The 111 points by Texas is the fourth-highest total in ECHL history while the 105 points by Cincinnati ties them with Alaska (2006-07) and Richmond (1995-96) for the 12th-highest point total. The league record is 116 points by Louisiana in 2001-02 while the second-highest total is 113 points by Alaska in 2005-06 and the third-most is 112 points by Las Vegas in 2005-06.

Las Vegas is trying to become the first team to reach 100 points three seasons in a row after winning the Brabham Cup in 2006-07 with 106 points and finishing second in 2005-06 with 112 points. The only other teams in league history to score 100 points in back-to-back seasons are Alaska and Trenton. Trenton won the Brabham Cup in 2000-01 with 104 points and finished second in 2001-02 with 104 points while Alaska finished second in 2006-07 with 105 points after finishing first in 2005-06 with 113 points.

Cincinnati leads the ECHL with 266 goals and 4.09 goals per game while Texas is second with 251 goals and 3.69 goals per game. The Cyclones have allowed a league-low 157 goals and are second in goals-against average with 2.42. Texas leads with a goals-against average of 2.40 and is tied for second with Las Vegas with 163 goals allowed. The Wranglers are third with a goals-against average of 2.43.

Texas has 26 road wins tying the ECHL record set by Louisiana in 2001-02.

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