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Pensacola's Marks Goes For ECHL Wins Record Friday

Published on February 28, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Pensacola Ice Pilots head coach John Marks needs one win to become the all-time winningest coach in ECHL history. He has 480 career wins and is tied with John Brophy for the league record.

Marks, who coached Charlotte from 1993-98 and Greenville from 1998-2006, returned to the ECHL for a record 14th season in 2007-08 after coaching Fayetteville to the Southern Professional Hockey League Championship in 2006-07.

His record in the ECHL is 480-401-91 and he is the league career leader with 972 games. 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 had 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.

John Marks Milestone Wins
First ECHL Win - Charlotte won 4-3 against South Carolina on Oct. 20, 1993
100th ECHL Win - Charlotte won 4-3 against Richmond on Jan. 17, 1996
200th ECHL Win - Greenville won 4-3 at South Carolina on Nov. 25, 1998
300th ECHL Win - Greenville won 7-5 at Columbus, Oct. 26, 2002
400th ECHL Win - Greenville won 6-3 at Pee Dee, Jan. 15, 2005
450th ECHL Win - Greenville won 3-2 at Charlotte, Feb. 17, 2006
480th ECHL Win - Pensacola won 3-2 against Gwinnett, Feb. 22, 2008

Most Career Coaching Wins
1. 480 - John Marks, Pensacola, Charlotte (1993-98) and Greenville (1998-2006)
- John Brophy, Hampton Roads (1989-2000) and Wheeling (2001-03)
3. 343 - Jeff Pyle, Gwinnett (2003 to present) and Mobile (1998-2002)
4. 332 - Frank Anzalone, Nashville (1991-92), Roanoke (1993-98), Pee Dee (1999-2001) and Johnstown (2005-07)
5. 317 - Jeff Brubaker, Greensboro (1989-95), Jacksonville (1995-96), Tallahassee (1998-99) and Greensboro (1999-2001)
6. 312 - Gerry Fleming, Florida (2001 to present) and Tallahassee (2000-01)
7. 304 - Jason Christie, Utah (2005 to present) and Peoria (2000-05)

ECHL
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08, the ECHL is the Premier 'AA' Hockey League and the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.

ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league with 25 teams playing 900 games in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08.

The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL in 2007-08, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

There have been 350 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including 94 in the last three seasons. There have been 205 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past seven seasons.

There are 15 coaches in the NHL who have ECHL experience including former Wheeling coach Peter Laviolette, who is head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Mississippi coach Bruce Boudreau, who is head coach of the Washington Capitals.

The ECHL is represented for the seventh consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2007 with Anaheim assistant coach Dave Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League in 2007-08 and for the past 18 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion.

In each of the last two seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL and there were over 800 call-ups involving more than 500 players. In the last five seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 2,000 call-ups involving more than 1,000 players since 2002-03.

Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.

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