
Petruzalek Is 393rd Player To Play In NHL After ECHL
February 6, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - Former Charlotte Checkers center Jakub Petruzalek became
the 393rd player to play in the National Hockey League after the ECHL when
he made his debut with Carolina on Thursday at San Jose. The 23 year old
had an assist and was +1 while winning 67 percent of his faceoffs.
Selected in the ninth round (266th overall) by the New York Rangers in the
2004 NHL Entry Draft, Petruzalek played for Charlotte as a rookie in
2006-07 and had 10 points (1g-9a) and four penalty minutes in seven games
for the Checkers. He also played in the American Hockey League as a rookie
and had two assists in six games for Hartford and 28 points (10g-18a) in 54
regular season games and four points (2g-2a) in five playoff games for
Albany.
The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 24 of the
30 teams in the NHL, marking the 12th consecutive season that the league
has had affiliations with at least 20 teams. The Florida Everblades are the
ECHL affiliate of Carolina.
There have been 38 former ECHL players who have made their debut this
season and 137 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons,
including a record 47 who made their debut in 2005-06. Seventy-two former
ECHL players were on NHL opening-day rosters this season and 333 ECHL
players attended NHL training camps, including 139 who played in the league
last season.
Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are Scott
Gordon of the New York Islanders and Bruce
Boudreau of the Washington Capitals. Boudreau, who coached Mississippi
for three seasons winning the Kelly Cup championship in 1999, was named NHL
Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach to
receive the award. Peter Laviolette, who began his coaching career with the
Wheeling Nailers, led Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006. There
are 18 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in the
ECHL.
The ECHL is represented for the eighth consecutive year on the National
Hockey League championship team in 2008 by
Aaron Downey of the Detroit Red Wings.
Thirty-eight ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season: former
Wheeling Nailers and ECHL All-Star defenseman Paul
Bissonnette (Pittsburgh on Oct. 4), former Stockton Thunder and ECHL
All-Star right wing Troy
Bodie (Anaheim on Jan. 16), former Bakersfield Condors center Alexandre
Bolduc (Vancouver on Nov. 27), former Florida Everblades defenseman Brett
Carson (Carolina on Dec. 7), former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman
Sean
Collins (Washington on Dec. 6), former Las Vegas Wranglers and Wheeling
Nailers goaltender John
Curry (Pittsburgh on Nov. 26), former Greenville Grrrowl goaltender
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (Edmonton on Oct. 17), former Johnstown Chiefs
center Andre
Deveaux (Toronto on Nov. 27), former Dayton Bombers center Philippe
Dupuis (Colorado on Dec. 12), former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Chris
Durno (Colorado on Jan. 18), former Gwinnett Gladiators right wing Pat
Dwyer, former Columbus Cottonmouths and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks left
wing Mitch
Fritz (New York Islanders on Oct. 30), former South Carolina Stingrays
right wing Andrew
Gordon (Washington on Dec. 23), former Augusta Lynx and Mississippi Sea
Wolves goaltender Riku
Helenius (Tampa Bay on Jan. 30), former Charlotte Checkers center Dwight
Helminen (Carolina on Oct. 28), former Trenton Devils right wing Pierre-Luc
Letourneau-Leblond (New Jersey on Oct. 22), former Gwinnett Gladiators
defenseman Scott
Lehman (Atlanta on Dec. 18), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Steve
MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Florida Everblades left wing Kenndal
McArdle (Florida on Dec. 2), two-time All-Star and former Las Vegas
Wranglers goaltender Mike
McKenna (Tampa Bay on Feb. 3), former All-Star and Wheeling Nailers
center Kurtis
McLean (New York Islanders on Jan. 19), former Phoenix RoadRunners and
Wheeling Nailers center Cam
Paddock (St. Louis on Nov. 14), former Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman
Adam
Pardy (Calgary on Oct. 9), former Idaho Steelheads left wing Warren
Peters (Calgary on Dec. 7), former Charlotte Checkers center Jakub
Petruzalek (Carolina on Feb. 5), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Corey
Potter (New York Rangers on Dec. 7), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Kevin
Quick (Tampa Bay on Jan. 13), former Charlotte Checkers, Columbia
Inferno and Elmira Jackals defenseman Bryan
Rodney (Carolina on Dec. 11), former Gwinnett Gladiators center Jared
Ross (Philadelphia on Oct. 11), former Alaska Aces goaltender Marek
Schwarz (St. Louis on Oct. 25), former Greenville Grrrowl and Stockton
Thunder center Tim
Sestito (Edmonton on Nov. 26), former Dayton Bombers and Las Vegas
Wranglers defenseman Tyler
Sloan (Washington on Oct. 21), former Utah Grizzlies and ECHL All-Star
center Trevor
Smith (New York Islanders on Dec. 31), former Johnstown Chiefs and
Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Radek
Smolenak (Tampa Bay on Dec. 2), former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett
Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27), former Las Vegas Wranglers and
ECHL All-Star defenseman Tyson
Strachan (St. Louis on Dec. 18), former Wheeling Nailers right wing Tim
Wallace (Pittsburgh on Dec. 10) and former Idaho Steelheads center Tom
Wandell (Dallas on Dec. 10).
There are 18 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL
officiating team in 2008-09 with referees David
Banfield, Chris
Ciamaga, Ghislain
Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan
O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin
St. Pierre and Ian Walsh and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Tim
Nowak and Jay Sharrers. Barton, Joannette, Leggo, McCauley, Nowak, Pollock,
Rooney and Sharrers all worked the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- Watch Games Live on B2 Networks, the "Official
Broadband Broadcast Provider" of the ECHL.
- Watch ECHL Games Around The Clock On ECHL
TV on B2CableTV.com.
- The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and is 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 22 teams playing in 16 states and British
Columbia in 2008-09.
- The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to
ECHL on May
19, 2003.
- ECHL has affiliations with 23 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey
League and for the past 19 years there has been an ECHL player on the
Calder Cup Champion.
- In the last six 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.
ECHL Stories from February 6, 2009
- Royals Fall To Trenton in OT, 3-2 - Reading Royals
- Wranglers Trump Salmon Kings 4-2 - Las Vegas Wins Fourth Straight - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Grizzlies Skeleton Crew Falls To Phoenix - Utah Grizzlies
- RoadRunners Take A Bite Out Of Grizzlies 6-1 - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Snavely, Darling Lead Wheeling to Victory - Wheeling Nailers
- Chiefs nipped by Jackals - Johnstown Chiefs
- Cyclones Make It Seven Straight On Road, 6-2 - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Bombers Lose Heartbreaker at Wheeling 3-2 - Dayton Bombers
- O'Keefe Wins Goalie Battle, 1-0 - Elmira Jackals
- Cyclones sweep away Sea Wolves in first game of series, 6-2 - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Prough Carries Devils to 3-2 Overtime Win - Trenton Devils
- Rays Trump Everblades 4-3 - South Carolina Stingrays
- Stingrays battle from behind to burn Blades 4-3 - Florida Everblades
- Ehgoetz Suffers Lower Body Injury - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Condors sign forwards Carisio and Ban - Bakersfield Condors
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Royals Activate Forward Ryan Gibbons - Reading Royals
- Alaska's Erickson Is PaySourceUSA Plus Performer of the Month - ECHL
- Game Preview: Ontario Reign vs. Stockton Thunder - Ontario Reign
- Bakersfield Condors vs. Alaska Aces - Bakersfield Condors
- Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Ontario Reign - Stockton Thunder
- Petruzalek Is 393rd Player To Play In NHL After ECHL - ECHL
- Florida's Leggio Is RBC Financial Group Saver of the Month - ECHL
- Brent Krahn Called Up To Dallas Stars - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Condorstown native David Carr to speak at Feb. 21 game - Bakersfield Condors
- Florida's Leggio Is RBC Financial Group Saver of the Month - Florida Everblades
- Game Preview: Rays Host Division-Leading Florida Tonight at 7:05 p.m. - South Carolina Stingrays
- Leggio named ECHL Goalie of the Month - Florida Everblades
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Forward Hughes assigned to Blades - Florida Everblades
- Five Players To AHL In Last 48 Hours; Gleed, Hart Recalled - Utah Grizzlies
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