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Red-Hot Royals Lead East Division

Published on December 21, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Winning four in a row and going 7-2-1 in the last 10 games, Reading is 17-9-3 to lead the East Division and rank second in the American Conference with 37 points.

The Royals, who have won their last three road games, travel to Elmira on Saturday and Trenton on Sunday. The Royals have won the last two meetings with the Jackals to improve to 2-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 at Elmira. Reading is 3-0-0 on the road and 6-0-0 overall in the season series against the Devils to improve to 44-41-10 all-time against Trenton.

Reading is 10-0-3 when it scores first and 11-1-3 in one-goal games, including 1-1 in overtime and 3-2 in shootouts.

Ben Gordon has 11 points (4g-7a) during the current four-game streak and leads the team with 15 goals, 23 assists and 38 points in 27 games. He is third in the league in points and tied for fourth in assists while teammate Danick Bouchard is tied for the league lead with seven power-play goals and Gavin Morgan is tied for the league lead with three shorthand assists.

Rookie Matt Dalton has won his last four starts to improve to 6-0-1 with a goals-against average of 2.67 in December. Under contract to Boston of the National Hockey League, he is 9-4-1 with a goals-against average of 3.12 and a save percentage of .914 in 14 games for the Royals.

Condors' Pielmeier Becomes Youngest Goaltender To Score Goal

Bakersfield rookie Timo Pielmeier became the 10th goaltender in ECHL history to score a goal when he sent the puck the length of the ice into an empty net with five seconds remaining in a 6-4 win at Utah on Saturday.

The native of Deggendorf, Germany is the youngest goaltender to score in a professional game at 20 years and 165 days old supplanting current Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Mike Smith, who was 20 years and 218 days old when he scored for Lexington in a 2-0 win against Dayton in an ECHL game on Oct. 26, 2002. Pielmeier becomes the first goaltender to score a goal since current Los Angeles Kings netminder Jonathan Quick on Oct. 24, 2007 at Pensacola.

Selected in the third round (83rd overall) by San Jose in the 2007 National Hockey League Entry Draft and under NHL contract to Anaheim, Pielmeier made 26 saves in the game to record his second straight win and improve to 12-5-2. He is tied for second in the league with 12 wins while his 1,138 minutes are fourth and his goals-against average of 2.79 is tied for ninth.

Corwin Saurdiff of Hampton Roads was the first ECHL goaltender to score a goal on Mar. 18, 1995 against Charlotte. Charlotte's Nick Vitucci, Erie's Olie Sundstrom and South Carolina's Sean Gauthier all accomplished the feat during the 1995-96 season and Toledo's Mark Bernard scored a goal on Mar. 27, 2001 against Johnstown. Brian Eklund of Pensacola scored at Mississippi on Dec. 5, 2003 and Trevor Koenig of Atlantic City registered a goal at Wheeling on Mar. 2, 2005.

Stingrays Set Team Record With 13 Straight Wins

South Carolina set a team record and tied Las Vegas for the fifth-most wins in ECHL history with 13 consecutive wins from Nov. 24-Dec. 19.

The Stingrays eclipsed their record of 12 wins in a row set Nov. 28-Dec. 31, 2007 which is the seventh-longest winning streak in league history.

The league record for consecutive wins is 17 wins by Cincinnati from Jan. 13-Feb. 29, 2008 while the second-most wins is 15 by Victoria from Dec. 6, 2008-Jan. 10, 2009. The Salmon Kings on all 15 of their games in regulation giving them the record for the longest streak of regulation wins as the Cyclones had three shootout wins and an overtime victory during their streak.

The third-most wins in a row is 14 by Louisiana from Nov. 23-Dec. 22, 2001 and Knoxville from Dec. 28, 1993-Jan. 29, 1994.

Jackals Have League-Leading Seventh Sellout

Elmira had its league-leading seventh sellout on Dec. 19 and Toledo became the first team to reach 100,000 fans as the ECHL heads into the Christmas break averaging 4,162 per game which is up 8.2 percent from the first 10 weeks a year ago.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League has drawn 1,173,604 fans and reached one million fans in 237 games which is the fastest since 206 games in 1999-2000.



To purchase tickets for any ECHL game go to ECHL.com/tickets.shtml.

The only minor professional hockey league to increase average attendance each of the last two seasons, the Premier 'AA' Hockey League has averaged more than 4,000 fans each of the last five seasons and 17 times in the last 19 years while drawing more than 3 million fans for 16 straight seasons.

Five returning teams are ahead of their average attendance from 2008-09 led by Cincinnati with 22.03 percent and Elmira with 13.49 percent. The Jackals are averaging 3,781 per game which is 99.9 percent of capacity at First Arena. Elmira has had 26 sellouts since joining the ECHL and led the league their first season in 2007-08 with 14 sellouts and tied for the lead a year ago with five sellouts. The Cyclones led minor professional hockey with a 36 percent increase in 2007-08 and were second in 2008-09 with a 23 percent increase.

Ontario has moved into first place in average attendance with 5,929 per game after welcoming 12,874 for two games last week. The Reign's average is up 1.2 percent from their inaugural season in 2008-09 when they ranked second in the league with 5,856 per game.

Stockton is second with 5,874 per game while Toledo is third with 5,639 per game. The Thunder have led the ECHL in attendance each of their first four seasons and are trying to tie the league record of five seasons set by Florida from 2000-05. The Walleye's average attendance is up 43.5 percent from 2006-07 when the team played its last season in the Toledo Sports Arena.



American Conference - East Division

Elmira Jackals
* Three of Elmira's five one-goal wins have come against Johnstown.
* Justin Donati leads the ECHL with 40 points and 27 assists.
* Jackals host Reading on Saturday and play at Wheeling on Sunday.

Johnstown Chiefs

* Johnstown is 5-0-0 when scoring six or more goals in a game.
* Chanse Fitzpatrick had two points (1g-1a) in his Chiefs debut on Dec. 20.
* Chiefs host Trenton on Saturday and play at Toledo on Sunday.

Reading Royals

* Reading is 11-1-3 in one-goal games.
* Ben Gordon tied Royals record with five points (3g-2a) at Johnstown on Dec. 16.
* Royals play at Elmira on Saturday and at Trenton on Sunday.

Trenton Devils

* Trenton had season-high 44 shots in 5-4 shootout loss to Cincinnati on Dec. 19.
* Trevor Kell and Jeff Prough each had two goals against Cincinnati on Dec. 19.
* Devils play at Johnstown on Saturday and host Reading on Sunday.

American Conference - North Division

Cincinnati Cyclones
* Barret Ehgoetz has a four-game point streak (4g-4a).
* Jeremy Smith is fourth in the league with a goals-against average of 2.55.
* Cyclones host Toledo on Saturday and play at Kalamazoo on Sunday.

Kalamazoo Wings
* Kalamazoo hasn't lost back-to-back games at home this season.
* Rick Cleaver has a seven-game point streak (3g-8a) and a five-game assist streak (8a).
* K-Wings host Wheeling on Saturday and Cincinnati on Sunday.

Toledo Walleye

* Toledo became first team to surpass 100,000 fans and Walleye are third in the ECHL with 5,639 per game.
* Evan Rankin (3g-5a) and Maxime Tanguay (4g-4a) each have eight points during current six-game winning streak.
* Walleye play at Cincinnati on Saturday and host Johnstown on Sunday.

Wheeling Nailers

* Wheeling is 9-3-1 when scoring first after a 5-3 win at Florida on Dec. 18.
* Rookie defenseman Kevin Schmidt has a four-game point streak (2g-2a).
* Nailers play at Kalamazoo on Saturday and host Elmira on Sunday.

American Conference - South Division

Charlotte Checkers
* Charlotte is 8-2-1 in its last 11 home games.
* Kenny Roche has six goals in his last eight games.
* Checkers host Florida on Saturday and play at South Carolina on Sunday.

Florida Everblades
* Florida is second in the league on the penalty kill with 84.4 percent (128-for-156).
* Colin Nicholson has four points (1g-3a) in his last three games.
* Everblades play at Charlotte on Saturday and at Gwinnett on Sunday.

Gwinnett Gladiators

* Gwinnett is first in the American Conference on the power play with 21.8 percent (31-for-142).
* Rookie Pat Galivan scored a shorthand goal, assisted on the game-tying goal and scored the game winner in overtime at Kalamazoo on Dec. 19.
* Gladiators host South Carolina on Saturday and Florida on Sunday.

South Carolina Stingrays
* South Carolina set team record with 13 wins in a row from Nov. 24-Dec. 19.
* Matt Fornataro has a nine-game point streak (6g-7a).
* Stingrays play at Gwinnett on Saturday and host Charlotte on Sunday.

National Conference - West Division

Alaska Aces

* Alaska is 7-0-0 when leading after one period and 9-1-0 when leading after two periods.
* John Lammers is tied for the league lead with seven power-play goals.
* Aces travel to Victoria on Sunday.

Idaho Steelheads

* Idaho has won its last three games and is 7-2-1 in the last 10 games.
* John Swanson has a seven-game point streak (5g-4a).
* Steelheads visit Utah on Saturday.

Utah Grizzlies

* Utah has six power-play goals in its last two games, including season-high four on Dec. 19 against Bakersfield.
* AJ Perry has a four-game goal streak (5g) and 23 points (10g-13a) in his last 16 games.
* Grizzlies host Idaho on Saturday.

Victoria Salmon Kings

* Victoria has scored four shorthand goals in its last five games.
* Chad Painchaud has nine points (5g-4a) in his last seven games.
* Salmon Kings host Alaska on Sunday.

National Conference - Pacific Division

Bakersfield Condors

* Bakersfield is 10-1-2 in its last 13 games.
* Goaltender Timo Pielmeier scored an empty-net goal at Utah on Dec. 19.
* Bakersfield hosts Stockton on Saturday and plays at Ontario on Sunday.

Las Vegas Wranglers

* Las Vegas has won four home games in a row and is 6-2-0 in the last eight games at Orleans Arena.
* Michael Ouzas stopped 47 of 50 shots and is 1-0-1 in his last two starts.
* Wranglers host Ontario on Saturday.

Ontario Reign

* Ontario is fourth in the league on the penalty kill at home with 86.8 percent (59-for-68).
* Greg Hogeboom scored 150th career point in 3-2 shootout win against Las Vegas on Dec. 18.
* Ontario travels to Las Vegas on Saturday before hosting Bakersfield on Sunday.

Stockton Thunder

* Stockton is second in the league on the power play with 23.1 percent (31-for-134).
* Matt Robinson has six goals and seven points (6g-1a) in his last seven games.
* Thunder visit Bakersfield on Saturday.

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ECHL Stories from December 21, 2009


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