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Road Warriors make run to top of conference

February 20, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


The Greenville Road Warriors head out on a five-game northern road trip this week with some momentum on the heels of a 4-0-1 run in their last five games.

Greenville opened last week with a 6-3 win over Gwinnett on Tuesday. Brendan Connolly paced the Road Warriors' offense with three assists, while Marc-Olivier Vallerand chipped in a pair of goals. With the Road Warriors trailing 2-1 after one period, Vallerand opened a run of five unanswered goals three minutes into the second period, and he ended the run as well, notching his 26th goal of the season with just under two minutes remaining in regulation. Jason Missiaen earned the win in goal for Greenville, turning aside 32 shots.

On Friday, the Road Warriors offense was again firing on all cylinders in an 8-3 win over Toledo. Greenville broke open a 3-3 game after 40 minutes with five goals in the first nine minutes of the third period. Justin Bowers led the way with two goals and two assists, Vallerand and Jeff Prough each had three assists and Francis Meilleur tied an ECHL season-high by recording a +5 rating.

The Road Warriors saw their four-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday in a 2-1 overtime loss against the Walleye. Brent Cornelius ' scored his first professional goal for Greenville, while B.J. O'Brien made 34 saves in his ECHL debut.

Bowers leads the Road Warriors, and is tied for second in the league, with 63 points. His 47 assists are also tops in the league. Vallerand ranks fifth in the league with a team-high 26 goals, nine of which have come on the power play which is also tied for fifth in the ECHL.

Greenville has been one of the hotter ECHL teams over the last month, posting a 10-2-2 mark in its last 14 games to improve to 31-18-4 on the season for 66 points. The Road Warriors sit just three points behind Gwinnett for first place in both the South Division and the Eastern Conference.

The Road Warriors open their road trip with four games in a five-night span this week, visiting Elmira on Wednesday, Trenton on Friday and Reading on Saturday and Sunday.

Aces clinch playoff berth, Goldie nears history

The Alaska Aces became the first team to qualify for the 2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Saturday with a 9-4 win over Bakersfield. Alaska clinched a berth in just 54 games, becoming the second quickest team to qualify for the postseason in ECHL history.

The only other team to qualify for the playoffs earlier was the Texas Wildcatters, who secured a spot after just 48 games during the 2007-08 season. The Aces edged out Louisiana for the second-quickest clinching in league history. The Ice Gators qualified for the 2002 Kelly Cup Playoffs after 56 games.

Alaska leads the league with 34 wins and 74 points, and has qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs in each of its nine seasons in the league. The Aces have won two Brabham Cups as regular-season champions, in 2006 and 2011, and both times, went on to capture the Kelly Cup as well.

Wes Goldie tallied a hat trick in Saturday's win over Bakersfield, inching him closer to the ECHL's all-time record for career goals. Goldie is tied for second in the league with teammate Dan Kissel with 28 goals on the season, and for his career now has 363 goals, leaving him just five shy of the all-time record held by 2009 ECHL Hall of Fame inductee Rod Taylor.

With two more goals, Goldie will also tie Taylor's all-time record of eight 30-or-more goal season. It would also mark the sixth consecutive season of at least 30 goals for Goldie, which would tie Taylor (1992-98) and Dany Bousquet (1996-2000) for the most consecutive 30-plus goal seasons in league history.

Goldie will look to make history at home this week as the Aces host Las Vegas on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Divisions

ATLANTIC DIVISION

- Dustin Gazley is on a career-best nine-game point streak (5g-8a).

- The Jackals lead the ECHL with 18 one-goal wins.

- Elmira visits Reading on Monday, hosts Greenville on Wednesday and Reading on Friday and is at Trenton on Saturday and Sunday.

- Yannick Tifu is on a seven-game point streak (4g-8a).

- Reading is 20-8-2 when scoring at least one power-play goal.

- The Royals host Elmira on Monday, are at Trenton on Wednesday and at Elmira on Friday before hosting Greenville on Saturday and Sunday.

- Rob Bordson is tied for 10th in the league with 51 points (17g-34a).

- The Titans won back-to-back games this weekend for the first time since Jan. 22-27.

- Trenton hosts Reading on Wednesday, Greenville on Friday and Elmira on Saturday and Sunday.

- Peter Merth leads defensemen in plus-minus with a +20.

- Wheeling is first with 34.58 shots per game.

- The Nailers are at Toledo on Friday and Saturday and at Kalamazoo on Sunday.

NORTH DIVISION

- Maxime Gratchev played in his 100th career ECHL game on Sunday.

- The Express are 14-4-3 when scoring first.

- Chicago visits Kalamazoo on Friday and hosts Florida on Saturday and Sunday.

- Mathieu Aubin leads the club with 19 goals.

- Cincinnati is tied for the league lead with 10 shorthanded goals.

- The Cyclones host Gwinnett on Monday and Wednesday, Florida on Friday, Kalamazoo on Saturday and are at Toledo on Sunday.

- Taylor Ellington is fourth among defensemen with 114 shots.

- The K-Wings are 21-6-3 when scoring first.

- Kalamazoo hosts Toledo on Wednesday, Chicago on Friday, travels to Cincinnati on Saturday and hosts Wheeling on Sunday.

- Kyle Rogers scored his second overtime game-winning goal of the season on Sunday at Greenville.

- Toledo is 6-2-1 in its last nine games.

- The Walleye are at Kalamazoo on Wednesday and host Wheeling on Friday and Saturday and Cincinnati on Sunday.

SOUTH DIVISION

- David Fischer leads defensemen with 31 assists.

- The Everblades are third on the power play at 21.0 percent (51-for-243).

- Florida travels to Cincinnati on Friday and Chicago on Saturday and Sunday.

- Bretton Cameron has 10 points (3g-7a) in 12 games for Greenville after being acquired from Stockton.

- Greenville is 4-2-0 in its last six road games.

- The Road Warriors are at Elmira on Wednesday, Trenton on Friday and Reading on Saturday and Sunday.

- Brad Miller is second in the league with six shootout goals.

- The Gladiators are the league's fourth-least penalized team with 14.32 penalty minutes per game.

- Gwinnett is at Cincinnati on Monday and Wednesday and at South Carolina on Saturday and Sunday.

- Daren Machesney is fourth in the league with a 2.31 goals-against average and fifth with a .920 save percentage.

- South Carolina is tied for third with 28.02 shots-against per game.

- The Stingrays host Gwinnett on Saturday and Sunday.

MOUNTAIN DIVISION

- Bryan Miller is tied for second in the league with 23 power-play points (7g-16a).

- The Aces have a league-best 26 home wins (26-5-0).

- Alaska hosts Las Vegas on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

- Chad Costello is tied for second in the league with 63 points (25g-38a).

- Colorado is second with 3.56 goals per game.

- The Eagles host Ontario on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

- Aaron Lewicki has six goals in eight games with Idaho since being acquired from Reading.

- The Steelheads play 14 of their final 18 games at home.

- Idaho hosts Utah on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

- Andrew Engelage is fifth with 2,038 minutes played.

- Utah is third on the penalty kill at 85.3 percent (220-for-258).

- The Grizzlies are at Idaho on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

PACIFIC DIVISION

- Parker Stanfield is on a seven-game point streak (4g-7a).

- The Condors are tied for the league lead with 10 shorthanded goals.

- Bakersfield hosts Stockton on Friday and Saturday and visits the Thunder on Sunday.

- Adam Miller leads the league with 65 points (27g-38a).

- Las Vegas is fifth with 2.84 goals-against per game.

- The Wranglers are at Alaska on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

- Kyle Kraemer is on an 11-game point streak (7g-10a).

- The Reign are 19-3-3 in their last 25 games.

- Ontario is at Colorado on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

- Olivier Roy has a 1.49 goals against average since Jan. 25.

- Stockton is 9-1-1 in its last 11 home games.

- The Thunder are at Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday and host the Condors on Sunday.

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