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Southern Division Finals Begin Sunday

Published on April 25, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The best-of-five South Division Finals are scheduled to begin on Sunday with the location of Game 1 being determined on Friday in Beaumont, Texas.

If top seed Texas beats fifth-seed Columbia in Game 5 on Friday then the Wildcatters would host South Carolina in Game 1 at 7:05 p.m. on Sunday. If Columbia wins on Friday then second-seed South Carolina would host the Inferno in Game 1 at 7:05 p.m. on Sunday.

The winner of the South Division Finals will meet the North Division winner in the best-of-seven American Conference Finals to determine who faces the National Conference winner in a best-of-seven series for the Kelly Cup.

South Carolina reached the finals with a 2-0 win against Gwinnett on Wednesday. The Stingrays played 10 games in 14 days, beating Augusta in five games in the first round and Gwinnett in five games in the second. In the first round, Texas beat Mississippi in four games while Columbia upset fourth-seed Florida in a three-game sweep.

The Stingrays have won two series three times including 2001 and 1997 when they went on to win the Kelly Cup. South Carolina swept Louisiana in four games in the third round in 2001 to advance to the Kelly Cup Finals where they beat Trenton in five games. The Stingrays beat Pensacola in five games in the third round in 1997 to reach the first-ever Kelly Cup Finals where they beat Louisiana in five games. South Carolina lost in three games to Louisiana in the third round in 2000.

Texas has reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs each of the last two seasons, but has not advanced past the second round. The only time that Columbia has advanced past the second round in the Kelly Cup Playoffs was 2003 when they won the Southern Conference to reach the Kelly Cup Finals.

South Carolina was 7-3-0 against Columbia this season, including 3-2-0 at home, and is 34-23-5 all-time against the Inferno. In their only postseason meeting, the Stingrays beat Columbia in four games in the division semifinals in 2004. The Stingrays were 2-1-0 on the road against Texas and are 9-7-0 all-time against the Wildcatters.

Texas won the last two meetings with South Carolina and was 4-1-1 this season to improve to 7-7-2 all-time against the Stingrays. The Inferno, who are in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2005 and the fifth in their seven-year history, are 28-29-5 all-time against South Carolina.

The Stingrays are 16-11 all-time in postseason series while the Wildcatters are 2-1 and Columbia is 4-4, pending the outcome of Game 5 on Friday.

Texas is tied for the Kelly Cup Playoffs lead with four shorthand goals and ranks fifth in scoring with 3.38 goals per game and fourth in goals-against average with 2.25. Columbia ranks third in goals-against average with 2.14 while South Carolina ranks fourth in penalty killing at 90.4 percent.

South Carolina rookie Travis Morin leads the Kelly Cup Playoffs with six goals while rookie Marty Guerin leads the team with nine points and is tied for second in the league with five goals. Sean P. Collins is tied for second among league defensemen with five assists and six points. Stingray rookie Josh Johnson is 3-2 and ranks sixth in the Kelly Cup Playoffs with a goals-against average of 2.07 while teammate Davis Parley is 3-2 and tied for second with one shutout.

Texas rookie Cleve Kinley leads the Kelly Cup Playoffs with 13 points and he is tied for the postseason lead with eight assists while leading league defensemen in goals, assists and points. Wildcatter rookie Max Taylor is tied for the postseason lead with two shorthand goals and is tied for third with 11 points. Kinley and Taylor are tied for second with teammate Kevin Baker with five goals each. Texas rookie Anton Khudobin leads the postseason with 488 minutes and 253 saves and he is tied for the lead with five wins while ranking seventh in goals-against average with 2.21.

Reid Cashman of Columbia is tied for second among league defensemen with five assists and six points while Steve McJannet leads the Inferno with six assists and seven points. Columbia's Todd Ford is tied for the Kelly Cup Playoffs lead with five wins while ranking third in save percentage with .937 and fifth in goals-against average with 1.99.

South Carolina is making its league record 14th postseason appearance after missing the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time ever last season. The Stingrays set a team record with 47 wins and their 97 points were the second most in the team's 15-year history.

The Wildcatters were 52-9-11 and had 115 points, which is the second most in the 20-year history of the league, one behind the record of 116 by Louisiana in 2001-02. The Wildcatters nine regulation losses are the fewest in ECHL history breaking the record of 11 set by Richmond in 1995-96 while their 26 road wins tie the ECHL record by Louisiana in 2001-02. The Wildcatters had three home losses, one shy of the league record by Louisiana in 2001-02, and six road losses, one more than the league mark of five by Las Vegas in 2006-07.

South Division Finals Schedule

If #1 Texas Wildcatters (52-9-11) vs. #2 South Carolina Stingrays (47-22-3)
Apr. 27 at Texas 7:05 p.m.
Apr. 28 at Texas 7:05 p.m.
Apr. 30 at South Carolina 7:05 p.m.
May 1 at South Carolina 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)
May 3 at Texas 7:35 p.m. (if necessary)

#2 South Carolina Stingrays (47-22-3) vs. #5 Columbia Inferno (33-28-11)
Apr. 27 at South Carolina 7:05 p.m.
Apr. 29 at South Carolina 7:05 p.m.
May 2 at Columbia 7:05 p.m.
May 3 at Columbia 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)
May 6 at South Carolina 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

South Division Semifinals (Best-of-Five)

#2 South Carolina Stingrays (47-22-3) vs. #3 Gwinnett Gladiators (44-23-5)
South Carolina Wins Series 3-2
Game 1 - Gwinnett 2 at SOUTH CAROLINA 5
Game 2 - Gwinnett 4 at SOUTH CAROLINA 5 (OT)
Game 3 - South Carolina 1 at GWINNETT 4
Game 4 - South Carolina 0 at GWINNETT 3
Game 5 - Gwinnett 0 at SOUTH CAROLINA 2

#1 Texas Wildcatters (52-9-11) vs. #5 Columbia Inferno (33-28-11)
Series Tied 2-2
Game 1 - COLUMBIA 4 at Texas 2
Game 2 - Columbia 2 at TEXAS 6
Game 3 - TEXAS 1 at Columbia 0 (OT)
Game 4 - Texas 1 at COLUMBIA 2 (OT)
Game 5 - Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Texas

South Division Quarterfinals (Best-of-Five)

#1 Texas Wildcatters (52-9-11) vs. #8 Mississippi Sea Wolves (29-40-3)
Texas Wins Series 3-1
Game 1 - Mississippi 1 at TEXAS 4
Game 2 - Mississippi 2 at TEXAS 5
Game 3 - Texas 3 at MISSISSIPPI 4 (OT)
Game 4 - TEXAS 5 at Mississippi 3

#2 South Carolina Stingrays (47-22-3) vs. #7 Augusta Lynx (32-35-5)
South Carolina Wins Series 3-2
Game 1 - South Carolina 2 at AUGUSTA 5
Game 2 - South Carolina 3 at AUGUSTA 4 (OT)
Game 3 - Augusta 2 at SOUTH CAROLINA 3 (OT)
Game 4 - Augusta 2 at SOUTH CAROLINA 3 (2 OT)
Game 5 - Augusta 1 at SOUTH CAROLINA 3

#3 Gwinnett Gladiators (44-23-5) vs. #6 Charlotte Checkers (34-31-7)
Gwinnett Wins Series 3-0
Game 1 - Charlotte 0 at GWINNETT 4
Game 2 - Charlotte 1 at GWINNETT 4
Game 3 - GWINNETT 2 at Charlotte 1

#4 Florida Everblades (39-25-8) vs. #5 Columbia Inferno (33-28-11)
Columbia Wins Series 3-0
Game 1 - COLUMBIA 3 at Florida 2 (OT)
Game 2 - COLUMBIA 3 at Florida 1
Game 3 - Florida 2 at COLUMBIA 3

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 355 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including 99 in the last three seasons. There have been 210 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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