Stockton Receives ECHL Award Of Excellence
Published on June 21, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced on Thursday that the
Stockton Thunder have been presented the Award of Excellence for 2006-07.
The Award of Excellence is presented by the ECHL to organizations that are
first-rate, cooperative with the league office, compliant with league
programs, and who distinguish themselves on and off the ice in their
community. The award was presented at the 12th Annual Communications &
Marketing Meetings held June 10-13 and attended by more than 150
representatives from ECHL teams.
Stockton's "FANtastic" campaign, which received a Marketing Campaign
Award, was a season-long tribute to the loyal and rapidly-growing fan base.
The Thunder, who became the first team other than Florida to lead the
league in attendance two years in a row since Louisiana from 1995-99,
featured fans in advertising and printed publications and on video board
montages during games while emphasizing more frequent interaction between
Thunder players and front office staff with the community. Stockton raised
their average attendance by 6.5 percent to 6,780 per game and had three
sellouts at Stockton Arena, which will host the ECHL All-Star Game on Jan.
23, 2008.
The Thunder raised more than $200,000 for charity in cash and donations
highlighted by the acclaimed "Thunder Goes Pink Weekend" which drew more
than 15,000 fans and raised more $35,573 for the St. Joseph's Foundation
Mobile Mammography Unit and the American Cancer Society - Stockton Field
Office.
ECHL Award of Excellence Winners
Year Team
2006-07 Stockton Thunder
2005-06 Alaska Aces
2004-05 Pensacola Ice Pilots
2003-04 Florida Everblades
2002-03 Johnstown Chiefs
ECHL
The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.
ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in three states and has grown to be a
coast-to-coast league that will have 25 teams playing in 17 states and
British Columbia in 2007-08, including the Mississippi (Biloxi) Sea Wolves,
who return after missing two seasons in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Opening Day for the 20th Anniversary Season will be Oct. 18 when the
Johnstown Chiefs host the Wheeling Nailers at Cambria County War Memorial.
The game is a rematch of Game 7 from the first-ever ECHL Finals played in
front of a standing-room-only crowd at Cambria County War Memorial. The two
teams will wear throwback jerseys for the Opening Day game that begins at
7:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast worldwide on B2 Networks, the
"Official Broadband Broadcast Provider of the ECHL". The remaining teams
will open their seasons the weekend of Oct. 19-21.
There have been
329 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after
playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06 and 26 in 2006-07.
There have been 184 former ECHL players who have played their first game in
the NHL in the past five seasons and 107 former ECHL players have skated in
the NHL this season. More than 100 players under contract to NHL teams have
played in the ECHL this season.
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 24 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey
League in 2006-07 and for the past 17 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.
ECHL Stories from June 21, 2007
- Salmon Kings Secure Sibling Snipers - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Bombers Contribute More Than $80,000 To Local Charities - Dayton Bombers
- Inferno Captain Returns to Columbia - Columbia Inferno
- RoadRunners Raise More Than $75,000 For Charity In 2006-07 - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Stockton Receives ECHL Award Of Excellence - ECHL
- Deitsch, Wirll Leave Cyclones For Germany - Cincinnati Cyclones
- Nailers Win ECHL Website of the Year Award - Wheeling Nailers
- Proud to be a Royal - Reading Royals
- Royals Offer New Opportunity for Fun'Raisers - Reading Royals
- Wheeling, Idaho Win ECHL Web Site Of The Year - ECHL
- Reading, Stockton Receive ECHL Marketing Campaign Award - ECHL
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