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Three Teams Battle for Final Two National Conference Playoff Spots

Published on March 8, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


With four weeks remaining in the regular season, three teams will be battling it out for the final two playoff spots in the National Conference. The Las Vegas Wranglers, Utah Grizzlies and Ontario Reign are tied with 59 points apiece, with Las Vegas and Utah having 14 games remaining, and Ontario with 13 games left.

The Wranglers and Reign played a three-game series in Ontario over the weekend with all three games decided in a shootout. In the opener on Friday, Las Vegas prevailed in a wild 7-6 affair in which the Wranglers scored four goals in the third period, including three in a seven-minute span midway through the frame, to force extra time. Ned Lukacevic scored the final two goals of regulation and Jerry Pollastrone scored in the 12th round of the shootout to give the Wranglers the lead, while Las Vegas goaltender Joel Gistedt stopped Ontario's Tony Voce to preserve the victory.

Las Vegas came from behind once again on Saturday with three goals in the third period, including the tying goal from Pollastrone with just 19 seconds remaining to force overtime. Jon Rheault, who just returned to the Reign from a three-month stint with Manchester of the AHL, scored the only goal of the shootout to ensure the Reign would walk away with two points.

During the finale on Sunday, it was Ontario forcing overtime, getting a goal from Rheault midway through the third period to tie the game 3-3. Lukacevic scored the lone goal in the shootout, while Gistedt stopped all five Reign shooters to lift the Wranglers to the 4-3 win.

Las Vegas has fared well against Ontario this season, posting an 8-0-3 record, with the two teams facing off in the final three games of the regular season at Orleans Arena on April 1, 2 and 3.

The Wranglers continue their road trip on Tuesday with the first of two games against Bakersfield, before opening a six-game homestand on Friday hosting the Condors and Alaska for three games each. Friday's game begins a season-ending stretch where the Wranglers play nine of their final 12 games at home, where the team is 17-8-2. Meanwhile, Ontario travels to Alaska on Wednesday for a three-game series.

Utah dropped two games at Alaska last week and hosts Stockton for a three-game series at The E-Center beginning on Friday. The Grizzlies have won six of their last seven games at home and are 16-12-2 overall on home ice this season. Utah has two of the top five scorers in the league with Ryan Kinasewich ranking third with 76 points (33g-43a) and A.J. Perry fifth with 66 points (22g-44a). Following this weekend's homestand, the Grizzlies play eight of their final 11 games on the road.

Las Vegas, Ontario and Utah are all two points behind fifth-place Alaska and three points in back of fourth-place Stockton. Only eight points separate the three teams from second-place Bakersfield.



Toledo's Two Sellouts Pushes Them Past 200,000 Fans

The Toledo Walleye have not only broken the all-time professional hockey attendance mark for the city, they have shattered it. With three games this past weekend, they welcomed more than 22,500 fans to Lucas County Arena, bringing their total attendance so to 205,135 with three games remaining in the regular season.

Two of their three games were sellouts with 7,461 fans passing through the gates for their March 5 game against Trenton, while 8,000 witnessed the Walleye defeat Charlotte in overtime on March 6. They now have 11 sellouts for the year, just one behind Elmira, which leads the league with 12 sellouts. Toledo also took over the league lead for average attendance with 6,216 fans per game.

Elmira collected their 12th sellout of the season on March 6, while Idaho had 5,279 in attendance for their game against Bakersfield on Saturday, handing them their sixth sellout of the year.

Elmira has raised its average 11.7 percent to 3,332 per game which is 88.1 percent of capacity at First Arena. The Jackals have had 31 sellouts since joining the ECHL five a year ago which tied for the league lead.

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

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL is 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 17.6 percent. The Cyclones led minor professional hockey with a 36 percent increase in 2007-08 and ranked second a year ago with a 23 percent increase.

Following Elmira is Utah, which has raised its average attendance by 8.6 percent to 3,969 per game; Kalamazoo raised their average attendance to 3,405 and is up 6.8 percent. Ontario rounds out the top five with an increase of 5.2 percent and are second in the league with an average of 6,157 fans per game and six home games left in the regular season.

Stockton is third in the league with 5,933 per game while Bakersfield is fourth with 5,336 and Gwinnett rounds out the top five with 5,329 per game. The Thunder have led the league 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.



American Conference - East Division



Elmira Jackals
* Elmira has won 15 of its last 19 games and has taken points in 16 of those games.
* Defenseman Brennan Turner scored his first career game-winning goal against Johnstown on March 7.
* Jackals host Kalamazoo on Friday, Cincinnati on Saturday and play at Reading on Sunday.

Johnstown Chiefs
* Johnstown has five power-play goals in their last two games (5-for-10).
* All-Star rookie Conner Shields had a career-high four assists against Kalamazoo on March 3.
* Chiefs host Reading on Friday and Wheeling on Saturday.

Reading Royals
* Matt Ward (March 2), Robert Slaney (March 2) and Kyle Laughlin (March 7) all scored their first professional goals this past week.
* Stefano Giliati is on a seven-game point streak (7g-10a) that started on Feb. 26 against Wheeling.
* Royals play at Johnstown on Friday, host Toledo on Saturday and host Elmira on Sunday.

Trenton Devils
* Trenton is 20-2-2 when leading after two periods.
* Tony Zancanaro had five points (2g-3a) in back-to-back games at Wheeling on March 6 and 7.
* Devils host Toledo on Wednesday and Friday and Kalamazoo on Saturday.

American Conference - North Division

b>Cincinnati Cyclones
* Cincinnati leads the league with 14 shorthand goals.
* All-Star Jeremy Smith ranks second in the ECHL with a goals-against average of 2.58.
* Cyclones play at Gwinnett on Monday and at Elmira on Saturday.

Kalamazoo Wings
* Kalamazoo is unbeaten in regulation in their last 10 games (8-0-2).
* Mathieu Curadeau had a team season-high four assists on March 4 against Reading.
* Wings play at Elmira on Friday, at Trenton on Saturday and at Wheeling on Sunday.

Toledo Walleye
* Toledo leads the ECHL with an average attendance of 6,216.
* All-Star Maxime Tanguay is second among ECHL rookies with 60 points (22g-38a).
* Walleye play at Trenton Wednesday and Friday and at Reading on Saturday.

Wheeling Nailers
* Wheeling is third in the ECHL with a .424 shootout percentage (14-for-33).
* All-Star defenseman Mitch Ganzak tied a personal season-high with three assists on March 7 against Trenton.
* Nailers play at Johnstown on Saturday and host Kalamazoo on Sunday.

American Conference - South Division

Charlotte Checkers
* Charlotte is 14-0-3 when leading after the first period.
* Michel Leveille recorded his first five-point game (1g-4a) of his career on March 5 at Toledo.
* Checkers host Gwinnett on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Florida Everblades
* Florida leads the ECHL with 2,070 shots on goal this season.
* All-Star Brandon Buck is on a six-game point streak (4g-6a) that started on Jan. 30. against Trenton.
* Everblades play at South Carolina on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Gwinnett Gladiators
* Gwinnett is first in the league on the road with a 24.1 power-play percentage (38-for-158).
* Tim Miller has a career-best six-game point streak (3g-5a) that started on Feb. 24 at Kalamazoo.
* Gwinnett hosts Cincinnati on Monday and plays at Charlotte Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

South Carolina Stingrays
* South Carolina is second in the ECHL with 221 goals scored.
* Rob Ricci recorded his first professional hat trick in a 6-2 win against Cincinnati on March 7.
* Stingrays host Florida on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

National Conference - West Division

Alaska Aces
* Alaska is unbeaten (9-0-1) in its last ten games at home.
* Scott Reid made 37 saves in a 3-2 win over Utah on March 4.
* Aces host Ontario on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Idaho Steelheads
* Idaho is 30-2-4 when scoring the first goal (.889 percent).
* Mark Derlago is on a 6-game goal streak (7g) since Feb. 24.
* Steelheads visit Victoria on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Utah Grizzlies
* Utah has not allowed a power-play goal in six games and hasn'tallowed a five-on-four power-play goal in eight games.
* James Sixsmith's 11-game scoring streak (8g-12a) is thelongest active streak in the ECHL.
* Grizzlies host Stockton on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Victoria Salmon Kings
* Victoria leads the ECHL with eight shorthand goals at home.
* Wes Goldie reached the 40-goal plateau for the fourth consecutive season with a goal March 6 against Stockton.
* Salmon Kings host Idaho on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

National Conference - Pacific Division

Bakersfield Condors
* Bakersfield is 20-0-1 when leading after two periods.
* Ken Morin scored his first professional goal on March 6 against Idaho.
* Condors host Las Vegas on Tuesday and Wednesday and visit Las Vegas on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Las Vegas Wranglers
* Las Vegas is 13-5-3 against Pacific Division opponents this season.
* Adam Miller's current goal-scoring streak of 6 games (6g) is tied for the best in the league.
* Wranglers visit Bakersfield on Tuesday and Wednesday, and host Bakersfield on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Ontario Reign
* Ontario's average attendance of 6,157 per game is second in the league.
* David Walker leads all ECHL defensemen with 21 power-play assists.
* Reign visit Alaska on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Stockton Thunder
* Stockton's power play on the road ranks second in the ECHL at 23.0 percent (31-for-135).
* Matt Robinson has 17 points (10g-7a) in his last 15 games since Jan. 31.
* Thunder visit Utah on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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ECHL Stories from March 8, 2010


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