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Trenton, Louisiana Sit Atop ECHL

Published on October 21, 2002 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Trenton and Louisiana have picked up where they left off and enter the third week of play sitting atop the Northern Conference and the Southern Conference, respectively.

Louisiana has the highest winning percentage in East Coast Hockey League history with .677 (315-138-45) while Trenton ranks second in all-time winning percentage with .670 (138-63-19).

The Titans extended their winning streak to four games with a perfect 3-0 record last week, improving to 5-0-1 with a league-leading 11 points. Trenton finished the 2001-02 season with 102 points making it the first team in league history to amass 100 points in more than one season. The Titans won the Brabham Cup, awarded to the ECHL regular-season point champion, in 2000-01 with 104 points.

Scott Bertoli has scored a point in each of Trenton's six games and has a three-game goal-scoring streak (three goals) and a five-game assist streak (six assists). Bertoli is tied for the league scoring lead with 11 points (5g-6a) in six games.

The Titans are on the road for back-to-back Northeast Division games this weekend, visiting Atlantic City on Friday and Reading on Saturday. Trenton went 6-3-1 in the regular season against Atlantic City in 2001-02, but was swept by the Boardwalk Bullies in the 2002 Kelly Cup Playoffs Northeast Division Finals. The Titans are 3-0-0 in 2002-03 and 11-1-1 all-time against Reading. Atlantic City is 4-0-0 and sits in second place in the Northeast Division with eight points. The Boardwalk Bullies, who lead the league allowing only 1.75 goals per game, will host Reading on Wednesday before welcoming the Titans on Friday.

Louisiana went 3-0 last week improving to 4-0-0 which ties its team record for consecutive wins to open the season. The league record for consecutive wins to open the season is eight games set by Dayton in 1994 and tied by Trenton last season. The IceGators rewrote the league record book in 2001-02 setting marks for most points (116), most wins (56), most home wins (30), most road wins (26), and fewest home losses (2) while tying the record with 14 consecutive wins. The IceGators lead the league allowing opponents only 22.5 shots per game and are tied for the league scoring lead averaging 5.0 goals per game.

InGlasCo East Coast Hockey League Player of the Week Shawn McNeil has a three-game goal-scoring streak (six goals) and leads the league with six goals in four games.

Louisiana hosts Arkansas on Friday and Jackson on Sunday while traveling to Baton Rouge on Saturday. The IceGators are 1-0 in 2002-03 and 15-6-3 all-time against Arkansas and 1-0 in 2002-03 and 38-16-7 all-time against Baton Rouge. Louisiana is 12-5-1 all-time in the regular season against Jackson, but lost in five games to the Bandits in the 2002 Kelly Cup Playoffs Southwest Division Semifinals.

Toledo leads the Northwest Division with nine points and a 4-0-1 record after going 3-0 last week. The Storm rank second in the league in goals allowed with 2.20 per game after shutting out Lexington 3-0 on Sunday. Toledo hosts Wheeling on Friday and Cincinnati on Saturday before traveling to Dayton on Sunday. Toledo is 46-33-7 all-time in the regular season against Wheeling and 11-13-1 all-time in the regular season against Cincinnati. The Storm is 1-0 in 2002-03 and 17-11-2 all-time in the regular season against Dayton.

Columbia leads the Southeast Division with eight points and a 4-1-0 record after going 3-0 last week. The Inferno hosts Augusta on Thursday and Saturday while traveling to Richmond on Friday. Augusta is 6-2-0 against Columbia while Richmond is 1-1-0.

Sanford, Thomas Become 194th and 195th ECHL Players In NHL

Former East Coast Hockey League goaltenders Curtis Sanford and Tim Thomas each made their National Hockey League debut last week, becoming the 194th and 195th former ECHL players to advance to the NHL.

Sanford entered St. Louis' 7-1 win over Columbus on Thursday with 53 seconds remaining in the first period when Reinhard Divis was forced to leave the game because of injury. Sanford made 12 saves and narrowly missed having a shutout when Jaroslav Spacek scored with 12 seconds left in the game.

"Really, there was no time to get nervous," Sanford said. "I was thrown right out there. Maybe if I had some time to think about it, it would have been nerve-racking. You have to be ready when called upon. When you get the opportunity you do what you can to seize it."

During the 2000-01 regular season, Sanford was 15-7-4 with three shutouts and set the ECHL record with a 1.91 goals against average while tying for third with a .925 save percentage, earning second-team All-ECHL honors. He helped Peoria advance to the Northern Conference Finals tying for the postseason lead with two shutouts while ranking second with nine wins and a 2.07 goals against average and ranked fourth with a .920 save percentage.

Thomas made 31 saves in his first-ever start as Boston beat Edmonton 4-3 on Saturday.

"Yeah, I dreamed about this, even last summer," Thomas said. "I think everyone thinks about getting a chance to play in this league and you just wish there was some way to make it happen. And tonight, it did. It feels great. How could it have gone any better? I guess I could have got a shutout."

Selected by Quebec in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, Thomas was 4-1-1 with a 2.18 goals against average and a .944 save percentage in six games with Birmingham in 1997-98.

InGlasCo ECHL Player Of The Week

Shawn McNeil, Louisiana IceGators
GP: 3 G: 6 A: 1 PTS: 7 +/-: E

ECHL Goalie Of The Week

Geoffrey Faulkner, Augusta Lynx
GP: 2 W-L: 2-0 GAA: 1.18 PCT: .953

Feature Games Of The Week

Northern Conference

Trenton at Atlantic City Thursday, 7:05 ET
- First of 10 meetings in Grainger Cup Series
- First time teams will meet since Bullies swept Titans in 2002 Kelly Cup Playoffs Northeast Division Finals.

Reading at Wheeling Sunday, 5:00 ET
- First of Wheeling¹s two regular season games to be played at First Union Arena at Casey Plaza, the home of Nailers¹ AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Southern Conference

Greenville at South Carolina Tuesday, 7:00 ET
- Second meeting of season between 2002 Kelly Cup Champion Greenville and 2001 Kelly Cup Champion South Carolina.
- South Carolina won first game 7-6 in a shootout at Greenville on October 12th.

Jackson at Louisiana Sunday, 4:00 CT
- First meeting meet since Jackson defeated Louisiana in five games in the 2002 Kelly Cup Playoffs Southwest Division Semifinals.
- Jackson went 3-4-3 against IceGators in 2001-02.

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