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Wheeling's Darling Named Rbk Hockey ECHL Goaltender Of The Week

November 25, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - Curtis Darling of the Wheeling Nailers is the Rbk Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for Nov. 17-23.

The 25 year old was 2-0-1 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 1.30 and a save percentage of .962 to help the Nailers improve to 9-1-5 and second place in the North Division with 23 points.

Darling registered his third career shutout by stopping all 32 shots in a 4-0 win against Trenton on Nov. 19 while making 33 saves in a 3-1 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 22. He also turned aside 36 shots in a 4-3 shootout loss on the road against the Cyclones on Nov. 21.

The Calgary, Alberta native has been handling the goaltending for the Nailers after the Pittsburgh Penguins reassigned David Brown to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Darling is 3-1-2 with a goals-against average of 1.95 in November and 6-1-3 overall with a goals-against average of 3.03 and a save percentage of .914.

Darling was 7-17-3 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 3.60 and a save percentage of .914 in 27 games for Wheeling in 2007-08. He was acquired by the Nailers in exchange for future considerations on Jan. 2 from Charlotte where he was 3-4-0 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 2.94 and a save percentage of .881 in eight games with the Checkers. He also played in the AHL stopping all four shots in one game with Syracuse and making 12 saves in a game for Manchester.

Runners Up: Mitch O'Keefe, Elmira (2-0-0, 0.50 GAA, .984 save pct.), Joe Fallon, Fresno (2-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .929 save pct.) and Kris Mayotte, Johnstown (2-0-0, 1.92 GAA, .927 save pct.).

Also Nominated: Chris Holt (Alaska), Jeff Jakaitis (Charlotte), Martin Houle (Cincinnati), Paul Drew (Dayton), Anton Khudobin (Florida), Josh Johnson (Gwinnett), Kevin Lalande (Las Vegas), John Murray (Ontario), Craig Kowalski (Phoenix), Danny Taylor (Reading), Michal Neuvirth (South Carolina), Charlie Effinger (Trenton) and Michael Mole (Utah).

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Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and is 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 23 teams playing 828 games in 16 states and British Columbia in 2008-09.
- The Reading Royals, the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center will host the 17th Annual ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21, 2009 and the 12th Annual All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 20, 2009.
- The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to ECHL on May 19, 2003.
- Affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League marking 12th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.
- 368 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 112 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- 13 former ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season: former Wheeling Nailers and ECHL All-Star defenseman Paul Bissonnette (Pittsburgh on Oct. 4), former Greenville Grrrowl goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (Edmonton on Oct. 17), former Gwinnett Gladiators right wing Pat Dwyer (Carolina on Nov. 2), former Columbus Cottonmouths and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks left wing Mitch Fritz (New York Islanders on Oct. 30), former Charlotte Checkers center Dwight Helminen (Carolina on Oct. 28), former Trenton Devils right wing Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (New Jersey on Oct. 22), former Charlotte Checkers defenseman Steve MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Phoenix RoadRunners and Wheeling Nailers center Cam Paddock (St. Louis on Nov. 14), former Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman Adam Pardy (Calgary on Oct. 9), former Gwinnett Gladiators center Jared Ross (Philadelphia on Oct. 11), former Alaska Aces goaltender Marek Schwarz (St. Louis on Oct. 25), former Dayton Bombers and Las Vegas Wranglers defenseman Tyler Sloan (Washington on Oct. 21) and former Augusta Lynx defenseman Brett Skinner (New York Islanders on Oct. 27).
- There were 72 former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters.
- Twenty-six former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2007-08, including six who played in both the ECHL and the NHL as goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu (Alaska and St. Louis), Adam Berti (Pensacola and Chicago), Joe Jensen (Wheeling and Carolina), Dan LaCosta (Elmira and Columbus), Jonathan Quick (Reading and Los Angeles) and Danny Taylor (Reading and Los Angeles).
- Record 47 former ECHL players played their first NHL game in 2005-06.
- ECHL is represented for the eighth consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2008 by Aaron Downey of the Detroit Red Wings.
- Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals, Scott Gordon of the New York Islanders and Peter Laviolette of the Carolina Hurricanes. Boudreau, who coached Mississippi for three seasons winning the Kelly Cup championship in 1999, was named NHL Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach to receive the award. Laviolette, who began his coaching career with the Wheeling Nailers, led Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006.
- There are 18 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in the ECHL.
- There are 18 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL officiating team in 2008-09 with referees David Banfield, Chris Ciamaga, Ghislain Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin St. Pierre and Ian Walsh and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Tim Nowak and Jay Sharrers. Barton, Joannette, Leggo, McCauley, Nowak, Pollock, Rooney and Sharrers all worked the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League and for the past 19 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion.
- In the last six 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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