ECHL ECHL

Wranglers, Falcons Lock Up Kelly Cup Playoff Berths

February 27, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


The Las Vegas Wranglers and the Fresno Falcons both qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs over the weekend, joining the Alaska Aces who qualified for the postseason last weekend.

It is the second trip to the Kelly Cup Playoffs in three seasons for Las Vegas, which is second in both the West Division and the league with 82 points and a 38-9-6 record. It is the first-ever trip to the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the Falcons, who secured their berth when San Diego beat Stockton on Sunday. Fresno, which joined as an expansion team in 2003-04, leads the Pacific Division with 70 points and a 30-10-10 record.

Alaska is 42-8-4 and leads the league with 88 points, 42 wins, 24 home wins, a winning percentage of .815 and a home-winning percentage of .875.

The regular season ends on April 8 and the Kelly Cup Playoffs are scheduled to begin April 10 with the Kelly Cup Finals scheduled for May 22-June 3.

The playoff qualifiers in the American Conference are the top five teams in the North Division and the top six teams in the South Division.

The best-of-three division quarterfinals in the American Conference will be played April 10-13 with the best-of-five division semifinals scheduled for April 14-23. The best-of-five division finals will be played April 24-May 3 and the best-of-seven American Conference Finals are scheduled for May 5-20.

The playoff qualifiers in the National Conference will be the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the Pacific Division and the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the West Division.

The best-of-seven division semifinals in the National Conference will be played April 10-22 with the best-of-seven division finals scheduled for April 24-May 6. The best-of-seven National Conference Finals will be played May 8-20.

Gladiators Continue To Lead Florida South Division

Getting three of a possible four points at Florida over the weekend, Gwinnett improved to 35-11-7 and remains atop the South Division, six points ahead of Florida with 71 points and a 34-17-3 record.

Gwinnett can qualify for the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the third season in a row on Tuesday at Pensacola with a win or a loss in overtime or a shootout. The Gladiators lost in the conference semifinals last season after reaching the conference finals in their first season in Gwinnett in 2004.

Gwinnett, which is 14-4-2 in its last 20 games, plays at Pensacola on Tuesday and at Columbia on Friday before hosting Pensacola on Saturday and Sunday. The Gladiators are 6-0-1 and have outscored Pensacola 36-15 and are 7-0-1 and have outscored Columbia 43-22.

Florida, which is two points ahead of third-place Greenville, continues its season-high eight-game home stand hosting South Carolina on Tuesday and Wednesday and Charlotte on Saturday. The Everblades have reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs in each of their seven seasons in the league, advancing to the Kelly Cup Finals the past two years.

Greenville has won its last two games and is 8-1-1 in the last 10 to improve to 33-17-3 record and 69 points which is 10 points ahead of fourth-place Charlotte at 27-24-5. The Grrrowl continues a six-game road trip with a trip up north to visit Reading on Tuesday, Wheeling on Friday, Toledo on Saturday and Johnstown on Sunday. Greenville has reached the postseason four times in seven seasons and won the Kelly Cup in 2002. Charlotte advanced to the conference finals last season and has reached the postseason eight times in its 12 seasons and won the Riley Cup in 1996.

South Carolina has won its last two games to improve to 22-19-11 and 55 points, three points ahead of Augusta which is sitting in the last playoff berth in the South Division. The Stingrays have advanced to the postseason in every one of their 12 seasons, tying them with Pensacola for the ECHL record for most playoff appearances, and are the only two-time winners of the Kelly Cup, capturing the inaugural trophy in 1997 and winning again 2001. The Lynx are looking to return to the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2001 and the fourth time since moving to Augusta in 1998-99. South Carolina will play at Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday and at Pensacola on Friday while Augusta visits Columbia on Saturday.

Gulls Draw Over 12,000 For Second Straight Saturday

For the second straight Saturday, San Diego had a crowd of over 12,000 while Florida averaged over 7,000 for its South Division showdown with Gwinnett to help the ECHL increase its average attendance to 4,272 per game which is an increase of almost 10 percent from last season and on pace to be the highest average attendance since 4,319 per game in 2000-01.

San Diego had 12,358 on Saturday while Florida recorded its second sellout of the year with 7,356 on Saturday. The 14,371 for the two games against Gwinnett increased the Everblades average attendance to 6,109 and allowed them to move past Stockton into first place in average attendance which they have led each of the past six seasons. Florida also took over the total attendance lead with 171,060 for 28 home games. The crowd of 12,358 is the second-largest ECHL crowd for the Gulls and the ninth time since they joined the league in 2003-04 that they have had a crowd of more than 10,000. In the last two weeks, San Diego has increased its average attendance by 10 percent and ranks fifth in the league with 5,630 per game.

The ECHL has had 25 sellout crowds and 10 crowds of more than 10,000 led by San Diego which had a team record 13,001 on Nov. 5 and 12,240 on Feb. 18 and 12,358 on Saturday. Stockton has had three crowds of 10,117 while Gwinnett has two crowds over 10,000, including a sellout crowd of 11,355 on Nov. 11, and Charlotte drew 10,894 on Nov. 25 and 10,945 on Feb. 18.

First-year member Stockton had 8,147 for its game on Saturday and is second with 6,039 per game while Charlotte is third with 5,839 per game which is an increase of 15.7 percent from 2004-05. Charlotte has sold out its last five home games played on Saturday, including a team record crowd of 10,945 on Feb. 18 and leads the league with eight sellouts.

Bakersfield has had four crowds over 7,000 and is fourth in the league with 5,738, an increase of six percent from last season, while Gwinnett is sixth with 5,488 per game. Long Beach had its second-largest crowd of the season with 4,822 on Saturday while Phoenix had its second-largest crowd of the year on Friday with 5,438.

Chiefs Win Three Straight, Gain Ground In North

Winning three one-goal games in row over the weekend, Johnstown improved to 24-20-11 and 59 points which places them fourth in the North Division, four points behind third-place Toledo at 29-17-5 and five points ahead of defending Kelly Cup champion Trenton at 26-25-2.

Johnstown, which has had a league-high 14 games go to a shootout (4-10) and is looking to return to the postseason for the 11th time in its history, will play at Reading on Friday and host Greenville on Sunday.

Reading continues to lead the North with a record of 32-14-7 and 71 points, three points ahead of Wheeling at 32-17-4 and eight points in front of Toledo at 29-17-5. The Royals need a combination of six points in wins and/or losses by Dayton to advance to the postseason for the third consecutive season. Reading, which advanced to the division finals a year ago and the conference finals in 2004, hosts Greenville on Tuesday, Johnstown on Friday and Trenton on Saturday.

Looking to return to the Kelly Cup Playoffs after missing the postseason a year ago, Wheeling will host Greenville on Friday and Toledo on Sunday. Toledo, which can reach the postseason in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1998 and 1999, will host Trenton on Wednesday and Friday and Greenville on Saturday before visiting Wheeling on Sunday. Trenton, which has reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs five times in its six seasons, continues its five-game road trip visiting Toledo on Wednesday and Friday and Reading on Saturday.

Ice Dogs Move Closer To Kelly Cup Playoff Berth

Winning eight of their last 11 games, including a six-game winning streak, the Long Beach Ice Dogs have improved to 30-18-6 and 66 points, four points behind Pacific Division leader Fresno.

The Ice Dogs need a combination of three points in wins and/or losses by Stockton to reach the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive year. Long Beach plays its only game of the week on Wednesday at San Diego while Stockton hosts San Diego on Tuesday and Dayton on Saturday and Sunday.

All-Star Christian Larrivee has led the Ice Dogs offensively scoring in 11 of his last 12 games (4g-13a), including a nine-game scoring streak (3g-11a). Michael Lambert, who was assigned to Long Beach from Hamilton of the American Hockey League on Feb. 16, scored his first professional hat trick on Feb. 18 and he has six points (5g-1a) in his last four games.

San Diego has won its last three games to improve to 23-23-5 and 51 points, three points behind third-place Bakersfield. Steve Hildenbrand has two game-winning goals and six points (5g-1a) during the winning streak and leads the team with 29 assists and 51 points in 50 games. All-Star Jesse Bennefield has scored in six of his last eight games (1g-8a) and leads the team with 23 goals and ranks second with 49 points in 47 games while Mark Wires has eight points (3g-5a) in the last four games. San Diego plays at Stockton on Tuesday before returning home to host Long Beach on Wednesday and Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday.

Bakersfield won back-to-back overtime games at Stockton to improve to 5-1-0 in the last six games and 24-19-5 overall. Defenseman Kevin Truelson has a game-winning goal and six points (1g-5a) in the last six games while rookie Reagan Leslie has a game-winning goal and five points (1g-4a) in his last five games and Kevin St. Jacques has scored in 13 of his last 14 games (5g-12a). The Condors host Fresno on Monday and Dayton on Wednesday before heading to Victoria for games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Did You Know ... Alaska has a winning percentage of .815. The Louisiana IceGators had a winning percentage of .806 (56-12-4) in 2001-02 making them the only team in ECHL history to finish the season with a winning percentage over .800.

Feature Games Of The Week

North Division

Toledo at Wheeling - Sunday at 5:05 p.m. ET
- Logan Koopmans is 2-0-0 with goals against of 1.50 in two starts against Wheeling.
- Wheeling has five players who have scored three goals against Toledo.

South Division

Augusta at Columbia - Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET
- Augusta is 4-2-0 and has outscored the Inferno 23-18 in six games.
- Brandon Nolan leads Columbia with six assists and eight points against Lynx.

West Division

Utah at Alaska - Friday at 7:15 p.m. AT
- Alfie Michaud is 2-1-0 with a .947 save percentage against Alaska.
- Ryan Gaucher has four goals, two power play and two game winners, against Utah.

Pacific Division

Long Beach at San Diego - Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. PT
- Pierre-Luc Sleigher leads Gulls with three goals and four points against Long Beach.
- Rookie Blake Robson scored the game winner in Ice Dogs 3-2 win over San Diego on Feb. 4.

Check out the ECHL Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 27, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central