NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



ECHL

Seven Teams, Kelly Cup Champs Undefeated

October 24, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Following the first week of action there are eight undefeated teams including defending Kelly Cup Champion Trenton which beat Wheeling 5-3 on Saturday in front of 7,093 at Sovereign Bank Arena.

Fresno under new coach Matt Thomas won a pair of one-goal games to open the season 2-0-0 and sits atop the Pacific Division of the National Conference. Brett Jaeger made 30 saves in a 2-1 win against Victoria on Friday and Peter Fregoe scored the game-winning goal and had an assist in a 4-3 win on Saturday against Stockton, which was playing its first-ever ECHL game. The Falcons play at Long Beach on Friday before returning home to host Idaho on Saturday and Sunday.

Idaho is 3-0-0 for the second straight season after posting three wins over Long Beach, which eliminated the Steelheads from the Kelly Cup Playoffs last season. Matt Yeats is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.57 and leads the league in wins and minutes (180). The Steelheads and new coach Derek Laxdal sit atop the West Division as they begin a five-game road trip with games at Fresno on Saturday and Sunday.

Kevin Kotyluk had three assists in Bakersfield's 5-3 season-opening win on Saturday in front of 8,263, the fourth-largest crowd in Condors team history. The Condors are 1-0-0 and will make their only trip of the season to Anchorage when they visit the Alaska Aces on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Opening with back-to-back wins over San Diego on Friday and Saturday, the Alaska Aces are 2-0-0 with their third game against the Gulls on Monday.

Two of the newest members of the ECHL, the Phoenix RoadRunners and the Utah Grizzlies renewed their longtime rivalry from their days in the International Hockey League with three games in three days. Scoring a pair of goals to lead the RoadRunners to a 4-2 win at Utah on Friday night, Cory Pecker leads the league with four goals and seven points after the opening weekend. The Grizzlies picked up their first two ECHL wins at Phoenix, winning 5-4 on Saturday and 7-3 win on Sunday. Matt Craig scored the game winner in both games to lead the league with two game-winning goals while being tied for second with three goals and tied for fifth with four points. Phoenix remains home to host San Diego on Friday and Saturday while Utah will visit Las Vegas on Tuesday before hosting Victoria on Friday and Saturday.

Columbia sits atop the South Division at 2-0-1 following a 4-2 win against Johnstown on Friday, a 5-4 shootout win at South Carolina on Saturday and a 1-0 overtime loss at Augusta on Sunday. The Inferno, which have finished atop their division in each of the last three seasons, and new head coach Ted Dent host Charlotte on Friday and South Carolina on Sunday while traveling to Greenville on Saturday.

Charlotte, which reached the conference finals a year ago, and Augusta, which is looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2001, are both 2-0-0 and tied for second place in the South Division. The Checkers opened with a 1-0 shootout win at Gwinnett on Friday and a 5-3 win at Greenville on Saturday. The Lynx beat South Carolina 4-2 on Friday and beat Columbia 1-0 in overtime on Sunday. The Checkers will play their first five games on the road, including Friday at Columbia and Saturday at South Carolina, before hosting South Carolina at the new Bobcats Arena in downtown Charlotte on November 6. The Lynx begin a five-game road trip on Tuesday at South Carolina and visit Gwinnett on Friday and Pensacola on Saturday.

Gwinnett lost 1-0 in a shootout to Charlotte on opening night and then traveled to Pensacola on Saturday and Sean Fields made 38 saves in a 6-0 win. In fourth place in the South Division at 1-0-1, Gwinnett returns home to host Augusta on Friday.

The only ECHL teams that did not see action on opening weekend were the Florida Everblades and the Las Vegas Wranglers, who saw their games scheduled for Friday and Saturday postponed a week because of Hurricane Wilma. The Wranglers will open the season on Tuesday at home when they host Utah while the Everblades are scheduled to host Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday.

8,263 In Bakersfield, Sellout In Toledo Highlight Opening Weekend

A sellout crowd in Toledo and the largest opening night crowd and the fourth-largest crowd in team history at Bakersfield highlighted the opening weekend of the ECHL which had 115,588 fans attending 22 games for an average of 5,254, an increase of two percent from last season.

The Storm had a sellout crowd for the third-straight year at historic Toledo Sports Arena on Friday while the Condors had 8,263 fans at 9,000-seat Rabobank Arena. There were four crowds over 7,000 in the ECHL on Saturday with 7,093 watching the Kelly Cup Championship banner-raising ceremony in Trenton, 7,738 at the home opener in South Carolina, 7,218 at the home opener in Dayton and 7,797 in Fresno at Save Mart Center which will host the 2006 ECHL All-Star Game on January 25.

Not included in the opening weekend was perennial attendance leader Florida whose season-opening games against the Las Vegas Wranglers had to be postponed because of Hurricane Wilma.

Newcomers Utah and Phoenix opened with a home-and-home series that saw crowds of more than 5,000 to The 'E' Center in West Valley City, Utah on Friday and America West Arena in Phoenix on Saturday. The Idaho Steelheads averaged more than 3,900 at Qwest Arena for a three-game series with Long Beach and the Columbia Inferno had 5,983 for their opener on Friday while Gwinnett had 5,874 for its opener and Greenville drew 5,705 on Saturday.

Las Vegas opens its season on Tuesday when its hosts Utah at the Orleans Arena which had two sellout crowds of 7,773 last year while the Wheeling Nailers will host the Reading Royals and the Stanley Cup on Friday night at WesBanco Arena. The Long Beach Ice Dogs, who saw their average attendance grow by more than 16 percent last season, host the Fresno Falcons on Friday while Reading, which has sold out its home opener each of the last two years, hosts Trenton on Saturday.

Glass, Tarkki Pickup Shutouts In First Pro Game

Charlotte's Jeff Glass and Gwinnett's Tuomas Tarkki made their professional hockey debut a memorable one as Glass picked up the 1-0 shootout victory on Friday at Gwinnett.

Selected in the third round (89th overall) by the Ottawa Senators in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, the 19-year-old Glass had 39 saves in regulation and one save in overtime before stopping all five shooters he faced in the shootout.

The 25-year-old Tarkki had 30 saves in regulation, four saves in overtime and stopped the first four shooters in the shootout before Dusty Jamieson scored over his shoulder for the game winner. In Gwinnett's second game on Saturday, Sean Fields stopped all 38 shots as the Gladiators beat Pensacola 6-0.

Seamus Kotyk of Augusta recorded his first shutout of the season with 29 saves in regulation and two saves in overtime of a 1-0 win against Columbia on Sunday. Kotyk is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 0.59 and a save percentage of .983, having entered Friday's season opener in the second period following an injury to Jason Wolfe and stopping 26 of 27 shots in a 4-2 win against South Carolina.

Did You Know?

Brock Radunske of Greenville and Trenton captain Chris M. Thompson became the first players since 2003-04 and the ninth and 10th players since 1998 to score a hat trick on opening night.

Radunske scored once in the second period and twice in the third for his first professional hat trick as the Grrrowl won 6-2 at Pensacola on Friday while Thompson scored on his first three shots, tying the game with his second goal, to lead the Titans to a 5-3 win against Wheeling on Saturday.

ECHL Games On B2 Networks

B2 Networks is the "Official Broadband Broadcast Provider" for the ECHL and fans can watch the action live for $6 with a high-speed internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 or higher.

Broadcasts are accessible on ECHL.com and on the home page of the 23 teams who are providing their fans the opportunity to watch live telecasts in 2005-06.

Feature Games Of The Week

North Division
Trenton at Reading - Saturday at 7:05 p.m. ET
* Last meeting was division finals of 2005 Kelly Cup Playoffs won by Trenton 3 games to 1.
* Royals look for third straight opening night sellout.

South Division
Charlotte at Columbia - Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET
* Rematch of conference finals from 2005 Kelly Cup Playoffs won in five games by Charlotte.
* Inferno is one point ahead of Checkers in standings.

West Division
Bakersfield at Alaska - Friday at 7:15 p.m. AT
* Rematch of division finals of 2005 Kelly Cup Playoffs won in five games by Alaska.
* Both teams opened the week undefeated.

Pacific Division
Utah at Las Vegas - Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. PT
* First time that Las Vegas has opened season at home.
* Grizzlies rank third in the league with 4.67 goals per game.

Check out the ECHL Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from October 24, 2005


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