25 Teams Open 19th Season ECHL October 2018 July 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL will open its 19th season with 12 games on Oct.20 including the Alaska Aces raising the Kelly Cup championship banner tothe rafters of Sullivan Arena in Anchorage prior to their game against theVictoria Salmon Kings.
The ECHL welcomes the Cincinnati Cyclones and the Texas Wildcatters back tothe ice in 2006-07 and will play 900 games, beginning Oct. 20 and endingApr. 7, with 25 teams in 16 states and British Columbia.
The division and conference alignments and the format for the 2007 KellyCup Playoffs will be announced following the Preseason Board of GovernorsMeeting in September.
The ECHL raised its average attendance for the third straight year in2005-06 drawing 3,934,794 for 900 games which is an average of 4,372 pergame, an increase of more than nine percent from 2004-05 and the largestper-game average since 1999-2000. Six teams surpassed 200,000 and nineteams averaged 5,000 per game for the first time since 1999-2000 as theleague welcomed 39 sellout crowds and 13 of the 22 returning teams raisedtheir average attendance from a year ago.
The Sullivan Arena will be packed on Oct. 20 when the Alaska Aces willraise their Kelly Cup championship and Brabham Cup championship bannersbefore their game against the Victoria Salmon Kings. Alaska is only thesecond team in 18 years to win both the regular season point title and thepostseason title and is the first team to win the ECHL postseason bydefeating three teams that had 100 points in the regular season. The Acesare only the second team to bring a national professional sportschampionship to the state of Alaska and the first to do so since 1980.Alaska sold out its last nine games in the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs to breakits league record of seven consecutive postseason sellouts set in 2005.Since joining as an expansion team in 2003-04, Alaska has sold out 18 ofits 22 games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs and 16 games in the regularseason.
Fresno will raise its Pacific Division championship banner at Save MartCenter on Oct. 20 when they host the Las Vegas Wranglers. The Falconsfinished atop the division in the regular season with a team record 43 winsand 100 points in 2005-06, and qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs for thefirst time since joining the ECHL as an expansion team in 2003-04.
In addition seeing the raising of South Division and American Conferencechampionship banners, fans will get their first glimpse of the display atThe Arena At Gwinnett Center that honors Cam Brown when the Gladiators hostthe South Carolina Stingrays on Oct. 20. Brown retires as the ECHL careerregular season leader with 789 games and 2,425 penalty minutes.
Toledo will look for its fourth straight season-opening sellout and willhoist the North Division championship banner to the rafters of historicToledo Sports Arena on Oct. 20 when in-state rival Dayton visits.
After advancing to the postseason for the first time in five seasons in2006, Augusta, which has new ownership and an affiliation with the AnaheimDucks of the NHL, will begin the quest to return to the Kelly Cup Playoffson Oct. 20 against the Columbia Inferno.
Having reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season andwinning its first-ever postseason series last year, Bakersfield opens itsseason on Oct. 20 when it hosts the Stockton Thunder. The Condors raisedtheir attendance for the third consecutive season a year ago while drawingmore than 200,000 fans for the first time in history as they ranked fifthin the league with 201,729 and 5,603 per game.
Charlotte is under new local ownership and the Checkers will open theirsecond season at Bobcats Arena on Oct. 20 against the Wheeling Nailers. Intheir first season playing in downtown Charlotte, the Checkers increasedtheir average attendance by more than 15.5 percent and led the league with10 sellouts, including two crowds over 10,000 and four crowds in excess of9,000, while reaching the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the second consecutiveseason.
Hockey will make its return to U.S. Bank Arena for the first time sinceMar. 26, 2004 when the Cincinnati Cyclones host the Pensacola Ice Pilots onOct. 20. The Cyclones requested and were granted a Voluntary Suspension bythe ECHL for the 2004-05 and the 2005-06 seasons. Cincinnati reached theKelly Cup Playoffs two of its three seasons from 2001-04, including losingin Game 7 of the Northern Conference Finals to Kelly Cup champion AtlanticCity in 2003.
Florida will take the first step in regaining its attendance crown on Oct.20 when it hosts the Texas Wildcatters. The Everblades led the ECHL inattendance from 2000-05 and have not drawn less than 220,000 fans oraveraged below 6,200 fans per game in each of their seven seasons in theleague.
New ownership and new coach Rick Adduono have created excitement for theLong Beach Ice Dogs who will host the Idaho Steelheads on Oct. 20. The IceDogs have reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs each of the past seasons and willlook to advance farther in the postseason with Adduono, who won Kelly Cuptitles with South Carolina in 1997 and 2001.
Phoenix will play its second season opener in the ECHL against Utah whenthe RoadRunners host the Grizzlies on Oct. 20 at US Airways Center.
Longtime rivals Trenton and Reading begin the season with a home-and-homewith the Titans hosting the Royals on Oct. 20 and the Royals hosting theTitans on Oct. 21. The Royals set a team record with 7,315 for their gameagainst Trenton on Mar. 4, one of two sellouts for Reading which drew morethan 200,000 in 2005-06 for the third time in five seasons.
One of the original five teams when the ECHL began in 1988-89, Johnstownopens its 19th season on Oct. 21 when the Chiefs host the Pensacola IcePilots. The Chiefs reached the postseason for the second time in threeyears and increased their average attendance by more than 1.5 percent.
South Carolina opens its 14th season in North Charleston on Oct. 21 when ithosts in-state rival Columbia. The Stingrays have reached the postseason ineach of their 13 seasons which is a league record for appearances andconsecutive appearances.
Led by ECHL Coach of the Year Glen Gulutzan, Las Vegas will be looking toimprove on last year's record-setting season when they host the PhoenixRoadRunners on Oct. 24. The Wranglers won their first playoff series a yearago beating Idaho in seven games in the division semifinals while becomingonly the second team in league history to come back after trailing 3-1 in aseries. Las Vegas was 53-13-6 and tied the league record for second-mostwins (53) while finishing with the third-highest point total (112).
The Victoria Salmon Kings with new coach Tony MacAulay open their secondseason in the Save-On-Foods Centre on Oct. 25 when they host the IdahoSteelheads.
Columbia has a new affiliation with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL anda new coach in Troy Mann. The Inferno, who missed the postseason for thefirst time in their five-year history last season, will play their homeopener on Oct. 27 against the Augusta Lynx. The Pensacola Ice Pilots playtheir 10th home opener in Florida when they host the Texas Wildcatters onOct. 27 while the Utah Grizzlies play their home opener against the LasVegas Wranglers that same day.
Coming off a season that saw it win its first playoff series since 1998while raising its attendance to its highest average since 2001-02, Wheelingopens its 15th season in West Virginia on Oct. 27 when it hosts theJohnstown Chiefs.
Following a one-year hiatus created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, theTexas Wildcatters return to Ford Arena on Oct. 28 when they host thePensacola Ice Pilots. The Wildcatters have a new coach in Malcolm Cameron,who led Long Beach to the Kelly Cup Playoffs in both of his seasons behindthe Ice Dogs bench.
After leading the ECHL in total attendance with 228,364 and averageattendance with 6,343 per game in their first season in 2005-06, theStockton Thunder will open their second season on Oct. 28 against the LongBeach Ice Dogs.
Beginning the celebration of 10 years of hockey in Boise, the IdahoSteelheads, who had seven sellouts last season and 13 in the last twoyears, will host the Utah Grizzlies on Nov. 3. The celebration in Idahowill continue when the ECHL takes its annual midseason break in January forthe Rbk Hockey ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 17 and Rbk HockeySkills Competition on Jan. 16 hosted by the Steelheads at Qwest Arena.
Dayton will be the last team to open at home as the Bombers host theFlorida Everblades at the Nutter Center on Nov. 4.
The first meeting between Alaska and Las Vegas will be Nov. 16 when theAces visit the Wranglers in the first of three games in a row at theOrleans Arena. Alaska beat Las Vegas in six games in the West DivisionFinals on its way to capturing the Kelly Cup.
It will be a Kelly Cup Finals rematch on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3 when Alaskavisits Gwinnett. The Aces won the ECHL championship with a 4-3 win atGwinnett in Game 5. Toledo and Wheeling will meet for the first time sincethe North Division Finals on Dec. 8 when the Storm visits Wheeling and Dec.9 when the Nailers travel to Toledo.
Bakersfield visits Fresno on Nov. 28, the first meeting since the Falconswon the Pacific Division title with a 4-2 win in Game 7. The Condors willtravel east in December to visit Trenton on Dec. 8 and 9 and Johnstown onDec. 10. Long Beach will host Bakersfield on Oct. 22 in a rematch of thedivision semifinals won in seven games by the Condors.
Florida will look to avenge its division finals loss when it plays atGwinnett on Dec. 10 while Cincinnati will travel to California visitingFresno on Feb. 27 and Mar. 4 and Stockton on Mar. 2 and 3. Long Beach willbe looking to beat former coach Malcolm Cameron when it visits the TexasWildcatters on Feb. 1, Feb. 2 and Feb. 3.
Las Vegas will play at midnight for the fourth consecutive year when ithosts Bakersfield on Dec. 18. The Wranglers are the only professionalhockey team to play at midnight, a tradition the team began on Dec. 22,2003.
The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL had affiliations with 25 of the 30teams in the National Hockey League and 21 of the 27 teams in the AmericanHockey League in 2005-06. There have been 303 former ECHL players who havegone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47in 2005-06 and 158 in the past five seasons, and there were 13 former ECHLcoaches behind the benches of NHL teams in 2005-06. The ECHL had 416 callups to the AHL, involving 263 players, in 2005-06. The ECHL has had moreplayers called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combinedeach of the past four seasons with 1,646 call ups involving almost 1,000players.
2006-07 ECHL Home Openers
Alaska Aces
Oct. 20 vs. Victoria Salmon Kings
Augusta Lynx
Oct. 20 vs. Columbia Inferno
Bakersfield Condors
Oct. 20 vs. Stockton Thunder
Charlotte Checkers
Oct. 20 vs. Wheeling Nailers
Cincinnati Cyclones
Oct. 20 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots
Columbia Inferno
Oct. 27 vs. Augusta Lynx
Dayton Bombers
Nov. 4 vs. Florida Everblades
Florida Everblades
Oct. 20 vs. Texas Wildcatters
Fresno Falcons
Oct. 20 vs. Las Vegas Wranglers
Gwinnett Gladiators
Oct. 20 vs. South CarolinaStingrays
Idaho Steelheads
Nov. 3 vs. Utah Grizzlies
Johnstown Chiefs
Oct. 21 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots
Las Vegas Wranglers
Oct. 24 vs. Phoenix RoadRunners
Long Beach Ice Dogs
Oct. 20 vs. Idaho Steelheads
Pensacola Ice Pilots
Oct. 27 vs. Texas Wildcatters
Phoenix RoadRunners
Oct. 20 vs. Utah Grizzlies
Reading Royals
Oct. 21 vs. Trenton Titans
South Carolina Stingrays
Oct. 21 vs. Columbia Inferno
Stockton Thunder
Oct. 28 vs. Long Beach Ice Dogs
Texas Wildcatters
Oct. 28 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots
Toledo Storm
Oct. 20 vs. Dayton Bombers
Trenton Titans
Oct. 20 vs. Reading Royals
Utah Grizzlies
Oct. 27 vs. Las Vegas Wranglers
Victoria Salmon Kings
Oct. 25 vs. Idaho Steelheads
Wheeling Nailers
Oct. 27 vs. Johnstown Chiefs
A text version of the league schedule and text versions of individualteam schedules are available by clicking the links below.
2006-07 ECHLSchedule
Alaska Aces
Augusta Lynx
BakersfieldCondors
Charlotte Checkers
CincinnatiCyclones
Columbia Inferno
Dayton Bombers
Florida Everblades
Fresno Falcons
Gwinnett Gladiators
Idaho Steelheads
Johnstown Chiefs
Las Vegas Wranglers
Long Beach IceDogs
Pensacola IcePilots
Phoenix RoadRunners
Reading Royals
South CarolinaStingrays
Stockton Thunder
Texas Wildcatters
Toledo Storm
Trenton Titans
Utah Grizzlies
Victoria SalmonKings
Wheeling Nailers
Source: oursportscentral
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