Sept.
15, 2010
PRINCETON,
N.J. - The ECHL, in conjunction with the Bakersfield
Condors, announced a change in format for the 2011 ECHL
All-Star Classic presented by CCM Hockey.
The Bakersfield Condors, the host for the 2011 event, will take on
a team of ECHL All-Stars. This will be the second time in the 19
years of the ECHL All-Star Classic that the host team will play
together in the event. The Charlotte Checkers defeated the ECHL
All-Stars 7-6 in the 1997 All-Star Game.
A Skills Competition will take place during pre-game festivities
and within the first intermission. Skills that are
scheduled to be a part of the competition are accuracy shooting,
fastest skater, hardest shot and king of the shootout
"We are pleased to introduce this new concept for the 2011 All-Star
Classic," ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna said. "This format will
certainly add to the intensity of the game and make for a much more
meaningful contest for the fans in Bakersfield and across the
country."
The ECHL and the Condors also unveiled the jerseys for this year's
event. The ECHL All-Stars' jersey is white with black, burgundy and
gold trim, and features the 2011 ECHL All-Star Classic logo on the
front with "All-Stars" across the bottom. The Bakersfield jersey is
black with white, burgundy and gold trim, and features the 2011
ECHL All-Star Classic logo on the front with "Bakersfield" across
the bottom. Both jerseys feature the secondary All-Star
logo on the left shoulder. The alternate logo features an oil
derrick, a soaring condor and stars against a green background, the
word Bakersfield arched over a star containing "2011" and a hockey
stick. The right shoulder of both jerseys will contain the team
logo of each player. The practice/warm-up jersey will feature each
player's individual team logo on the front. The jerseys for both
teams are designed by Reebok Hockey.
The
Bakersfield Condors, the City of Bakersfield and Rabobank Arena
will host the 19th Annual ECHL All-Star Classic on Jan. 26,
2011. In 2009-10 the Condors finished sixth in the ECHL with
an average of 5,265 fans per game and led the 2010 Kelly Cup
Playoffs with 4,691 per game. Bakersfield has averaged over 5,200
fans per game for six consecutive seasons.
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 19 teams in 14 states and British
Columbia in 2010-11.
- The
league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to
ECHL on May 19, 2003.
- 443 players
have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL including a record
53 in 2008-09.
- 35
ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2009-10. The most recent were:
former Dayton, Kalamazoo, Mississippi and South Carolina
goaltender Jeremy
Duchesne (Philadelphia
on April 1), former South Carolina Stingrays and Utah Grizzlies
center Micheal
Haley (New
York Islanders on April 10), former Mississippi SeaWolves
defenseman Scott
Jackson (Tampa
Bay on April 11), former Alaska and Las Vegas left wing and 2004
ECHL All-Star Charles
Linglet (Edmonton
on April 2) and former Texas Wildcatters defenseman Maxim
Noreau (Minnesota
on April 8).
- 6
players played in the ECHL and the NHL in 2009-10: Kyle
Calder with
Bakersfield and Anaheim, Tomas
Kana with
Alaska and Columbus, Jeremy
Duchesne with
Kalamazoo and Philadelphia, Dan
Sexton with
Bakersfield and Anaheim, MacGregor
Sharp with
Bakersfield and Anaheim and Matt
Zaba with
Charlotte and the New York Rangers.
- The
ECHL has had 251 players reach the NHL since 2002-03 when it
changed its focus to become the primary developmental league for
the NHL and the AHL. The ECHL had 97 players reach the NHL in its
first 10 seasons and 215 in the first 15 years.
- 187
ECHL players have played their first game in the last five seasons
for an average of more than 37 per year.
- ECHL
had a record 78 players on NHL opening-day rosters, surpassing the
71 from a year ago and marking the seventh year in a row that there
have been over 50 former ECHL players on opening-day
rosters.
- Every
ECHL team has an affiliation with an NHL team and the league has
affiliations with 27 of the 30 NHL teams, marking the 14th
consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at
least 20 teams in the NHL.
- 24
coaches with an ECHL background are working behind the benches of
teams in the NHL including Washington Capitals head coach Bruce
Boudreau,
New York Islanders head coach Scott
Gordon,
Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter
Laviolette and
St. Louis Blues head coach Davis
Payne.
It is the fifth consecutive season that there have been 11 or more
coaches with an ECHL background working in the NHL. 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.
- 21
former ECHL officials are working as part of the NHL officiating
team in 2010-11 with referees David
Banfield,
Francis
Charron,
Chris
Ciamaga,
Ghislain
Herbert,
Jean
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, Bryan
Pancich,
Brian Mach, Tim Nowak and Jay Sharrers.
- ECHL
was represented for the 10th year in a row on the Stanley Cup
champion with Chicago Blackhawks assistant coaches Mike
Haviland and
John
Torchetti,
developmental goaltending coach Wade
Flaherty,
senior director of hockey administration Al MacIsaac, general
manager of minor league affiliations Mark
Bernard and
scout Ryan Stewart. There were 35 former players and 14 former
coaches on 15 of the 16 teams competing in the National Hockey
League's Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking the fifth year in a row that
there have been at least 30 former ECHL players and the seventh
consecutive season that over 25 players with ECHL experience have
competed in the NHL postseason.
- Former
ECHL broadcasters working in the National Hockey League include
John Ahlers and Steve Carroll of the Anaheim Ducks, Tom
Callahan of
the Nashville Predators, Dave Goucher of the Boston Bruins, Chris
Kerber of the St. Louis Blues, Jack
Michaels of
the Edmonton Oilers, Dave
Mishkin of
the Tampa Bay Lightning, Bob
McElligott and
John
Michael of
the Columbus Blue Jackets and Rob
Simpson,
who is a producer/host for The NHL
Network.
- Ryan
Stanzel and
Jeremy
Zager,
who were both recipients of the ECHL
Media Relations Director of the Year award,
are working in the communications department for the Minnesota Wild
and the Los Angeles Kings, respectively. Former ECHL assistant
director of communications Joe Siville and Kelly
Murray are
now with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals,
respectively, while former ECHL director of communications Jason
Rothwell is the creative director for the Columbus Blue
Jackets.
- ECHL
has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the American Hockey
League and for the past 21 years there has been an ECHL player on
the Calder
Cup Champion.
- In
the last seven seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL
than all other professional leagues combined with over 3,000
call-ups involving more than 1,500 players and in 2009-10 there
were 10 times as many call-ups from the ECHL to the AHL than all
other professional leagues.
- The
ECHL averaged 4,485 fans per game in 2009-10, the highest average
since 1999-00. It is the sixth consecutive season and the 18th time
in the last 20 years that the ECHL has averaged over 4,000 fans and
the league drew over 3 million fans for the 17th year in a
row.
- There
have been more than 75 million fans who have attended over 17,000
games since the ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four
states.
- Further
information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.
|
|
|
|
Bakersfield
Condors
Kevin
Bartl
Vice
President, Communications
Bob Mills
Manager
Media Relations & Broadcasting
email
For more information, contact:
(661) 324-PUCK (7825)
|
|