Here is the average playoff attendance for the 4 teams remaining in the Kelly Cup playoffs. The number in parenthesis is the team’s regular season average attendance:
7059 -
@ToledoWalleye
(7783)
4176 -
@FL_Everblades
(5586)
4047 -
@NLGrowlers
(3784)
3116 -
@tulsa_oilers
(5762)
In addition to salary which averages $665 per week, ECHL players are provided a furnished bedroom, typically there are 2 or 3 players per apartment. Married players cost more, they get their own furnished apartment.
Per diem when traveling is $44 per day. AHL per diem is $75.
ECHL has a new 5 year (7/1/18 - 6/30/23) Collective Bargaining Agreement. New salary cap numbers. Average weekly salary (based on 20 players) goes from $650 in 18-19 to $705 in 22-23.
Salary Cap (weekly)
18-19: $13,000
19-20: $13,300
20-21: $13,600
21-22: $13,900
22-23: $14,100
Today is the 1st day to sign players for 2019-20. Weekly salaries per the CBA:
$470 - rookie (less than 25 games)minimum
$550 - rookie maximum
$510 - other player minimum
$13,300 - team salary cap
$10,100 - team salary minimum
$525 - reimbursement for AHL/NHL contracted players
Hats off to ECHL coaches/general managers keeping their teams healthy, managing disruption caused by creation of NHL taxi squads and dealing with changing government COVID rules. Shifting schedules, postponed games, call ups and finding players. Tough job for sure next six weeks!
Some impressive home opener crowds around the ECHL. Four teams drew 8000+ and 12 teams have yet to play at home so this list will grow. Congrats to the fans as well as the sales and marketing staffs:
9505 -
@FWKomets
9049 -
@OrlandoHockey
8597 -
@JaxIcemen
8137 -
@RailersHC
ECHL rookie goalies with most wins this season with save percentage:
24 - Sebastian Cossa, Toledo, .914
22 - Luke Cavallin, Newfoundland, .916
21 - Zach Driscoll, Indy, .903
20 - David Hrenak, Greenville, .901
19 - Remi Poirier, Idaho, .928
17 - Mark Sinclair, Cincinnati, .922
Will Graber has played every position except goalie for
@FWKomets
this season and is on the verge of making ECHL history. He leads in points (77) and plus/minus (+39). Will likely become first player ever to win MVP, scoring championship & plus performer awards in single season.
Playoff rules set by ECHL Board of Governors this season requires games must fit in tight calendar windows creating some scheduling nightmares:
Schedule for North and Mountain Division Finals calls for playing 5 games in 6 days with travel. Has to be concerning for player safety
In the 31 year history of the ECHL just three players have played in 100+ playoffs games. Defenseman Matt Register (
@mregister43
) from the
@ToledoWalleye
is about to reach the top of the heap.
104 - Scott Burt 1998-2011
102 - Matt Register 2013-19
102 - Chris Valicevic 1994-2002
The top two ECHL goalies in save percentage are from the same team and have the same first name. Top 5 goalies in save percentage:
.932 - Evan Buitenhuis, Wichita
.926 - Evan Weninger, Wichita
.924 - Jake Hildebrand, Florida
.924 - Roman Durny, Tulsa
.922 - Jake Paterson, Allen
ECHL used 1101 players this season. Just 1.5% (16) played in every game. Stick taps to all Ironmen which included 3 vets & 3 rookies:
VETS
A.J. White: Idaho
Justin Taylor: Kalamazoo
Zach Tolkinen: Fort Wayne
ROOKIES
Mason Mannek: Utah
Tyler Penner - Utah
Duggie Lagrone: Tulsa
Have to admit nothing is more encouraging when you get up at 4:00 am every single morning to try and find an interesting stat or other information to share with fellow ECHL fans than to see a player or their family members retweet or like one of my posts. My thanks to all!
#ECHL
ECHL jersey reversal date arrives:
Starting this Friday (January 20) teams will switch and start wearing their dark jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road. It will remain this way through end of the regular season and the playoffs. Specialty jerseys can create exceptions.
Hats off to the only 4 ECHL teams with a higher average attendance now than in 2018-19 (pre-covid). 2018-19 average in parenthesis:
6227:
@JaxIcemen
(5993)
4960:
@Steelheads
(4539)
3342:
@RapidCityRush
(2897)
3366:
@KalamazooWings
(2720)
9 teams are more than 1000 below 2018-19
With players approaching 10 fights a reminder:
When players reach 10 fighting majors they’re suspended for 1 game. Each subsequent fighting major is 1 game suspension. At 14 fights suspension become 2 games. If opposing player is assessed instigator penalty, fight doesn’t count.
In the last 5
#ECHL
seasons only 3 players have a combination of at least 250 points, 100 goals and 150 assists:
Shawn Szydlowski
@FWKomets
- 331 points (115G, 216A)
Shane Berschbach
@ToledoWalleye
- 330 points (101G, 229A)
David Pacan
@BramptonBeast
- 268 points (104G, 164A)
ECHL rookie goalies with most wins this season with save %:
15 - Evan Weninger, Wichita, .926
9 - Devin Cooley, Florida, .913
7 - Justin Kapelmaster, Allen, .912
7 - Stefanos Lekkas, Fort Wayne, .914
7 - Matt Greenfield, Kansas City, .920
6 - Hunter Shepard, South Carolina, .915
ECHL Rule 23.7 has major changes for 2019-20:
When players reach 10 fighting majors they are suspended for one game. Each subsequent fighting major will be a one game suspension. At 14 fighting majors the suspension becomes two games.
FYI, 18 players had 10+ fights in 2018-19.
MOST CAREER PLAYOFF WINS BY A GOALIE (by league)
ECHL
53 Riley Gill
43 Nick Vitucci
42 Pat Nagle
31 Gerald Coleman
AHL
49 Marcel Paille
46 Jean-Francois Labbe
46 Bobby Perrault
46 Fredric Cassivi
NHL
151 Patrick Roy
113 Martin Brodeur
92 Grant Fuhr
88 Ed Belfour
88 Billy Smith
How tough is it to come back when trailing after the second period in the ECHL? The leaguewide record in 2019-20 with a second period lead was 545-31-41-9. The best teams:
36-0-0-0:
@FL_Everblades
26-0-1-0:
@BramptonBeast
26-0-2-0:
@CincyCyclones
28-1-1-0:
@AllenAmericans
870 players played at least one game in the ECHL in this shortened season. Only 17 (2%) played in all of their team’s games. Just 10 teams had a player play in all games, led by the
@BramptonBeast
and
@Steelheads
who each had three. Hats off and congrats to all 17 Ironmen.
Tomorrow is ECHL jersey reversal date:
Teams have worn their dark jerseys at home from Oct. 11 to Jan. 20. Starting tomorrow (Jan. 24) teams wear white jerseys at home for the remainder of the regular season. Home teams will wear dark jerseys during the 2020 Kelly Cup Playoffs.
In the 32 year history of the ECHL only four players have scored a shorthanded hat trick:
Tommy Olczyk,
@IndyFuel
, 12/23/17
*Shawn Szydlowski,
@FWKomets
, 3/21/15
Chad Costello,
@ColoradoEagles
, 12/12/12
Jamey Hicks, Birmingham, 1/27/98
*scored a total of five goals in the game
Three ECHL teams have average attendance over 7000 per game (Toledo - 7474, Fort Wayne - 7324, Jacksonville - 7187). They all have a higher average attendance than 29 of the 32 AHL teams.
Huntsville leads the SPHL in attendance (5409), a higher average than 20 of 28 ECHL teams.
In the last five seasons only four ECHL players have a combination of at least 250 points, 100 goals and 150 assists:
Shawn Szydlowski - 349 points (138G, 211A)
Ryan Walters - 281 points (120G, 161A)
Tyler Barnes - 273 points (117G, 156A)
David Pacan - 254 points (100G, 154A)
Long time ECHL player,
@FWKomets
captain A.J. Jenks, has retired after winning the Kelly Cup. Jenks played 10 ECHL seasons with 4 teams (Cincinnati, Florida, Toledo, Fort Wayne). He ranks
#3
all time in ECHL playoff games played (103) and
#1
in playoff goals (38) since 2011-12.
What a night for ECHL hockey. Average attendance this season is 4,915. Last night 14 games drew 108,196, an average of 7,721 per game.
15,744: TUL
12,272: JAX
9,373: FW
9,248: ATL
8,011: TOL
6,694: NOR
6,514: REA
6,493: SC
5,720: WOR
5,380: NFL
5,191: WIC
5,167: IDH
4,743: RC
Stick taps to Eric Kattelus who has officially announced his retirement. He played 11 ECHL seasons, 10 in
@KalamazooWings
. Since joining ECHL in 2010-11, Kattelus is
#2
in points (304),
#2
in goals (83),
#2
in assists (221) and
#5
in games played (467) among all ECHL defensemen.
Most ECHL goals since 2016-17, where currently playing in parenthesis:
91 - Justin Taylor,
@KalamazooWings
90 - Josh Shalla, Romania
87 - Ralph Cuddemi,
@ReadingRoyals
80 - John McCarron,
@FL_Everblades
77 - Shawn Szydlowski,
@FWKomets
77 - Brian Ward, Great Britain
ECHL leaders this season in power play points. All from Western Conf.
29 points (9G,20A) - Shawn Szydlowski,
@FWKomets
24 points (8G, 16A) - Peter Quenneville,
@RapidCityRush
24 points (11G, 13A) - Spencer Watson,
@IndyFuel
22 points (6G, 16A) - Shane Berschbach,
@ToledoWalleye
#ECHL
goalies with the most saves in the 2019-20 season, minutes played is in parenthesis:
1273 - Mitch Gillam, Wichita (2292)
1070 - Tomas Sholl, Idaho (2465)
1070 - Jake Hildebrand, Kalamazoo (2296)
1060 - Connor LaCouvee, Maine (2140)
1055 - Eamon McAdam, Adirondack (2324)
ECHL players with most playoff game winning goals since 2014-15 with last playoff team:
10 - A.J. Jenks, Toledo
7 - John McCarron, Florida
7 - Matt Register, Toledo
6 - Greg Wolfe, Toledo
6 - Gabriel Desjardins, Fort Wayne
6 - Joe Devin, South Carolina
6 - Greger Hanson, Allen
5 ECHL teams have average attendance above 7400 which is higher than 25 AHL teams. Top 5 in both leagues:
ECHL (Low 1584, Ave. 4515)
9767 JAX
8217 FW
7568 TOL
7475 TUL
7430 ORL
AHL (Low 2186, Ave. 5625)
8948 San Diego
8913 Cleveland
8481 Hershey
8448 Coachella Valley
8328 Laval
Stick taps to goalie Pat Nagle who has retired. Nagle played for 5 ECHL teams (FLA, IDH, FW, TOL, REA) winning a Kelly Cup with Florida in 2012. His ECHL record:
Regular Season
223*-93-36
2.58 GAA
.913 Save %
Playoffs
50*-35-2
2.43 GAA
.915 save %
*ECHL
#2
all-time in wins
Six teams (FW, TOL, JAX, SAV, TUL, CIN) are averaging 6000+ in attendance this season. Here are the number of times since 2012-13 current ECHL teams have averaged 6000+ in attendance.
9 - Fort Wayne
9 - Toledo
4 - Orlando
4 - Tulsa
2 - Jacksonville
1 - Savannah
1 - Cincinnati
Catch new 3-on-3 pro hockey (3ICE) tonite on CBS Sports Network, 6:00 pm ET. 6 teams, constant action, no faceoffs, penalty=penalty shot, off netting in play, no freezing the puck. NHL, AHL + familiar ECHL names expected to play:
Hensick
Hawkins
Costello
Brodeur
Combs
MacArthur
ECHL average attendance in 2022-23 was 4629, highest in 10 years. Here is a breakdown:
7000+: JAX, FW, TOL
6000-7000: TUL, SAV, ORL, FLA
5000-6000: CIN, UTA, IDH
4000-5000: ATL, IND, WIC, SC
3000-4000: WOR, NFL, MNE, GVL, ADK, RC, KAL, ALN, REA, KC, NOR
UNDER 3000: TR, WHL, IA
ECHL teammates with the most points this season. The top duos:
85 - David Vallorani & Daniel Leavens, Brampton
80 - Tim McGauley & Griffen Molino, Utah
74 - Tyler Sheehy & Gabe Gagne, Allen
74 - Brady Shaw & Brett McKenzie, Fort Wayne
74 - Josh Kestner & Shane Berschbach, Toledo
ECHL teams make a big impact off the ice, donating over $40 million in last 11 years in their local communities. This on top of countless hours players & front office staff dedicate to local schools, hospitals & charities to become integral part of the community. Merry Christmas!
Congrats to the
@FL_Everblades
for an amazing playoff run after finishing 11th in regular season (.590):
- Beat
#1
&
#2
division seeds (SC, JAX),
#1
in conference (NFL) and swept
#1
in ECHL and best ever .826 (IDH)
- 5th team to win back to back cups
- 5th team to sweep finals
With the ECHL 2023-24 season 9 days away, here are the only 3 players playing this season that have over 500 career points (regular season & playoffs). All are likely ECHL Hall of Famers:
597: Shawn Szydlowski, Fort Wayne
579: Justin Taylor, Kalamazoo
540: Matt Register, Idaho
ECHL jersey reversal date:
Starting January 19th teams will switch and start wearing their dark jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road. During playoffs teams will switch back to home team wearing white & visiting team dark jerseys. Specialty jerseys can create exceptions.
ECHL average attendance is up 293 from last season (4629 to 4922). 11 teams have increases of more than 500:
+963: Jacksonville
+850: Norfolk
+705: Allen
+654: Cincinnati
+644: South Carolina
+592: Orlando
+570: Utah
+569: Kansas City
+540: Maine
+521: Adirondack
+514: Tulsa
With training camps upon us the never ending reminder for all writers, bloggers, reporters, fans, players, etc. What do letters ECHL stand for? NOTHING
In a change reflective of its nationwide presence the East Coast Hockey League changed its name to simply ECHL on May 19, 2003.
When you consider the team scoring first wins about 75% of all
#ECHL
hockey games a good start is critical. These teams scored first most frequently in 2019-20:
65% (39 of 60 games)
@IndyFuel
61% (38 of 62)
@BramptonBeast
60% (36 of 60)
@RapidCityRush
58% (36 of 62)
@SCStingrays
Best points per game average over the last three seasons (minimum 100 games):
1.189 - Zach O’Brien, Newfoundland
1.142 - Brady Ferguson, Newfoundland
1.096 - T.J. Hensick, Toledo
1.068 - Jesse Schultz, Cincinnati
1.067 - Shawn Szydlowski, Fort Wayne
1.028 - Josh Winquist, Toledo
The work horses. ECHL goalies with more than 2000 minutes played this season. Games played is in parenthesis:
2425: Cam Johnson, Florida (42)
2375: Shane Starrett, Kansas City (42)
2140: Beck Warm, Cincinnati (36)
2079: Sebastian Cossa, Toledo (36)
2059: Zach Driscoll, Indy (35)