Originally Posted by
50sWHLer
Quotes by Coach – “ Echl & Ahl are paid to perform,not juniors. Understand yet my point on professionals?” -- NO -- WHAT IS YOUR POINT???? – Please explain yourself ! -- I’m sure that I’m not the only person that doesn’t understand !
Quote by Coach - “I would rather watch players with a chance however small then watch players who will never make it.”
--- ERRR—TAKE A LOOK BELOW ---- CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU HAVE STATED, A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF ECHL PLAYERS DO “MAKE IT” CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU SAY !!!!
The ECHL is a very credible league, with some players just not in the right place, at the right time, plaqued by possible injuries at the wrong time, not receiving enough exposure, or maturing on a little different time table than most.
Coach --- read this -----
Press release: Rallo becomes 476th ECHL player to reach the NHL
December 19, 2011
PRINCETON, N.J. – Former Idaho Steelheads center, and two-time ECHL All-Star Greg Rallo became the 476th player to play in the National Hockey League after the ECHL when he made his debut with the Florida Panthers in a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.
The 30-year-old had one shot on goal in 3:31 of ice time for the Panthers whose line-up also included former ECHL player Krys Barch.
The Cincinnati Cyclones are the ECHL affiliate of the Panthers and the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League. Former Cyclones head coach, and two-time Kelly Cup champion, Chuck Weber is head coach of the Rampage.
Rallo made his professional debut with Idaho in 2005-06, scoring four points (2g-2a) in seven regular-season games and adding three points (2g-1a) in seven Kelly Cup Playoff games. In 2006-07, he scored 31 points (13g-18a) in 37 regular-season games and contributed 11 points (3g-8a) in 14 Kelly Cup Playoff games as the Steelheads won their second Kelly Cup championship in team history. Rallo also appeared in 28 AHL games with Iowa that season, scoring five points in 28 games. During the 2007-08 season, Rallo tallied 36 points (17g-19a) in 39 regular-season games with Idaho and totaled nine points (4g-5a) in 20 AHL games with Albany, Manitoba and Rockford. Rallo was named to the ECHL All-Star Game in both 2007 and 2008, and is tied for first in the event’s history with four assists in one game (2008), is tied for third with five career assists, is tied for second with five points in one game (2008) and is tied for sixth with six career points (1g-5a).
A native of Gurnell, Ill., Rallo has spent the last four seasons in the AHL with Manitoba, Texas and San Antonio, scoring 117 points (56g-61a) in 226 regular-season games and adding 16 points (6-10a) in 51 postseason games.
Nine ECHL players have made their NHL debuts this season: former Greenville Road Warriors defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon (Philadelphia on Nov. 21), former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Joe Finley (Buffalo on Dec. 2), former Victoria Salmon Kings defenseman Kris Fredheim (Minnesota on Nov. 17), former Toledo and Reading center Bracken Kearns (Florida on Oct. 20), former Bakersfield center Maxime Macenauer (Anaheim on Oct. 7), former Idaho Steelheads center and two-time ECHL All-Star Greg Rallo (Florida on Dec. 18), former Reading Royals goaltender Ben Scrivens (Toronto on Nov. 3), former Cincinnati Cyclones defenseman Frederic St. Denis (Montreal on Nov. 16) and former Ontario Reign defenseman Colten Teubert (Edmonton on Nov. 3).
There have been 56 players from the ECHL All-Star Game who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League including 40 since 2002 when the lineups began having players who coaches felt were prospects to move up to a higher level.
The ECHL had a record 81 players on NHL opening-day rosters, surpassing the 79 from a year ago and marking the ninth year in a row that there have been over 50 former ECHL players on opening-day rosters. The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 NHL teams, marking the 15th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.
There have been 476 players who have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL including 23 in 2010-11. The ECHL has had 284 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. There have been 220 ECHL players who have played their first game in the last seven seasons for an average of more than 31 per year.
There are 30 coaches with an ECHL background working behind the benches of teams in the NHL including including Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach and 2011 Jack Adams Award winner Dan Bylsma, New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano, Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan, Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette and Winnipeg Jets head coach Claude Noel. It is the seventh 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. Bylsma, who played in the ECHL with Greensboro from 1992-94, was named NHL Coach of the Year in 2010-11.
There are 22 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL officiating team in 2011-12 with referees David Banfield, Francis Charron, Ghislain Hebert, Jean Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan O’Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin St. Pierre, Graham Skilliter and Ian Walsh, and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Matt MacPherson, Tim Nowak, Bryan Pancich and Jay Sharrers.
The ECHL was represented for the 11th year in a row on the Stanley Cup champion with Boston Bruins assistant coach Geoff Ward, players Rich Peverley, Michael Ryder and Tim Thomas, radio broadcaster Dave Goucher and scout Tom McVie. Thomas is the first former ECHL player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There were 34 former players and 19 coaches on the 16 teams competing in the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking the sixth year in a row that there have been at least 30 former ECHL players and the eighth consecutive season that over 25 players with ECHL experience have competed in the NHL postseason.
The first ECHL player to play in the NHL was Johnstown Chiefs goaltender and current Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Scott Gordon, who played his first game with the Quebec Nordiques against Buffalo on Jan. 30, 1990. The 100th player honor is shared by Jean Sebastien Aubin and Manny Legace, who both made their debut on Oct. 21, 1998 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings, respectively. The 200th player was Brett McLean with the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 10, 2002 while the 300th was David Liffiton with the New York Rangers on Apr. 11, 2006 and the 400th was Phil Oreskovic on Mar. 9, 2009 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
• 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.
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 2010-11 there were 10 times as many call-ups from the ECHL to the AHL than all other professional leagues.
**** Coach, you know as well as I that the Salmon Kings would have met with more success than they did, if RG had marketed the Team properly.
RG never did want the ECHL to be successful here, and only went after the ECHL Franchise to fill their requirement of bringing a ‘Main Tennant’ into the SOFMC.
They NEVER did want a payroll, with their only vision to the financial ‘bottom line’, with NO concern for the Fans.
Four Junior Teams within 15 minutes of each other?? -- Gimmee a Break !!
Fans in the Capital City of British Columbia deserve to see the highest quality hockey possible, ESPECIALLY in the Arena that our Tax Dollars help build and support