ECHL Pacific Division Wrapup

FRESNO, CA – This season the ECHL’S Pacific Division started out with all five teams looking very competitive. The Fresno Falcons, and a newcomer to the league, the Ontario Reign, have jumped into the early lead in the division, but so far most games within the division have been decided by one goal or in overtime. The only team that is under performing in the early going are the Las Vegas Wranglers who made it all the way to the Kelly Cup Finals last year.

Here is an overview of the Pacific Division as of November 2, 2008 Bakersfield – The Condors are sending one of their most talented rosters in recent memory onto the ice and it has gotten them to the middle of the pack with a 2-3-0-1 record. Two of the Condors three losses were by one goal before getting blown out by Stockton 8-3. Their victories have come over Stockton and Ontario by wide margins winning 7-4 and 6-3. So far it appears that if the offense is clicking the Condors will win. Matt Carauna is leading the goal scoring so with six goals in six games. Matt Pope is right there in points with six points (three goals and three assists). On defense, newcomer Tom Morrow has proven solid, and at 6 foot 7 inches tall, he is an imposing force. Returnee Tyler Scott has shown an offensive flair as well in scoring a goal and 3 assists. In goal, Dave McKee has gotten the start in five of the seven games and has been solid if not downright stingy at times with a .915 savepercentage before the Stockton blowout which lowered his save percentage to .894). Backup Joey Perricone has made two starts on the road so far against Fresno and made several dazzling saves while giving up 3 goals on 33 shots. Prospect watch – McKee is in the Anaheim farm system and was sent to the Condors late in the preseason from Iowa of the AHL. Look for him to get a call back up at some point. Mark Derlago was spectacular in his first game back from the Manitoba Moose (AHL) and netted a hat trick against Ontario. Chad Painchaud is on loan from Anaheim and has managed a point a game pace for the Condors. Fresno – The Falcons are looking big, tough, and talented. In their only home game the gloves came off just 20 seconds into the game. It was clear what kind of message the Falcons were sending in their return to the downtown Selland Arena, that this is going to be a tough place to play. The Falcons were also tough on the road in October winning games in Stockton, Bakersfield, and Alaska. On opening night the Falcons retired the #7 jersey of Mike Mathers with a fitting ceremony and tribute to the former Falcon who passed away tragically over the summer at age 35. Mathers passed away at his home near Edmonton, Alberta on June 1. He played with the Falcons from 1996 through 2004 and is the club’s all-time leader in games played (379), goals (143), and shorthanded goals (12). Additionally, Mathers ranks second all-time in assists (189), points (347), and is tied for first in power-play goals (44). Mathers will be remembered as a hard working player who gave 110 percent every night and spoke more loudly with his actions than his words. His teammates from throughout the years gathered on the ice as his jersey was unveiled in the rafters of Selland Arena in a fitting salute. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered for Mathers one more time. The Falcons offense is loaded with quick passing skilled forwards and the recent addition of Josh Prudden will add a proven goal scoring touch to the mix. Fresno was keying on the power-play this year and so far havemanaged at least one goal per game. Puck control with the man advantage is significantly improved. The result so far is a 4-1 record. Leading the scoring is rookie Mike Radja with five goals and two assists. Recently recalled to Rockford (AHL) is Peter MacArthur who notched 2 goals and 2 assists. Returnee Matt Stefanishion scored an incredible game winning goal against Bakersfield in a 3-2 win, and notched another pair of goals against Alaska, but is clearly out on the ice to control the game when he’s on the ice with his physical brand of hockey. Stefanishion has the combined ability to control the puck control, and possesses a wicked shot. On defense long time Falcon Matt O’Dette has shown a much more physical side to his game in the early going. Kenny MacAulay returns to the Falcons after spending much of last season in Rockford. MacAulay is always solid on defense, has good speed up the ice, and adds a nice passing touch on the power-play. The Falcon defenders have made it clear so far that opposing forwards will be paying a price to skate into the slot this year. The Falcons have a pair of solid goaltenders, both of whom are on assignment. Joe Fallon is from the Chicago organization while Michael Ouzas is from the Toronto farm system. Fresno leads the league with a goals against average of 2.00. Ouzas stopped all four shots in a shootout win at Bakersfield while Fallon got the start in the other three victories and leads the league with a GAA of 1.675. Prospect Watch – The Falcons have more serious prospects than ever before with their new affiliation with the Blackhawks. MacArthur has already been called back up to Rockford. Stefanishion was in camp with Anaheim and notched a goal in preseason, he has all the skills, if he can perform consistently he’ll be on his way up. Ouzas and Fallon are both looking good. MacAulay and Prudden both made the jump up to the AHL last year for extended stays and it would be no surprise for that to repeat itself. Las Vegas – The Las Vegas Wranglers are off to a shaky start this season after losing in the Kelly Cup Finals last season. After their first six games, they are tied with Bakersfield at the bottom of the division with a 2-3-1 record. Though it’s too early in the season to throw in the towel, this same time last season, they were leading the division 4-1. The Wranglers have started their season with ten players left over from last year’s roster. In the first few matches, Mike Madill (D), Chris Ferraro (C), Peter Ferraro (RW) and Shawn Limpright (LW) have continued to be the main producers on the ice. Add to this mix, the balance of the players that signed late in the summer. So far, Mick Lawrence (LW), Chris Neiszner (C), Bret Tyler (D) and Tim Spencer (LW) have made valuable contributions and look to be assets to the team. Chris Ferraro leads the team with five points, while Mike Madill and Chris Neiszner are tied with four points each. Head Coach Glen Gulutzan has had some problems finding a goalie to replace five year veteran Kevin Lalande who was second overall last season with a .932 save percentage, missing first place by .002 percent. Gulutzan’s answer is John DeCaro, a 6 foot 3 inch, 205 pound native of Marysville, Washington. DeCaro is a big guy with lots of potential. In his first two seasons with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (CHL), Decaro posted a 50-13-7 record, 1.91 goals against average, a .919 save percentage, including setting a CHL single season record 11 shutouts. Alternating appearances in the net is Martin Houle, a former member of the Wheeling Nailers. Houle has appeared in three games to date, and seems to be showing signs of struggle. He has 3.03 goals against average and a .845 save percentage. The Wranglers are really struggling with minor penalties. In the first six games they lead their division with 156 penalty minutes. They also have allowed 20 goals against. One in five Las Vegas penalty kills has resulted in a goal by their opponent. In the last three games against the Reign, the Wranglers offense out-shot the opponent almost 2-1, but was still out-scored 10-6. Reign goalie Jeff Zatkoff was relentless and currently ranks ninth in the ECHL with 2.17 goals-against and a .939 save percentage does not help matters. The Wranglers need to work on their offensive if they hope to sneak any past goalies of this caliber. Prospect watch – The Wrangler’s are an affiliate of the NHL Calgary Flames. There is only one Flames prospect on the roster presently, J.D. Watt, a right winger in his first professional season. He was a 4^th round draft pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He’s played in only four games, but has scored one goal and one assist so far. It’s still early in the season and the team is just beginning to get used to one-another. There’s defiantly some work to be done, but if last year is any indication of the abilities of this team, don’t count them out yet. Ontario Reign – The Los Angeles Kings affiliate got off to a surprising start in their inaugural season with a 2-1 road win at Bakersfield, which is always a tough place to play let alone in your team’s inaugural game. Next, they took out Las Vegas on the road before suffering their first defeat the next night in Vegas. The Reign find themselves in a first place tie with the Fresno Falcons with eight points and a 4-3 record. The Reign played to 8,832 appreciative fans in their first ever home game and skated off with 4-1 victory, again over Las Vegas. Jon Francisco leads the offense for the Reign with four goals and four assists as well as a six game point scoring streak. Rookie Geoff Walker is tied with Francisco in points with three goals and five assists. Veteran forward Brad Mehalko returns from overseas to give the Reign some experience up front having logged 12 years of pro level experience. On defense the Reign have managed to keep their GAA under three, which is quite impressive for an expansion team. They have had their off nights (giving up six goals to Bakersfield), but when the Reign have won they have held their opponents to 2 goals or less. ECHL veteran Chad Starling, at 6 foot 6 inches, is an imposing figure in front of the net, added 35 assists last year while with the Cincinnati Cyclones on their way to the Kelly Cup title. Shawn Germain joins the Reign from the Reading Royals where he was named the team’s defensive player of the year while playing for Reign Head Coach Karl Taylor. David Walker adds some toughness to the backline and returns to southern California after spending three years with the Long Beach Ice Dogs where he amassed 357 penalty minutes in three seasons. In Goal, rookie Jeff Zatkoff is the clear starter winning ECHL goalie of the week honors and getting the start in six of the teams seven games so far. Prospect Watch – Zatkoff, is property of the Kings. Don’t be surprised if he ends up in Manchester (AHL) before long. Stockton – For the third straight year, the Stockton Thunder are serving as the affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers (NHL) and the Springfield Falcons (AHL). The Thunder has made appearances in the post-season each of the past two years and started the season with an all time high of 19 players with an NHL or AHL contract. The depth and strength of this team look to be very promising. The Thunder has a 3-4 record and is third in the Pacific division. The first three months of the season have the Thunder on the road frequently, playing only 9 of 32 games before the home crowd. In the home opener to the Fresno Falcons before a nearly packed arena, both teams played in a hard fought game. Fresno scored three goals in the second period in a span of only 2:42 minutes. Stockton scored late in the game but were unable to come back. On offense, veteran and newcomer Cory Urquhart was named runner-up for the player-of-the-week honors, and is tied for sixth in the league in scoring with 11 points to date. Other player contributions have been Justin Chwedoruk, Garet Hunt and Mike Lalonde. Last season, the Thunder was last among the ECHL teams in the penalty kill, have shown some improvement so far allowing only seven out of 41 opportunities, good for eight in the league. This could be attributed to the addition of assistant coach, and former Thunder defensemen, Tim O’Connell, that made this among his number one priorities. Hunt is the leader on the Thunder in the penalty minutes category, and with 24 minutes, is eighth in the ECHL. With the addition of blue liners Cleve Kinley, Robbie Bina, Neil Petruic, Milan Maslonka, and free agent Nathan Saunders, the Thunder have agood depth of help. Kinley is the among the point leaders for the defense with four assists, followed by Bina and Petruic with two assists each. Prospect watch – Stockton goaltender Bryan Pitton, a fifth round (133rd overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Oilers, has been great in the net so far and is the prospect to watch. Pitton has a goals against average of 2.99 and a .899 save percentage in six games. Pitton is backed up in the net by Andrew Perugini, an assignee from the Falcons. Perugini didn’t get to play in the first five games due to immigration issues that were just completed this week. Look to see him sharing the duties with Pitton. Contact the authors at:
shellie.lima@prohockeynews.com and Mike.Canady@prohockeynews.com Publisher’s note:   This article was delayed because of confusion on the publisher’s office.   We regret this delay and apologize to the authors, photographers and readers for this issue.