READING, Pa – While the long term future of the Johnstown Chiefs might be in doubt, the current future of the Chiefs sure looks bright. Johnstown currently sits atop the ECHL’s North Division with a solid offense and an even stingier defense. The Wheeling Nailers and Dayton Bombers are not far behind. 
Still, with the Chiefs history of disappointment, even if it’s just December, you can bet the Cheifs fans are starting to get just a little bit excited about the leauge’s smallest market. Here is a current look at the North Division (All stats as of December 16, 2008). Johnstown – The Chiefs started off a 3-2 record at the start of the season, but eventually the team’s offense and defense clicked into high gear and into first place. In their last 10 games the Chiefs are 6-3-1 and have 18 wins, the most in the ECHL. The Chiefs are 13-0-0 when leading after two periods. Johnstown’s special teams have slide a bit, but both remain solid. The power play unit slide down slightly from ninth to eleventh since last month, and up slightly from eleventh tenth on the penalty kill. The Chiefs rank fourth in offense in the American Conference while the defense ranks third allowing only 67 goals in 26 games. The offense is led by Petr Pohl with 11 goals and 16 assists, which ties him for eighth overall in points (27). Rookie defenseman Jon Landry is eighth in scoring by a defenseman with 7 goals and 8 assists. Goaltender Ian Keserich has slide some in the goals against average department (2.75) and in save percentage (.903). Still, Keserich has been a mainstay in net and will be counted on to keep the Chiefs in the divisions top spot. Prospect Watch – Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Kyle Wharton, a defenseman, taken in the 2004 draft is currently up with the Syracuse Crunch. Center Ryan Garlock, a former draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, was sent down to Johnstown the Chiefs and is sixth on the team in scoring with 6 goals and 7 assists. Wheeling – The Nailers offense continues to roll along having scored 95 goals in 23 games, good for second best in the league behind the Florida Everblades (98). 
Aaron Clarke is sixth in the league in scoring with 8 goals and 21 assists. Rob Sirianni is tied for eighth overall with 14 goals and 13 assists. Siranni’s 14 goals places him sixth in the league. Rookie Jordan Morrison is tied for fifteenth overall and third in rookie scoring with 25 points. The Nailers have 3 players in the top 5 in rookie scoring. Morrison is the only one who is on the Nailers active roster. Another rookie, defenseman Elgin Reid is tied for ninth in scoring by a defenseman with the Chiefs Jon Landry with 15 points. Goaltenders David Brown and Curtis Darling have been solid in net for the Nailers. Brown has a goals against average of 3.01 and a save percentage of .909 percent. One look at the Nailers special teams and you get a good barometer as to why the Nailers are second in the division. Wheeling ranks fourth overall on the power play, and the penalty kill has righted itself after a rough start to the season and currently ranks eighth. Prospect Watch – Brown is an 8th round draft pick of Pittsburgh in 2004 (228th overall) and is someone Penguins fans will have to keep their eye on in the next couple of seasons if Marc-Andre Fluery falters with the big club. Dayton – Someone on the Bombers must have gotten the message that they needed to score some goals because early in the season Dayton was off to a poor start offensively. After the three games of the season, the Bombers were undefeated, but had scored only nine goals. Today the Bombers have scored 83 in 26 games, good for fourth in the division and fifth in the conference. Goaltender David Shantz got off to a great start to the season but has since been promoted to the AHL. Rookie Paul Drew and Tyler Plante now share the goaltending duties. Both have played well and continue to hold opposing teams offenses down. While the Bombers offense is led by rookie Justin Bowers who is tied for eighth in the league in scoring with 27 points. Dan Riedel leads the team in goals with 12. Prospect Watch – Shantz, a Florida Panthers prospect, was originally draft by the Panthers in the second round (37th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, is currently up in the AHL with the Rochester Americans. Elmira – The Jackals are in the midst of their second season in the ECHL and don’t look out of place. This year however, the Jackals are off to a slow start and like most teams are struggling to find and identity. Elmira’s offense and defense is doing a so-so job on both ends of the ice scoring 80 goals and allowing 85 against. Elmira does not have a scorer in the top 20, but Steve yetman does have 13 goals to lead the Jackals. He is the only player on the team with 10 or more goals. Balanced scoring is the name of the game for Elmira as 19 different players on the team have scored at least one goal this season. Elmira does not have a goaltender in the top 20 either, but the Jackals have used five different goaltenders so far this season. Rookie Mitch O’Keefe has started the most (19) but is having a tougher start than another rookie, Micheal Teslak who has a goals against average of 2.69 and a save percentage of .911. Prospect Watch – The only NHL prospect the Jackals on the roster despite being affiliated with the Ottawa Senators and the Binghamton Senators is Teslak who was assigned to the team by the Philadelphia Flyers. 
Cincinnati – The defending ECHL champion Cincinnati Cyclones hardly looked like the team that won the Kelly Cup at the start of the season, but things have turned around for the Cyclones, at least on offense. At the beginning of the season Cincinnati was tied for last goals. These days the offense is ranked third overall with 91 goals, and that’s without the Cyclones top scorer Olivier Latendresse. Still, Thomas Beauregard has done a great job holding the fort with 15 goals and 13 assists, which ranks him seventh overall in scoring. The Cyclones defense however is still an issues allowing more goals than they are scoring having allowed 99 so far. Only the Reading Royals have the leagues worst offense with 108 allowed. Cincinnati is still tenth on the power play, but are 21st on the penalty killing which accounts for 30 of the teams 99 goals allowed. Prospect Watch – Beauregard is a Montreal Canadiens prospect. The Cyclones are also affiliated with the Nashville Predators. 
Trenton – The Titans continue to struggle, but the light may be at the end of the tunnel. The Devils have gone 5-3-1-1 in their last ten game. Trenton is practically an mirror imagine of their NHL parent club in New Jersey. Scoring is a major issue while defense is not. The Devils are dead last in goal scoring with 56, while their 73 goals allowed is more than respectable. To tell you just how bad things are offensively Trenton does not have a scorer in the top 40. Rookie goaltender Charlie Effinger ranks 31st in goals against (3.48). Prospect Watch – Kevin Cormier is a former draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes (sixth round in 2004) and has no goals in 10 games.Reading – The Royals are off to their worst start in team history. It should come as no surprise then the Royals have he worst record in the ECHL. The Royals have allowed a league worst 108 goals, and has scored only 77. Recent trades hope to rectify some of the teams offensive ills. The Royals are dead last in penalty killing and is 17th on the power play. Prospect Watch – Goaltender James Reimer, a fourth round pick (99th overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs finally got back into the lineup after being on the injured reserved list. Reimer is sharing the goaltending duties with Los Angeles Kings prospect Danny Taylor. 
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at Brian.Mechling@prohockeynews.com
Photos are from the game on 11/29/08 in Johnstown, Pa where the Cyclones won 6-3 over the Chiefs
http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=6617
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