ECHL 2006-07 All-Rookie Team

[VodkaFish]

PRINCETON, N.J. – The ECHL on Wednesday announced its All-Rookie Team for 2006-07 as determined in a vote of ECHL coaches, who were asked to select a goaltender, two defensemen and three forwards. A rookie is defined as a player who has played in less than 25 professional games prior to the start of the current season.

2006-07 ECHL All-Rookie Team

F - Colton Fretter, Gwinnett Gladiators (49 gp, 35g, 29a, 64 pts, +3)
F - Todd Griffith, Bakersfield Condors (46 gp, 26g, 17a, 43 pts, +10)
F - Julian Talbot, Alaska Aces (64 gp, 18g, 32a, 50 pts, +23)
D - Paul Albers, Texas Wildcatters (67 gp, 12g, 30a, 42 pts, +4)
D - Jamie Milam, Gwinnett Gladiators (66 gp, 22g, 23a, 45 pts, -7)
G - Cedrick Desjardins, Cincinnati Cyclones (42 gp, 24-17-1, 2.52 GAA, .919 Save Pct.)

Despite not playing since Feb. 14, Colton Fretter of Gwinnett leads ECHL rookies with 35 goals, 17 power-play goals and 64 points in 49 games, and he received the most votes overall among all rookies. Selected in the eighth round (230th overall) by Atlanta in the 2002 National Hockey League Draft and under American Hockey League contract to the Chicago Wolves, he is tied for third overall in power-play goals and is fifth in goals. The 25-year-old had a 16-game point streak (15g-12a) when he was injured at Florida on Feb. 14, including scoring a goal in the first period, and registered a point in 39 games. He was named the CCM Vector ECHL Rookie of the Month for October and was selected to the Rbk Hockey ECHL All-Star Game where he scored the game-winning goal for the American Conference in a 6-3 win.

Julian Talbot of Alaska is third among ECHL rookies in plus-minus rating at +23 and is tied for third with 10 power-play goals. He is fifth in rookie scoring with 50 points and is tied for fifth with 32 assists. He was selected to the Rbk Hockey ECHL All-Star Game where he scored a goal for the National Conference. The 22-year-old has also played in the American Hockey League with Providence where he has three points (1g-2a) in seven games and scored the game-winning goal in his first-ever AHL game.

Despite not playing since Mar. 13, Todd Griffith of Bakersfield is second among ECHL rookies with 26 goals and has 43 points in 46 games. The 22-year-old was selected to the Rbk Hockey ECHL All-Star Game and has also played in the American Hockey League where he has two penalty minutes in one game with Bridgeport.

Jamie Milam of Gwinnett leads ECHL rookie defensemen with 22 goals, 13 power-play goals and is tied for the lead with 45 points in 66 games. He is second overall among league rookies with 13 power-play goals while his 22 goals tie him for sixth and his 45 points tie him for 11th. He is second among all ECHL defensemen in goals and power-play goals and is tied for sixth in points. He was named the CCM Vector ECHL Rookie of the Month for February after scoring 13 points (3g-10a) in 12 games.

Paul Albers of Texas is second among ECHL rookie defensemen with 12 goals while his six power-play goals are third and his 30 assists and 42 points are fourth. Under contract to Minnesota of the National Hockey League, he is tied for seventh overall among league rookies in assists and is tied for 14th in power-play goals. He is tied for ninth among all ECHL defensemen in goals and is tied for 12th in points. He was selected to play in the Rbk Hockey ECHL All-Star Game where he had two assists for the American Conference in its 6-3 win.

Cedrick Desjardins of Cincinnati is 24-17-1 and is fifth in the ECHL with a save percentage of .919 and a goals-against average of 2.52. Under contract to Hamilton of the American Hockey League, he is sixth in the league with four shutouts and was chosen to play in the Rbk Hockey ECHL All-Star Game where he was the winning goaltender after stopping all nine shots he faced in the second period of the American Conference’s 6-3 win.

The ECHL will announce its First-Team All-ECHL and Second-Team All-ECHL teams on Thursday.

[A Jules]

Word is we might actually see Colton Fretter come back for the playoffs...I sure hope so or we have no frigging chance at all seeing how Brad Schell is still up in Chicago.