ECHL Announces Hall Of Fame

[VodkaFish]

PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL proudly announces that, as part of the 20th Anniversary celebration in 2007-08, it will introduce the ECHL Hall of Fame.

The first induction class will be announced in October and will be honored during the festivities at the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game hosted by the Stockton Thunder and the City of Stockton at Stockton Arena on Jan. 23, 2008.

“From humble beginnings the ECHL has grown to become one of the most well-respected and recognized entities in professional sports,” said Commissioner Brian McKenna. “The time has come to recognize the individuals who have contributed to that growth and made the league what it is today. The occasion of our 20th Anniversary presents a unique opportunity to introduce our Hall of Fame.”

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league, behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League has grown from five teams in three states in 1988-89 into a coast-to-coast league with 25 teams playing in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08.

ECHL fans will be able to visit the Hall of Fame around the clock as it will be housed online, opening as part of the ECHL Network in conjunction with the ceremonies in January. The inductees will also be recognized at both the ECHL office in Princeton, N.J. and in the ECHL section at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario.

The logo is a maroon shield outlined in white and grey that has “Hall of Fame” and the ECHL logo in white. Joe Bosack, president and founder of The Joe Bosack Graphic Design Company, designed the logo. Bosack also designed the ECHL logo, the Kelly Cup Playoffs logo, the 15th Anniversary logo, the 20th Anniversary logo as well as the logos for the ECHL All-Star Games each of the past five years.

Hall of Fame members will be selected in four categories: Player, Developmental Player, Builder, and Referee/Linesman. Players must have concluded their career as an active player for a minimum of five playing seasons, though not continuous or full seasons. Development Players must have began their career in the ECHL and went on to a distinguished career in the NHL, playing a minimum of 260 regular season games in the NHL, AHL and ECHL. Builders may be active or inactive whereas Referee/Linesman must have concluded their active officiating career for a minimum of three playing seasons.

No more than five candidates may be elected to the ECHL Hall of Fame each year with no more than three Players, one Developmental Player, two Builders and one Referee/Linesman. The Builder and the Referee/Linesman categories are dependent upon the number of candidates in the Player category.

The nomination and/or selection of candidates will be determined by the ECHL Hall of Fame Selection Committee which will be appointed by the ECHL.

Only members of the Selection Committee, the Board of Governors or teams in the ECHL may submit official nominations which must be made in writing to the league office. Fans are encouraged to contact their team to propose names for nomination. Selection criteria will be announced and nomination forms will be distributed to teams at a later date.

The ECHL is the primary resource for player development as evidenced by the fact that in the last five seasons there have been over 2,000 call ups to the AHL involving more than 1,000 players which is more than all other professional leagues combined. In each of the last two seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL and there were over 800 call-ups involving more than 500 players.

There have been 329 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including 184 who have played their first game in the NHL in the last five seasons. The ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League, marking the 10th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

The ECHL is represented for the seventh consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2007 with Anaheim assistant coach Dave Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.

[Humpzilla]

My ECHL Hall of Fame:

Ken Tasker
Trevor Senn
Jason Clarke
Brock Kelly
L.P. Charbonneau
Brodie Coffin
Greg Batters
Jason Hamilton
Garry Gulash
Roger Maxwell
Louis Bedard
Jon Mirasty

[toughwolf]

Originally Posted by Humpzilla

My ECHL Hall of Fame:

Ken Tasker
Trevor Senn
Jason Clarke
Brock Kelly
L.P. Charbonneau
Brodie Coffin
Greg Batters
Jason Hamilton
Garry Gulash
Roger Maxwell
Louis Bedard
Jon Mirasty

All really tough guys doubt any of them make it, if there only doing 5 a year they will probably look at guys who made it to the NHL mainly.A few tough guys I believe who should also be noticed. Cam Brown.Kevin Evans,Brad Essex, But if they do any tough guys it will probably be like Darren langdon,Jody Shelly,Jessie Boluriece(Spelling),Dereck Boogard,Josh Gratton,Eric Boulton the 1s who made it to the NHL who started in the ECHL.Trevor Gillies if he makes it back to the NHL.

[caps05]

Among players, the first group might include someone like Cam Brown and Trevor Jobe, two players who spent several seasons in the league and left quite a legacy. Coaches might have someone like John Brophy.

[A Jules]

I hope Cam Brown makes it in...I know that he currently holds the record for most PIMs in a career. Go Cam!

[CMGADES]

Originally Posted by caps05

Among players, the first group might include someone like Cam Brown and Trevor Jobe, two players who spent several seasons in the league and left quite a legacy. Coaches might have someone like John Brophy.

yep, they probally will keep out alot of tough players, but there is no way they can keep out John Brophy, probally the biggest influational coach of all time in the ECHL. and in his on respect, John was probally a tougher individual than most or maybe all the players to have played in the ECHL. love him or hate him, Brophy was (and if he ever coachs again, "is") one of minor leagues best coachs ever.