ECHL represented on Stanley Cup champion for 24th straight year

For the 24th consecutive year, the ECHL is represented on the Stanley Cup champion with Florida Panthers Assistant General Manager Assistant General Manager Brett Peterson, Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Paul Krepelka, Assistant Coach Jamie Kompon, Goaltending Coach Robb Tallas, players Ryan Lomberg, Steven Lorentz, Anthony Stolarz and Carter Verhaeghe, Professional Scouts P.J. Fenton and Sean Backman, Assistant Athletic Trainer Brian Riedel and Assistant Equipment Managers Thomas Anderson, Dakota King and Joe Wiezczek and Radio Broadcaster Doug Plagens.
 
The Florida Everblades were the ECHL affiliate of the Panthers during the 2023-24 season, marking the first time in the ECHL’s 36-year history that the Riley/Kelly Cup champion and Stanley Cup champion in the same season are affiliates. The Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League had affiliations with 28 of the 32 teams in the NHL in 2023-24, marking the 27th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams. The ECHL had 72 players on NHL opening-day rosters, marking the 21st year in a row that there have been over 50 former ECHL players on opening-day rosters.
 
Peterson skated in 317 career ECHL games over five seasons with Atlantic City, Johnstown, Florida and Phoenix from 2004-09. He is in fourth season in the Panthers front office, and upon hiring in November 2020, he became the first Black assistant general manager in NHL history.
 
Krepelka played two seasons in the ECHL with Hampton Roads from 1991-93, tallying 33 points (14g-19a) in 85 games. He went on to serve as Director of Player Personnel for Norfolk in 2017-18 before joining the Panthers front office in 2018-19 as Vice President of Hockey Operations.
 
Kompon, who previously won Stanley Cup titles as an assistant coach with Los Angeles in 2012 and Chicago in 2013, totaled 17 points (4g-13a) in 59 games with Hampton Roads, Cincinnati and Winston-Salem from 1989-91.

Tallas, who is in his 15th season as Florida’s goaltending coach, went 21-9-3 in 36 appearances with Charlotte during the 1994-95 season with a 3.40 goals-against average and a save percentage of .882. He went on to appear in 99 career games in the NHL with Boston and Chicago from 1995-2001.
 
Lomberg posted 35 points (18g-17a) in 43 games with Adirondack as a rookie in 2015-16 and has gone on to record 50 points (28g-22a) in 257 career NHL games with Calgary and Florida.
 
Lorentz recorded 63 points (22g-41a) in 84 games with Florida from 2017-19, while adding 10 points (5g-5a) in 19 games during the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs as the Everblades reached the Kelly Cup Finals. He has totaled 43 points (21g-22a) in 230 career NHL games with Carolina, San Jose and Florida.
 
Stolarz saw action in three games with Reading during the 2017-18 season, going 1-1-1 with a 3.02 goals-against average and a save percentage of .902. In 108 career NHL appearances with Philadelphia, Edmonton, Anaheim and Florida, he is 43-31-9 with eight shutouts, a 2.68 goals-against average and a save percentage of .915.
 
Verhaeghe captures his second career Stanley Cup title after previously winning with Tampa Bay in 2020. He had 57 points (20g-37a) in 36 games with Missouri from 2015-17 and has posted 249 points (127g-122a) in 330 career NHL games with the Lightning and Panthers.

Fenton had 11 points (9g-2a) in 14 games with Phoenix in 2008-09 while Backman recorded four points (2g-2a) in five games with Idaho during the 2010-11 season.
 
Riedel is in his second season on the Panthers training staff. He spent one season with Greenville in 2018-19 before spending three seasons with Hershey of the American Hockey League.
 
Anderson has ECHL experience as an assistant equipment manager with Gwinnett in 2010-11 and 2012-13, and is his seventh season on the Panthers staff.
 
King, who was named ECHL Equipment Manager of the Year with Gwinnett in 2014-15, spent two seasons with the Gladiators before joining Florida’s staff in 2015-16.
 
Plagens served as radio broadcaster for Idaho from 2008-11, then spent four seasons in the same role with Lake Erie of the AHL before joining the Panthers in 2015-16.
 
In addition to the members of the Panthers, the following ECHL alums have been on the Stanley Cup winner:
 
 

• Head Coach Bruce Cassidy; Assistant Coach Ryan Craig; players Laurent Brossoit, Adin Hill, Keegan Kolesar, Brayden Pachal, Jonathan Quick and Logan Thompson; Manager of Goaltending Development and Scouting Mike Rosati, Professional Scouts Kent Hawley and Vince Williams; Amateur Scout Connor Jones; European Scout Alex Godynyuk; Television Play-by-Play Announcer Dave Goucher; Television Analyst Shane Hnidy and Radio Play-by-Play Announcer Dan D’Uva (Vegas – 2023)
• Head Coach Jared Bednar; Assistant Coach Nolan Pratt; goaltender Darcy Kuemper; Head Equipment Manager J.C. Ihrig and Assistant Equipment Manager Donny White (Colorado – 2022)
• Yanni Gourde; Assistant Coach Derek Lalonde; Director of Player Development JP Cote; Assistant Equipment Manager Jason Berger and Radio Play-by-Play Announcer Dave Mishkin (Tampa Bay – 2021)
• Yanni Gourde and Carter Verhaeghe; Assistant Coach Derek Lalonde; Director of Player Development JP Cote; Assistant Equipment Manager Jason Berger and Radio Play-by-Play Announcer Dave Mishkin (Tampa Bay – 2020)
• Jordan Binnington; Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer Steve Chapman; Vice President, Broadcast and Content Development Chris Kerber; Assistant GM and Director of Amateur Scouting Bill Armstrong; Pro Scout Dave Farrish; Assistant Athletic Trainer Dustin Flynn and Equipment Assistant Andrew Dvorak (St. Louis – 2019)
• Jay Beagle, Philipp Grubauer and Braden Holtby; Associate Coach Todd Reirden, Professional Development Coach Olaf Kolzig, Pro Scout/Minor League Operations Jason Fitzsimmons, Manager of Hockey Analytics H.T. Lenz, Head Athletic Trainer Jason Serbus and Equipment Assistant Dave Marin (Washington – 2018)
• Josh Archibald, Tom Kuhnhackl, Carter Rowney and Mark Streit;Goalie Development Coach Mike Buckley; Athletic Trainer Chris Stewart; Head Equipment Manager Dana Heinze; Vice President of Hockey Operations Jason Karmanos; Director of Pro Scouting Derek Clancey and Amateur Scouts Ryan Bowness and Warren Young (Pittsburgh – 2017)
• Tom Kuhnhackl; Goalie Development Coach Mike Buckley; Head Athletic Trainer Chris Stewart; Head Equipment Manager Dana Heinze; Vice President of Hockey Operations Jason Karmanos; Director of Pro Scouting Derek Clancey and Amateur Scout Warren Young; (Pittsburgh – 2016)
• Scott Darling and Andrew Desjardins; Vice President of Hockey Operations Al MacIsaac; General Manager of Minor League Affiliations Mark Bernard; Director of Pro Scouting Ryan Stewart and Pro Scout Derek Booth (Chicago – 2015)
• Kyle Clifford; Trevor Lewis; Martin Jones; Dwight King; Jordan Nolan and Jonathan Quick and Assistant Coach Davis Payne (Los Angeles – 2014)
• Sheldon Brookbank and Daniel Carcillo; Assistant Coach Jamie Kompon; Vice President/Assistant to the President Al MacIsaac; Director of Pro Scouting Ryan Stewart and General Manager of Minor League Affiliations Mark Bernard (Chicago – 2013);
• Dwight King, Jordan Nolan, Jonathan Quick and Assistant Coach Jamie Kompon (Los Angeles – 2012)
• Rich Peverley, Michael Ryder and Tim Thomas and Assistant Coach Geoff Ward (Boston – 2011)
• Vice President Al MacIsaac, Assistant Coach Mike Haviland, Associate Coach John Torchetti and Director of Pro Scouting Ryan Stewart (Chicago – 2010)
• Ruslan Fedotenko and Head Coach Dan Bylsma (Pittsburgh – 2009)
• Aaron Downey (Detroit – 2008)
• Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and Assistant Coach Dave Farrish (Anaheim – 2007)
• Andrew Hutchinson and Chad LaRose and Head Coach Peter Laviolette (Carolina – 2006)
• Ruslan Fedotenko, Nolan Pratt and Andre Roy (Tampa Bay – 2004)
• Corey Schwab (New Jersey – 2003)
• Manny Legace (Detroit – 2002)
• David Aebischer and Nolan Pratt (Colorado – 2001)
• Krzysztof Oliwa (New Jersey – 2000)
• Kevin Dean (New Jersey – 1995).
  
  The ECHL was represented in the Stanley Cup Playoffs by 37 former players and 19 coaches on the 16 teams. It was the 21st consecutive season that over 25 players with ECHL experience competed in the NHL postseason. It marked the 20th straight year that the ECHL has been represented by at least six coaches.
  
  There have been 752 players who have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL including 12 who made their debut in 2023-24. The ECHL has had 558 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 496 ECHL players who have played their first game in the last 19 seasons for an average of more than 26 per year.
  
  There were three players who played in both the ECHL and NHL in 2023-24: Yaniv Perets (Norfolk and Carolina), Magnus Chrona (Wichita and San Jose) and Georgi Romanov (Wichita and San Jose).

 
Former ECHL broadcasters working in the National Hockey League include John Ahlers and Steve Carroll of the Anaheim Ducks, Bob McElligott of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Josh Bogorad of the Dallas Stars, Jack Michaels of the Edmonton Oilers, Doug Plagens of the Florida Panthers, Brendan Burke of the New York Islanders, Chris Kerber of the St. Louis Blues, Dave Mishkin of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dave Goucher and Dan D’Uva of the Vegas Golden Knights and Everett Fitzhugh of the Seattle Kraken. Former ECHL player Tyson Nash is an analyst with the Arizona Coyotes, former ECHL player Jody Shelley is an analyst with the Blue Jackets, former ECHL player Tripp Tracy is an analyst with the Carolina Hurricanes and former ECHL player Shane Hnidy is an analyst with the Golden Knights.
 
There were 40 former ECHL officials who worked as part of the NHL officiating team in 2023-24 with referees Riley Brace, Jake Brenk, Francis Charron, Tom Chmielewski, Mitch Dunning, Trevor Hanson, Beau Halkidis, Ghislain Hebert, Jean Hebert, Pierre Lambert, T.J. Luxmore, Peter MacDougall, Morgan MacPhee, Michael Markovic, Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac, Dan O’Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Carter Sandlak, Graham Skilliter, Furman South, Justin St. Pierre and linesmen Steve Barton, Ryan Daisy, Julien Fournier, Brandon Gawryletz, Brandon Grillo, Mitchell Hunt, Trent Knorr, Matt MacPherson, Jesse Marquis, Kilian McNamara, Bevin Mills, C.J. Murray, Kory Nagy, Ben O’Quinn and Bryan Pancich. Hebert, O’Rourke, Rooney, Daisy and MacPherson were selected to work the Stanley Cup Final.
 
About the ECHL
 
Formed in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 27 teams in 20 states and one Canadian province for its 36th season in 2023-24. There have been 752 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 12 who have made their NHL debuts in the 2023-24 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 28 of the 32 NHL teams in 2023-24, marking the 27th consecutive season that the league has affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com.