News and notes of interest around the league.
The weekend of action in the ECHL could easily be described as high-flying, with plenty of offense for fans who love high goal totals. Meanwhile, the Tahoe Knight Monsters are on a tear, and Jamie Engelbert seems to have found a home in South Carolina.
It’s a packed Notebook this week, so let’s get to it.
Hockey Or Football?
To look at some of the final scores from ECHL games this past week, one might think they resemble first- or second-quarter scores of American football games.
Toledo and South Carolina put up eight points (touchdown plus two-point conversion), Tahoe scored seven, while Wheeling, Trois-Rivieres and Norfolk dropped six (two field goals) on their opponents, just to name a few.
The most impressive offensive explosion came from the Kansas City Mavericks, who managed a touchdown and field goal (er, 10 goals) in a 10-3 thrashing of the Utah Grizzlies Saturday in West Valley City.
The game saw numerous milestones and records for the Mavericks (14-6-1-1). Cade Borchardt played the game of his life by tallying four goals, following a hat trick in Friday night’s contest.
Borchardt’s seven goals over two games was a new Mavericks record. His four goals and six points in Saturday’s game tied the franchise’s single-game marks for goals and points.
It was a fitting performance, as Borchardt was skating in his 100th career pro game on Saturday.
Marcus Crawford picked up his 250th career professional point, scoring Kansas City’s final goal. The 10 goals were the most scored by the Mavericks since 2019.
If that wasn’t enough, Mavericks goaltender Victor Ostman dropped the gloves with his counterpart, Jake Barczewski midway through the third period.
https://x.com/kc_mavericks/status/1865615007293055029
This game had a little bit of everything: high scoring, milestones, even goalie fights. But no touchdowns or field goals.
Knight Monsters On A Tear
Speaking of offense, the Tahoe Knight Monsters are getting the job done in that department against some top teams.
The Knight Monsters just wrapped up a two-week road swing in Idaho, Allen and Tulsa, all teams with winning records. They went 5-2 during that stretch, sweeping the last two series against the Americans and Oilers. They had two games with seven-goal efforts, two comeback victories and a strong 4.42 goals-against average per game throughout the trip.
The club will play the next six games against the Utah Grizzlies, three at home and three in West Valley City. The Grizzlies are mired in last place in the Mountain Division with a 5-13-2 record and 12 points. It’s a chance to really make some hay in the standings, but you can bet head coach Alex Loh and his players aren’t about to take this stretch for granted.
Engelbert Finding His Groove With Stingrays
There are two ways to look at being traded. One team may be ready to move on from you, but that also means another wants what you have to offer.
South Carolina Stingrays forward Jamie Engelbert prefers to take the positive road.
The Cobourg, ON, native debuted on October 19 for the Bloomington Bison. The next day, Engelbert recorded his first professional point, assisting on the first goal in Bloomington Bison franchise history.
His parents, Nancy and Bob, were in Bloomington to cheer him on. During the second game, Engelbert’s father even purchased a Bison hat from the team store.
“When I went to see my parents after the game, I laughed and said, ‘I hope you can return that hat. I’m going to South Carolina now,’” Engelbert shared with Stingrays PR. “They laughed. They weren’t panicked, but they wanted to know what happened. I just said, ‘Another team wanted me more.’”
Later that day, Engelbert heard from his uncle, Rob Pearson, a former NHL player who tallied 110 points (56 goals, 54 assists) in 269 NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals, and St. Louis Blues.
Pearson offered his nephew words of encouragement.
“Nothing wrong with going to a team that wants you. Always enjoy every minute of pro hockey. Cheers and don’t get sunburned,” Pearson texted.
In a deal involving forwards Jonny Evans and Jackson Leppard, the Stingrays selected Engelbert as the player they received in exchange.
Engelbert has flourished since joining the Stingrays. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound forward leads the team in goals (11), and is tied with Kyler Kupka for the team lead in power play goals (3).
Engelbert has some impressive streaks, including scoring in eight consecutive games (Nov. 9-24) and earning points in 12 straight (Nov. 3-29). He is certainly a big reason why the Rays are riding a six-game winning streak and sit atop the league standings with 33 points.
ECHL Issues Fines And A Suspension
The ECHL Department of Player Safety on Sunday announced the following fines and suspension.
Fort Wayne’s Jack Gorniak has been suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount as a result of his actions in ECHL Game #277, Kalamazoo at Fort Wayne, on Dec. 7.
Gorniak is fined and suspended under Rule #28 - Supplementary Discipline as the result of his match penalty for slew-footing at 0:32 of the first period. He will miss Fort Wayne’s game at Bloomington against the Bison on Dec. 13.
Atlanta’s Derek Topatigh has been fined an undisclosed amount as a result of his actions in ECHL Game #278, Atlanta at Greenville, on Dec. 7.
Topatigh is fined under Rule #28 – Supplementary Discipline as the result of an unpenalized dangerous tripping infraction at 19:52 of the second period.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association, player fines collected by the ECHL are given to the PHPA for its ECHL Player’s Hardship Fund.
Singing For Santa
Holiday music and good cheer were alive and well at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia on Sunday, as the Atlanta Gladiators hosted the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
Fans got to sing along to tunes of their favorite carols while cheering for the Glads. The game didn’t go quite the way they had hoped, as Greenville handed the Gladiators a 3-2 loss.
Oh, well. Maybe Santa will leave a little extra in the Glads’ stockings this year.