News and notes of interest around the ECHL.
Shoot, And Shoot Often
Outshooting an opponent doesn’t guarantee a victory. Just ask the Worcester Railers, who lost 2-1 in their season opener against Reading despite having a 26-16 advantage in shots on goal over the Royals.
The second period was especially disappointing, as Worcester outshot the Royals 15-5. The Railers only had one goal, which came from Connor Welsh late in the first period on a backhander under Reading goalie Keith Petruzzelli.
After the game, Railers head coach Bob Deraney was blunt about his team’s lack of success getting the puck in the net.
“Never pass up a shot when you have the right conditions,” Deraney said, “and there were plenty of times when we had net presence and screens. Shoot it. Don’t make one more pass.”
In other words, take the good shots when you get them, because those opportunities are so few during a game.
A Shoutout To Former Coaches
Three former South Carolina Stingrays head coaches who are now in the NHL got some love on the San Jose Sharks broadcast over the weekend.
Jared Bednar, Ryan Warsofsky and Spencer Carbery were mentioned during the television broadcast of the Sharks-Colorado Avalanche game on Sunday.
Before Bednar became head coach of the Avalanche in 2016, he was an assistant with the Stingrays from 2002-07, then spent two seasons as head coach, leading the Rays to a Kelly Cup championship in 2009. He’s the only coach to win league titles in the ECHL, AHL and NHL.
Warsofsky accepted the head coaching job with the Sharks in June. He served as an assistant coach for the Stingrays from 2013-16 before taking over as the club’s head coach from 2016-18. In Warsofsky's time with the Stingrays, the team reached the Kelly Cup finals twice (in 2015 and 2017),, and he was selected to coach at the 2018 ECHL All-Star Classic.
Carbery, the current Washington Capitals head coach, spent five seasons as South Carolina’s head coach and director of hockey operations from 2011-16. He guided the Stingrays to two division titles, two Eastern Conference Finals appearances and a Kelly Cup Finals appearance.
It’s great to see these coaches and the ECHL in general getting some love as a developmental league for the AHL and NHL.
Putting In A Good Word
In my exclusive Q&A
with Florida Everblades GM and head coach Brad Ralph, I asked if he saw himself eventually coaching at the AHL or NHL level.
“I’m definitely interested,” Ralph said. “I want to be in the right spot. I do have a family that will always come first in making these life decisions and career moves. I certainly want to move up. But at the same time, I’m not willing to compromise (what I have in Florida). It’s gotta be the right timing for my family. I think it will happen at some point.”
Other coaches think so, too. Jesse Kallechy, who served as an assistant with Ralph for three seasons before taking over as the Fort Wayne Komets’ head coach prior to last season, understands the role a coach’s family plays in such decisions.
“I don’t want to speak for Brad,” Kallechy said. “He’s got a beautiful family with two young kids. I think sometimes as a coach, we ask a lot of our families for our career. Brad’s in a spot where his family has a great way of life. He’s got a great organization… I know he can coach at (the AHL) level. I know he can coach at the NHL level if he wanted to. But he’s not a guy that needs validation of anybody else around him.”
Current Kansas City Mavericks head coach Tad O’Had, who served under Ralph for seven seasons, agrees.
“It’s a shame, he should,” O’Had said. “He’s more than deserving. The hockey coaching cycle/carousel is odd at times. Someday, I hope he gets that opportunity.”
Ralph certainly isn’t thinking such thoughts at the moment, with the 2024-25 season just getting underway. If the Everblades make history once again and capture a fourth straight Kelly Cup, it would be shocking if he didn’t get at least a few inquiries.
Hurricane Relief Efforts Continue
Fans of the Jacksonville Icemen got an opportunity to participate in a food drive to benefit hurricane relief victims. The team collected canned goods and non-perishable items for a Whataburger Food Drive, and the items were donated to the community.
Goalie Of The Week: Parker Gahagen, Reading Royals
Parker Gahagen of the Reading Royals has been named the Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for Oct. 19-22.
In two starts, Gahagen posted a 2-0 record, 1.50 goals-against average and a .932 save-percentage after stopping 19 shots in a 3-2 win at Trois-Rivières on Friday and made 22 saves in a 2-1 victory at Worcester on Sunday.
Under contract to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, Gahagen has appeared in 116 career ECHL games with Newfoundland, Utah, Florida, Jacksonville and Reading, posting a career record of 70-30-7 with 11 shutouts, a 2.29 goals-against average and a save percentage of .923. He has also seen action in 30 career AHL games with San Jose, Toronto, Colorado, Milwaukee and Lehigh Valley, going 12-12-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and a save percentage of .903.
It is the sixth time in Gahagen’s career that he has received the weekly honor, which is tied for the fifth most in ECHL history. The native of Amherst, New York is the first Royals goaltender to receive the weekly honor since Pat Nagle earned the selection for the week of January 9-15, 2023, which was Nagle's seventh ECHL Goaltender of the Week selection.