In our flashback to the archives, Louisiana's Chris Valicevic again vies for the scoring title as the multi-time all-star continues to produce.
By: John Packett
There are some things about the East Coast League you can always count on: Every year more teams are added to the fold; some clubs will ignore the salary cap and get penalized; and Chris Valicevic will make the all-star team.
The Louisiana IceGators’ defenseman will play for the Southern Conference in his fifth All-Star Game during the ECHL’s seventh annual event Jan. 13 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss.
Valicevic, who has been named ECHL defenseman of the year the past three seasons, is making a bid this year to lead the, league in scoring. At the end of December, the 30-year-old from Mount Clemens, Mich., had 47 points, one fewer than Birmingham Bulls’ center Jamey Hicks, another member of the Southern all-star team.
Valicevic was one of three IceGators chosen to play in the game. His teammates in the starting lineup are left winger John Varga (fourth in scoring with 43 points) and goaltender Bujar Amidovski (second in the league in goals-against average at 1.95).
Three Richmond Renegades highlight the Northern Conference squad. They are goaltender Maxime Gingras, who was leading the ECHL in GAA at 1.93, center Ryan Kraft (first in team scoring with 32 points in 30 games) and left winger Joe Blaznek (second in team scoring with 29 points). All are rookies, as were 12 of the 40 players selected in a vote of league coaches.
The Northern stars will be directed by John Brophy of the Hampton Roads Admirals and Murray Eaves of the Toledo Storm, while the Southern squad will be coached by Louisiana’s Doug Shedden and Bruce Boudreau of the host Sea Wolves.