VS 2012 KELLY CUP FINALS MEDIA GUIDE Produced by: Joe Babik, ECHL Director of Communications With assistance from: Alex Reed, Florida Everblades and Rachel Wright, Las Vegas Wranglers Patrick J. Kelly ECHL Commissioner Emeritus 2008 Inductee ECHL Hall of Fame Patrick J. Kelly was named Commissioner Emeritus of the ECHL in 1996 after serving as Commissioner for the first eight seasons of the ECHL. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2008. Kelly celebrated his 59th season in hockey in 2011-12, having begun his career with the St. Catherine Teepees of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1952. He played professionally for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, the Trois Riveres Lions in the Quebec League, Troy Bruins of the International Hockey League and the Greensboro Generals of the Eastern Hockey League. He helped Crowland capture the 1948-49 Bantam B Championship of Ontario, beating Peterborough in the finals. He began his coaching career in the Eastern Hockey League, beginning with the Jersey Devils and later with the Clinton (New York) Comets from 1965-73. Clinton was 151-39- 28 and won three straight regular season and postseason titles from 1967-70. In 1967-68, the Comets finished with a 57-5-10 record, making them the only professional team in history to lose only five games or less in a season, and in 1969-70, Kelly was named Minor League Coach of the Year by The Hockey News. Kelly served as head coach and general manager for Charlotte in the Southern Hockey League from 1973-76 guiding the Checkers to a 136-68-12 record, two regular season titles and two postseason titles while earning Coach of the Year honors in the SHL twice. He coached the Colorado Rockies in the National Hockey League in 1977-78 and is the only coach in history to lead the Rockies into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Following coaching stops in the AHL, Kelly went to Peoria in the IHL where he led the Rivermen to the Turner Cup in his first season behind the bench in 1984-85. He recorded his 800th career win on January 4, 1987 and was inducted into the Peoria Sports Hall of Fame in February of 1990. Kelly was inducted into the Roanoke Hall of Fame and the Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown of Welland, Ontario in 1998, in March of 2002 he became the first inductee into the Greensboro Hockey Hall of Fame when the Generals retired his uniform number (5) and in June 2010, he was inducted into the Greater Utica (N.Y.) Sports Hall of Fame. Patrick and his wife, June, reside in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kelly Cup Trophy Facts The ECHL retired the Jack Riley Cup in 1996 and replaced it with the Patrick J. Kelly Cup, first awarded to the playoff champion in 1997. Kelly Cup is named in recognition of Patrick J. Kelly, one of the founding fathers of the ECHL and an inaugural inductee into the ECHL Hall of Fame. Standing 26 inches and weighing 27 pounds, the Kelly Cup was created by Boardman Silversmiths, Inc. in Meriden, Connecticut. Boardman also produces the Calder Cup for the American Hockey League as well as the U.S. Open Tennis trophy and the Masters trophy. The Kelly Cup has been displayed with the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup at the ECHL All-Star Game in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Scott Burt and Jared Bednar are the only individuals to have their name engraved on the Kelly Cup three times. Burt won championships with Idaho in 2004 and 2007 and Alaska in 2011 while Bednar won as a player with South Carolina in 1997 and 2001, and was the head coach of the Stingrays for their win in 2009. There are 20 other individuals who have their name engraved on the Kelly Cup twice. Patrick Wellar was part of Alaska’s 2006 championship and was with South Carolina in 2009. Louis Mass won as a player with Alaska in 2006 and was the Aces’ assistant coach in 2011. Lance Galbraith and Darrell Hay were members of the championship teams in Idaho in 2004 and 2007. Steve Munn and head coach Mike Haviland had their names engraved in 2003 with Atlantic City and in 2005 with Trenton while Peter Metcalf and Joe Talbot were members of the championship teams in Atlantic City in 2003 and Alaska in 2006. Mathieu Aubin, Barret Ehgoetz, head coach Chuck Weber and assistant coach Dean Stork were members of Cincinnati’s 2008 and 2010 Kelly Cup championship teams and Maxime Lacroix was with South Carolina in 2009 and Cincinnati in 2010. Eight of the 21 individuals who have their name engraved at least twice on the Kelly Cup were members of South Carolina’s championship team in 2001. Rick Adduono was an assistant coach for South Carolina when it won the first Kelly Cup in 1997 and was head coach when the Stingrays when they won in 2001. Jason Fitzsimmons was a player for South Carolina in 1997 and an assistant coach in 2001. Brad Dexter, Brett Marietti and Dave Seitz were all players in both 1997 and 2001. Marty Clapton had his name engraved in 1998 with Hampton Roads and in 2001 with South Carolina while Mike Nicholishen had his name engraved in 2001 with South Carolina and in 2003 with Atlantic City. Thirty players whose name appears on the Kelly Cup have played in the National Hockey League: Sebastien Charpentier (Hampton Roads, 1998); Chris Schmidt and Travis Scott (Mississippi, 1999); Cody Rudkowsky and Cam Severson (Peoria, 2000); Zdenek Blatny, Tyrone Garner, Simon Gamache and Luke Sellars (Greenville, 2002); Kevin Colley and Matt Yeats (Atlantic City, 2003); Dan Ellis, Zenon Konopka, Warren Peters (Idaho, 2004); Chris Beckford-Tseu, Barrett Heisten, Doug Lynch, Chris Minard and Matt Underhill (Alaska, 2006); Jay Beagle, B.J. Crombeen, Greg Rallo and Francis Wathier (Idaho, 2007); David Desharnais, Cedrick Desjardins and Ryan Russell (Cincinnati, 2008); Travis Morin and James Reimer (South Carolina, 2009) and Gerald Coleman and Brian Swanson (Alaska, 2011). In addition, Bruce Boudreau, who coached Mississippi to the 1999 Kelly Cup championship, is the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks and Mike Haviland, who led Atlantic City to the 2003 championship and Trenton to the 2005 title, is an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks. Kelly Cup Finals Series N (Best-of-Seven) o. 3 Seed (West) o. 5 Seed (East) Las Vegas vs Florida Wranglers Everblades HL Affiliate: Independent Carolina/Tampa Bay AHL Affiliate: Independent Charlotte/Norfolk * Las Vegas is in Kelly Cup Finals for second time in team history (lost 4 games to 2 in 2008 to Cincinnati). * Florida is making its third appearance in Kelly Cup Finals (2004 and 2005), which is tied for most Finals apperances in ECHL history. * Wranglers’ head coach Ryan Mougenel won Kelly Cup as a player with Atlantic City in 2003. * Everblades’ head coach Greg Poss led Iserlohn to DEL (German Elite League) championship in 2006-07. PLAYOFF HISTORY LAS VEGAS FLORIDA OVERALL PLAYOFFS OVERALL PLAYOFFS LAS VEGAS FLORIDA 42-22-8 11-2 RECORD 39-26-7 11-2 Appearances: 8 Appearances: 14 24-7-5 4-1 HOME RECORD 23-9-4 8-0 18-15-3 7-1 ROAD RECORD 16-17-3 3-2 OVERALL 2012 OVERALL 2012 25-5-3 8-0 SCORIG FIRST 26-6-3 10-1 17-3-4 4-0 LEADIG AFTER 1ST 23-1-1 8-1 49-39 11-2 PLAYOFF RECORD 67-56 11-2 24-4-3 10-0 LEADIG AFTER 2D 30-2-5 9-1 11-7 3-0 OVERTIME GAMES 10-10 1-0 14-7-1 6-1 TIED AFTER 1ST 14-15-5 3-0 11-3-3 1-2 TIED AFTER 2D 6-12-1 1-0 Road To Kelly Cup Finals 11-12-4 1-1 TRAILIG AFTER 1ST 2-10-1 0-1 LAS VEGAS FLORIDA 7-15-2 0-0 TRAILIG AFTER 2D 3-12-1 1-1 Western Conference Eastern Conference 17-7-8 5-2 OE-GOAL GAMES 14-8-7 2-1 Quarterfinals Quarterfinals 3.26 (5th) 2.85 (3rd) GOALS FOR 3.61 (2nd) 3.69 (1st) 2.75 (4th) 1.54 (1st) GOALS AGAIST 3.03 (10th) 1.62 (2nd) defeated Utah, 3-0 defeated Greenville, 3-0 16.7 (T11th) 12.8% (11th) POWER PLAY 23.0 (1st) 21.0% (4th) Western Conference Eastern Conference 84.8 (3rd) 85.0% (6th) PEALTY KILL 81.7 (10th) 85.1% (5th) Semifinals Semifinals 10 (T5th) 2 (T1st) SHORTHAD GF 7 (T11th) 0 (T4th) defeated Idaho, 4-1 defeated Elmira, 4-1 4 (1st) 0 (T1st) SHORTHAD GA 9 (T12th) 0 (T1st) Western Conference Finals Eastern Conference Finals 14.69 (13th) 13.38 (6th) PEALTY MIUTES 17.19 (8th) 13.31 (7th) 25-12-6 8-0 OUTSHOOTIG 19-12-3 7-2 defeated Alaska, 4-1 defeated Kalamazoo, 4-1 OPPOET SCHEDULE ALL-TIME RESULTS Monday, May 14 7:05 p.m. PT Florida at Las Vegas Tuesday, May 15 7:05 p.m. PT ov. 4, 2003 Florida at Las Vegas FLORIDA 5 at Las Vegas 4 (OT) Oct. 28, 2005 Friday, May 18 7:30 p.m. ET LAS VEGAS 4 at Florida 0 Las Vegas at Florida ov. 27, 2004 Tuesday, May 22 7:30 p.m. ET Las Vegas at Florida Las Vegas 0 at FLORIDA 1 Oct. 29, 2005 Wednesday, May 23 7:30 p.m.