UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE
by Ihor Stelmach
Twenty-one Ukrainians in ECHL action
Will 1998-1999 be the year the Louisiana IceGators finally break through and win the Kelly Cup? Or are the Hampton Roads Admirals poised to repeat as East Coast League champions? These two squads were leading their respective conferences past the midway point of the current hockey season. Here's our annual sneak peak at the East Coast Hockey League, minor league hockey's top second-tier talent pool ahead of the United, Central, Western Pro and other leagues, one notch below the AHL and IHL. Players of Ukrainian descent are highlighted with latest scoring stats.
NORTHERN CONFERENCE
Hampton Roads Admirals - Coach John Brophy at 900 career victory plateau. Boris Zelenko (4G-7A-11PTS-14PIM) has suited up for 15 matches this season.
Toledo Storm - Club has new investors in attempt to expand current arena. Veteran defenseman Aaron Boh has amassed 167 penalty minutes, while tallying six goals and 16 assists in 41 games.
Roanoke Express - Strong goaltending duo accounts for league's lowest goals against. Brad Schust (46GP-9G-15A-24PTS-16PIM) a centerman.
Peoria Rivermen - French-Canadian winger J.F. Boutin exploded for five goals in a win over Dayton.
Chesapeake Icebreakers - Coach Chris Nilan has turned team around after another poor start.
Huntington Blizzard - Rebounded nicely after injury to top netminder. Defenseman Jamie Sokolsky (43-7-20-27-56) solid on blueline.
Columbus Chill - In their final season due to incoming NHL expansion club to same city. Jeff Salajko (35GP-1938MINS-19W-11L-3T-3.06GAA-.903PCT) mans the nets for the Chill.
Dayton Bombers - Center Jamie Ling (not Uke) enjoyed seven-point night vs. Roanoke with five goals and two helpers.
Richmond Renegades - Don't even want to think about where they'd be without standout 5-foot-6 goaltender Maxime (he's French) Gingras.
Wheeling Nailers - Right-winger Darren Schwartz, one of league's oldtimers, became franchise's all-time leading scorer. Sergei Radchenko (23-2-3-5-88) adds Ukrainian presence here.
Johnstown Chiefs - Despite promising start, Chiefs were looking like tail-enders again, though still had lots of games to go.
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Louisiana IceGators - Fined some $60,000 for salary-cap violations, but still on course for another regular season title.
Pee Dee Pride - Top goaltender and stingy defense were main reasons Pride were runaway leaders. Right wing Ryan Pisiak (21-0-1-1-174) a resident tough guy and pugilist.
Mississippi Sea Wolves - Coach Bruce Boudreau led club on 22-3-2 tear, after poor 3-6-1 start, and back into contention.
South Carolina Stingrays - Center Dave Seitz was leading the league in game-winning goals with eight, keeping his team in the hunt.
New Orleans Brass - Shootout kings of the ECHL, having been involved in 13 of them thus far. They've come up short in eight of them. Ex-Canadiens' farm hand Steve Cheredaryk (41-6-7-13-109) captains the blueline and mans the power-play point.
Jacksonville Lizard Kings - 35-game suspension of Justin McPolin for punching a linesman overshadowed team's comeback. Two Ukes have laced 'em up here: right wing Brad Federenko (50-19-24-43-26) and Jay Pylypuik (3-0-0-0-0).
Augusta Lynx - Due to expert coaching were actually in first place for a while, despite being picked for dead last. Defender Jaroslav Obsut played in 16 games with five goals and 16 points (he's definitely a scorer from the backline) prior to his promotion to Worcester of the American Hockey League. Promising future.
Florida Everblades - Despite opening the season with 13 straight road games, coach Bob Ferguson has kept his club above .500. Young goalie Randy Petruk (16-930-8-7-1-2.45-.905) is a bonafide keeper and has proven it in his first year of pro hockey.
Greenville Grrrowl - In their beautiful new home, the BI-LO Center, the Grrrowl have averaged over 9,300 fans per game and are challenging for top attendance in the league.
Birmingham Bulls - Center Jamie Hicks at the top with 50-something assists, but team struggling at home. Ukrainian Chad Wilchynski began 1998-1999 with Bulls, but played only three early games.
Tallahassee Tiger Sharks - This year have become much more of a physical team under new coaching philosophy. Problem: can't score.
Baton Rouge Kingfish - Lost center Trevor Jobe, league's all-time leading scorer, and started winning more games. Go figure. Defenseman Scott Humeniuk (47-8-24-32-86) has shown some pop in scoring totals.
Miami Matadors - Despite decent first half, the Matadors were having attendance woes. Another pair of Ukes: right-winger Jack Kowal (47-9-23-32-34) joined Jeff Kostuch (16-5-4-9-6) for a while in Miami.
Mobile Mysticks - Any chances here were hurt by one win on the road in each of November and December. Defender Dale Craievich (I'd like to buy a vowel...) chips in nicely with seven goals, 24 assists and 31 points, while sitting in the sin bin for some 86 minutes.
Charlotte Checkers - eighth place in their division with some consolation gained when Darryl Noren became second ever player in ECHL history to exceed 600 points. Forward Steve Basaraba (43-10-15-25-23) and goaltender Taras Lendzyk (19-1088-8-8-1-3.31-.913) are the next-to-last Uke duo in this minor league circuit.
Pensacola Ice Pilots - Things going so bad for coach Al Pedersen he wrote the name of a player who hadn't played for him in two years on a line-up card one night. One more pair of Ukrainians: right-winger Dave Ivaska (50-2-5-7-59) is a checker, while center Mark Polak (51-5-14-19-50) anchors the team's second or third forward line.
* * *
MINOR UTTERINGS: Bob McCammon, the IHL's vice-president of hockey operations, showed he reacts swiftly to stick incidents when he gave the Detroit Vipers' Darren Banks a 10-game suspension for high-sticking Ukrainian puckster BRAD LUKOWICH of the Michigan K-Wings late last October. Lukowich and Banks were jostling coming up the ice when Banks turned and chopped Lukowich up high with his stick. He was given a match penalty for high-sticking. ... Cleveland became the fifth IHL team to retire a player's number when it raised former left-winger DAVE MICHAYLUK's No. 27 to the rafters on February 21 at Gund Arena. Michayluk is the franchise's all-time leader in games (976), goals (521) and points (1,185). In his IHL career, he ranked second on the all-time goal-scoring list with 594, third in points with 1,298 and fourth in assists with 704. He holds the league record for most consecutive 100-point seasons, running up nine between 1985 and 1993. He was a first-team all-star five times and was named both regular season and playoff MVP. ... Other Ukrainian players' numbers retired by IHL teams include No. 30 (CLINT MALARCHUK) by Las Vegas and No. 22 (MIKE WANCHUK) by the Michigan K-Wings ...
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| ||||||
| W. Strachan | Thunder Bay | 68 | 51 | 65 | 116 | 85 |
| B. Gretzky | Asheville | 32 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 29 |
| K. Osborne | Saginaw | 54 | 17 | 40 | 57 | 38 |
| Goaltenders | ||||||
| K. Simchuk | Port Huron | 8 | 405MINS | 2.22GAA | .928PCT | .928PCT |
| D. Kochan | Broom County | 40 | 2321 | 2.97 | .907 | .907 |
| ||||||
| S. Dowhy | Bakersfield | 59 | 30 | 49 | 79 | 93 |
| S. Kulak | Tucson | 18 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 16 |
| Goaltenders | ||||||
| E. Skazyk | Bakersfield | 9 | 320 | 2.99 | .893 | .893 |
| S. Tkachenko | Anchorage | 53 | 2976 | 3.37 | .899 | .899 |
| ||||||
| R. Pawluk | Arkansas | 67 | 41 | 55 | 96 | 20 |
| ||||||
| J. Antonovich | Tulsa | 58 | 34 | 52 | 86 | 54 |
| J. Duda | Wichita | 23 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 14 |
* Known to have started the 1998-1999 hockey season in the United League with no known statistics thus far: Peter Ambroziak, Flint; Gary Gulash, Quad City; Mark Kotary, Mohawk Valley; Mikhail Nemirovsky, Flint.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 11, 1999, No. 15, Vol. LXVII
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