Top Ten NHLers Who Played in the ECHL
Tomas Vokoun
The now retired goaltender, who finished his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, played with the ECHL’s Wheeling Thunderbirds. He played in 35 games during the 1995-1996 season where he went 20-10-2 with a 3.67 goals against average.
Tim Thomas
Thomas is one of the best stories in the history of the NHL. After skipping around from league to league, including in the ECHL, he led the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup title where he won the Conn Smythe. He played part of his career with the Birmingham Bulls. Thomas bounced around several leagues and played just six games with the Bulls. He went 4-1 with a 2.17.
Mark Streit
Streit, a defenseman with the Philadelphia Flyers, began his career in the ECHL with the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks. He played 14 games with the T-Sharks in 1999-2000 where he had five assists and 16 penalty minutes.
Jonathan Quick
Quick has been one of the most successful goaltenders of the past decade. He got the start to his pro career in the ECHL with the Reading Royals. He played in 38 games before being promoted to the AHL. In those games, during the 2007-2008 season, he went 23-11-3 with a 2.79 goals against average.
Dan Girardi
Girardi, a shut down defenseman with the New York Rangers, began his career with the Charlotte Checkers who were members of the CHL and ECHL. He played seven games with the Checkers before moving on to the AHL in Hartford that same season. He had a goal and four assists in that time.
Alex Burrows
Burrows made many stops in his ECHL career. He began with the Greenville Grrrrrowl (that is a real team name), before the Columbia Inferno and Baton Rouge Kingfish. Burrows played two ECHL seasons in all. His first year, 2002-2003, he played 66 games overall between Baton Rouge and Greenville. He scored 13 goals that season. The next year he played for Columbia where he saw four games and scored five goals.
Jaroslav Halak- St Louis Blues/Long Beach
Halak has established himself as one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. Currently the goaltender of the St Louis Blues, he fought Carey Price for a starting role with the Montreal Canadiens before joining the Blues. Halak played in the ECHL with the Long Beach IceDogs.
Michael Ryder
Michael Ryder has made a name in the NHL as a scorer with the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, and New Jersey Devils. Before joining the NHL ranks he he played for Tallahassee and Mississippi. He played in five games and scored four goals in his season with Tallahassee before returning to the league again the next season. He scored 14 goals in 20 games with the Mississippi Sea Wolves.
David Desharnais
The Montreal Canadiens forward had a career in the ECHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones. He played in 68 games with the Cyclones in 2007-2008 where he scored 29 goals and picked up 77 assists.
Devan Dubnyk
Dubnyk, who had a breakout 2014-2015 season with the Minnesota Wild, played just one season with the Stockton Thunder. With the Thunder he went 24-11-7 with a 2.56 goals against average.