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ECHL Notebook: A Hundred For Hargrove, New NHL Record For Former Indy Goalie

stephen kerr
·5 min read

Two players reached the century mark over the weekend, two more were inducted into a Hall of Fame, and a former ECHL goaltender set an NHL record.

Let’s take a look at all that and more in another edition of the ECHL Notebook.

A Hundred For Hargrove

In Saturday night’s 2-1 victory in Fort Wayne over the Komets, Florida Everblades forward Colton Hargrove notched the 100th goal of his North American professional career.

Hargrove scored the first goal of the game at the 17:06 mark of the first period, his fourth of the season and 100th in North America.

Hargrove took a cross-ice pass from Carson Gicewicz and fired a shot from the right circle to give Florida a 1-0 lead. Gicewicz and Jesse Lansdell each picked up an assist.

Hargrove has played seven seasons between the ECHL and AHL. He recorded a career-high 39 goals with the Allen Americans in 2022-23 after returning from two seasons playing in Austria.

Before his two-year stint in Austria, Hargrove scored 51 goals in four AHL seasons with Providence and Texas.

The Dallas native was selected by the Boston Bruins in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and played three seasons of collegiate hockey at Western Michigan University, posting 62 points (34-28-62) in 105 games.

Borchardt Breaks The Century Mark

Kansas City Mavericks forward Cade Borchardt also hit the century mark, registering the 100th point of his ECHL career Sunday in a 4-1 road win over the Wichita Thunder.

Borchardt scored the Mavericks’ final goal of the game at 13:16 of the third period for his 11th of the season. It gave him his 100th point, all coming in a Mavericks uniform.

Last season, Borchardt was one of five Kansas City players to finish in the top six in points for a season in franchise history with 77 (24-53-77). He was also named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team.

Nailers Induct Two New Hall Of Fame Members

On Saturday night at WesBanco Arena, the Wheeling Nailers added Steve Gibson and Tomas Vokoun to membership in the Wheeling Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gibson played four seasons in Wheeling from 1993-97 to begin his professional career. He led all Thunderbirds rookies with 59 points in 55 games during the 1993-94 campaign.

Gibson continued to be a major part of the team's success during its 1994-95 Brabham Cup Champion season, then led the team in scoring with 42 goals and 95 points in 1995-96.

The Listowel, Ontario native made his mark on the club's record books, as he ranks in the team's all-time top ten in seven different categories. Gibson finished his Wheeling career averaging over a point-per-game, recording 126 goals, 126 assists, and 252 points in 191 games.

After finishing his career with the Nailers, Gibson played seven seasons with the Quad City Mallards, and had his number retired there, where he and his family live today.

Vokoun came to North America to begin his professional career with the Wheeling Thunderbirds in 1995. Despite only being 19 years old at the time, Vokoun proved that he was more than up for the challenge, as he posted a 20-10-2 regular season record, then backstopped Wheeling to an opening round playoff sweep against the Columbus Chill.

Vokoun quickly climbed the pro hockey ladder, making his NHL debut with the Montreal Canadiens the following year, then became a regular in the NHL with the Nashville Predators in 1998-99.

The Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic native enjoyed tremendous success in the NHL, which included three seasons with at least 30 wins. His 14 full NHL seasons are the most for any former Wheeling player, and he is one of just 40 goaltenders in NHL history to earn 300 wins.

Gibson and Vokoun become the 13th and 14th members of the Wheeling Hockey Hall of Fame, as they join Nick Bedway, Paul Bissonnette, Louis Dumont, Ross Felton, Peter Laviolette, Robert Otten, Dick Riley, Doug Sauter, Darren Schwartz, Tim Tisdale, Zack Torquato, and Brock Woods.

Reading’s Boulton Recalled By Lehigh Valley

The Reading Royals announced Sunday that forward Sawyer Boulton has been recalled by Lehigh Valley from his loan to Reading. The 20-year-old Boulton registered a goal, 12 penalty minutes and +1 rating in five games for Reading this season.

The Huntington, New York native scored his first professional career goal on Nov. 23 against the Maine Mariners. Additionally, Boulton has played four games for the Phantoms this season where he recorded his first professional career fighting major on November 15th against Springfield.

The 6-foot, 209-pound right-shot forward attended the Philadelphia Flyers 2024 Development Camp, Training Camp and Rookie Series at PPL Center on Sept. 13 and 14. In Game 2 of the Rookie Series, Boulton scored a goal to cap off a tic-tac-toe connection with former Royals Jacob Gaucher and Zayde Wisdom.

Additionally, Boulton skated in the third of three preseason games for the Phantoms on a line with current Royals forward Nick Capone.

Former Fuel Netminder Sets New NHL Record

Kevin Lankinen is having a great season with the Vancouver Canucks in 2024-25. The former Indy Fuel goaltender became the first in NHL history to win their first 10 road games in a season.

Lankinen made 27 saves in an overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings Sunday to set the record, previously held by Cam Talbot and Glenn Hall, who each had nine consecutive road wins.

Lankinen played six games for the Fuel during the 2018-19 season, posting a 4-2-0 record with a 3.18 goals-against average and .893 save percentage.