ECHL Notebook: Knight Monsters Clear Hurdle, Hall Of Fame Ceremony Keynote Speaker Announced

It was another exciting week of action in the ECHL. The Tahoe Knight Monsters get a monkey off their back, Reading makes some deals, and the Keynote Speaker for the 2025 ECHL Hall of Fame ceremony has been named.

Let’s dive into another edition of the ECHL Notebook.

Knight Monsters Clear A Hurdle

No team likes to be negatively labeled, no matter what the numbers may show.

The Tahoe Knight Monsters were probably tired of hearing they hadn’t been able to win the second game of a series during their inaugural season. They silenced those naysayers Saturday night, winning a 6-5 home overtime thriller against the Kansas City Mavericks, a team they had beaten the previous Wednesday.

The Knight Monsters exploded for four goals in the first period, then saw Kansas City try to mount a comeback.

Troy Loggins, Patrick Newell and Luke Adam all scored for Tahoe before the Mavericks got on the board with a power-play goal to narrow the deficit to 3-1.

Jake McGrew had a shot deflect off his helmet with three minutes left in the period to get the three-goal lead back for Tahoe.

Kansas City outshot the Knight Monsters 13-6 in the second period, but managed only one goal to trail 4-2. Knight Monsters goalie Jordan Papirny kept his team in the game with some spectacular saves in that period.

However, the Mavericks owned the third period, tallying two quick goals to tie the game 4-4. CJ Hayes, who had just arrived in Tahoe the night before, poked in a rebound off his own shot to get the lead back.

Kansas City knotted the score again with two minutes to go in the third, potting an extra attacker goal. Tahoe managed just two shots in overtime, but one went in the net when Logan Nelson got his second shot to go after being denied the first time for the 6-5 win.

Kansas City would come back to win the final game of the series 2-1 on Sunday, but the Knight Monsters managed to capture two of the three games against one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

Bernie Saunders To Serve As Keynote Speaker at 2025 ECHL Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony

The ECHL, in conjunction with the Kalamazoo Wings, announced today that Bernie Saunders will be the Keynote Speaker for the 2025 ECHL Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, presented by BFL CANADA and Sutton Special Risk.

The event takes place at 6:00 Pm on Friday, January 17, 2025 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites, Arcadia Ballroom and will see Alex Burrows, Dave Gagnon, Jamie Hicks and Glen Thornborough officially enshrined as the 17^th Hall of Fame Class.

Saunders played four seasons at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo from 1975-79, recording 154 points (76-78-154) in 140 games. He then went on to become the fifth Black hockey player in NHL history following Willie O'Ree, Mike Marson, Bill Riley and Tony McKegney.

Saunders led Western Michigan in goals three times, earned All-CCHA Second Team honors in 1977-78 and was twice recognized as the team's MVP. He captained WMU his senior year and was inducted into the Western Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.

Born in Montreal, Saunders played 10 games for the Quebec Nordiques during the 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons, along with 181 games in the American Hockey League (Syracuse Firebirds and Nova Scotia Voyageurs) and with the Kalamazoo Wings in the International Hockey League.

The Kalamazoo legend played parts of three seasons with the K-Wings, joining them for three games after graduating from WMU in 1978-79 before the team’s ascent to the Turner Cup and then returned to the team in 1981-82. During that season, Saunders joined Brent Jarrett on the same line, en route to Jarrett’s IHL Most Valuable Player season, with the two combining for 197 points.

Following his playing career, Saunders spent 17 years in the pharmaceutical industry with the Upjohn Company before moving on to other commercial positions within the industry. Saunders also became a Diversity Equity & Inclusion advocate and voice for the mistreatment of Black hockey players in the NHL and the media, writing about his own experiences in a 2021 autobiography, Shut Out: The Game That Did Not Love Me Black.

Saunders has three sons, is the brother of the late ESPN sportscaster, John Saunders, and is currently retired in Greenville, South Carolina.

No Stick, No Problem

It’s usually helpful if a goalie has his stick to keep the puck out of the net, but what if you lose it?

Well, the show must go on, and South Carolina Stingrays netminder Garin Bjorklund played the part nicely on this sequence.

Unfortunately, the Stingrays fell to the Adirondack Thunder 5-1, but a stick tap (once he found it) to Bjorklund for using other weapons at his disposal when he had to.

Reading Making Some Deals

The Reading Royals have struggled in the early going of the 2024-25 season, mired in fifth place in the North Division with a 6-10-3 record as of Monday.

The club announced several moves Monday, including a couple of trades.

First, they acquired defenseman Connor Walters from the Kalamazoo Wings in exchange for forward Travis Broughman.

Additionally, the Royals have traded forward Parker AuCoin to the Tulsa Oilers in exchange for future considerations, and defenseman Sam Sedley has been recalled by Lehigh Valley from his loan to Reading.

Walters, 27, has registered two penalty minutes and a -6 rating in seven games to open his fourth professional season with Kalamazoo. The Welland, Ontario native has accumulated 34 points (5-29-34), 72 penalty minutes and a -11 rating across 134 ECHL career games between Toledo (2021-22), Wichita (2021-23) and Kalamazoo (2023-24).

Broughman, 27, recorded four points (3-1-4), two penalty minutes and a -5 rating in 19 games with the Royals this season. The Richmond, Virginia native has collected 64 points (29g-35a) in 133 ECHL career games between Adirondack and Reading.

AuCoin, 26, registered six points (4-2-6) in 12 games as a Royal after being claimed off of waivers by Reading on October 16th. The St. Albert, Alberta native has garnered 31 points (12-19-31) across 35 ECHL career games between Idaho, Atlanta and Reading.

The deadline to complete Future Considerations is 3:00 p.m. ET on June 20, 2025.

Sedley, 21, registered 11 points (1-10-11), four penalty minutes and a -2 rating in 17 games to begin his professional career with Reading. The St. Mary's, Ontario native scored his first professional career goal on November 9th against the Indy Fuel.

Icemen Extend Warm Welcome To Health Care Workers

The Jacksonville Icemen will show appreciation to healthcare workers during their games Wednesday, Nov. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 30. Those in the healthcare industry can receive one (1) complimentary ticket with the purchase of at least one (1) additional ticket.

The purchase also includes an Icemen Tumbler.