PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced on Thursday the revised divisional alignment and format for the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs following the approval of seven expansion teams on Tuesday.

As approved by the Board of Governors, the conference and divisional alignment for the 2014-15 season will be as follows:

Eastern Conference

North Division

Cincinnati Cyclones, Evansville IceMen, Fort Wayne Komets, Indy Fuel, Kalamazoo Wings, Toledo Walleye, Wheeling Nailers

East Division

Elmira Jackals, Florida Everblades, Greenville Road Warriors, Gwinnett Gladiators, Orlando Solar Bears, Reading Royals, South Carolina Stingrays

Western Conference

Central Division

Allen Americans, Brampton Beast, Missouri Mavericks, Quad City Mallards, Rapid City Rush, Tulsa Oilers, Wichita Thunder

Pacific Division

Alaska Aces, Bakersfield Condors, Colorado Eagles, Idaho Steelheads, Ontario Reign, Stockton Thunder, Utah Grizzlies

The top four teams in each division during the regular season will qualify for the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs. All four rounds of the playoffs will be played in a best-of-seven format.

The first two rounds of the playoffs will be played entirely within the division with the division winner meeting the fourth-place finisher and the second-place finisher meeting the team that finished in third place in the Division Semifinals. The Division Finals will pit the winner of each series against each other. The winner of the North Division Finals will meet the winner of the East Division Finals in the Eastern Conference Finals while the winner of the Central Division will meet the winner of the Pacific Division Finals in the Western Conference Finals. The 2015 Kelly Cup Finals will see the Eastern Conference champion take on the Western Conference champion.

Updates to the 2014-15 ECHL playing schedule will be announced within the next few days.

About the ECHL

Began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 21 teams in 14 states for its 27th season in 2014-15. There have been 542 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including one who has made his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 28 of the 30 NHL teams in 2014-15, marking the 18th consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

MOLINE, Ill. (October 8, 2014) - The Quad City Mallards will open their 2014 training camp tomorrow with a double session at the i wireless Center, the Mallards announced today.

The Mallards will begin preparations for their inaugural ECHL season when they take the ice tomorrow morning from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.  Coach Terry Ruskowski's club will return to the ice tomorrow afternoon from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.  Tomorrow is only time during camp the Mallards will practice twice in one day.

After tomorrow, camp will shift to the River's Edge in Davenport.  The Mallards will practice at the River's Edge each day beginning this Friday and continuing through next Wednesday, October 15.  The team will hit the ice from 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. this Friday morning; from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. this Saturday; and from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.  The Mallards will be on the ice from 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  The schedule for the first seven days of camp is also detailed below.

All training camp sessions are open to the public free of charge.  The i wireless Center is located at 1201 River Drive in Moline, while the River's Edge is located at 700 West River Drive in Davenport.

The Mallards will play their 2014-15 home opener against the Rapid City Rush on Friday October 24 at 7:05 p.m.

Season tickets for the coming campaign are still available.  Ticket packages are available to meet almost any budget.  A limited edition season ticket holder Mallard jersey, 12 additional ticket vouchers per seat and free parking are among a host of exclusive benefits available to season ticket holders.  For more ticket information fans can call the Mallards' business office at 309-277-1364.

About the Quad City Mallards
A proud affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild, the Quad City Mallards are approaching their eighteenth season and their first in the ECHL.  One of the winningest teams in all of minor league hockey, the Mallards competed in the United Hockey League from 1995 through 2007; in the International Hockey League in 2009-10; and in the Central Hockey League from 2010 through 2014.  The Mallards' proud history has seen them capture the UHL's Colonial Cup Championship three times (1997, 1998, 2001) and secure that league's Tarry Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) for the best overall regular season record.  In 2001, the Mallards made professional hockey history, recording their sixth consecutive season with 50 or more wins, a feat that has yet to be matched.  The iWireless Center provides a unique environment for hockey and features one-of-a-kind seating areas such as the Nest for groups and functions and the exclusive Drake Club.  For more information on the Quad City Mallards or for Mallards tickets go to www.myqcmallards.com.  Fans can also follow the Mallards via Twitter at twitter.com/myqcmallards and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quadcitymallards.

Quad City Mallards 2014 Training Camp
Schedule: October 9-15

 

Forward Arrives from Arizona

MOLINE, Ill. (October 1, 2014) - The Quad City Mallards have signed forward Kevin Baker, the Mallards announced today.

Baker, 35, scored 34 goals- tied for third most in the Central Hockey League- and totaled 64 points in 65 games with the Arizona Sundogs last season.  The Kingston, Ontario native also finished fifth in the CHL in power play goals (11) last year.  He went on to score five more goals and tack on nine points in 11 playoff games while pushing the Sundogs to an opening round upset of top-seeded Missouri and a berth in the semi-finals.

"When Arizona and Denver players became available, Kevin was one guy I really wanted to get," said Mallards coach and general manager Terry Ruskowski.  "He's not just a good player, he's also a good person, someone who can provide leadership for our younger guys.  He's someone we can count on to come through when the chips are down."

The 6' 1, 192-pound Baker joins the Mallards for his eleventh professional season having produced 276 goals and 327 assists for 603 points in 686 career games.  Along the way, Baker was named 2008-09 ECHL Most Valuable Player and 2005-06 Canadian Interuniversity Sport Player of the Year and twice (in 2006-07 and 2008-09) made the All-ECHL First Team.

Baker has scored 30 or more goals in back-to-back seasons and rung up 27 or more each of the last three years.  In all, he has found the net 30 or more times in a campaign on five occasions and scored at least 27 goals in six of his last seven seasons in North America.

Baker, who was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round of the 1999 National Hockey League Entry Draft with the one hundred ninety-third overall choice, has played 83 American Hockey League games over the course of his career.  He has scored 21 goals and posted 37 points while wearing the colors of the AHL's Lowell Lock Monsters, Saint John Flames, Milwaukee Admirals, Toronto Marlies, Rochester Americans and Albany River Rats.

Baker reached the 30-goal plateau in 2012-13 while suiting up for three teams in two leagues.  He played a total of 50 games in the ECHL for the Orlando Solar Bears and Evansville Icemen, registering 22 goals and 39 points before piling up eight goals and 14 points in just 10 games with the Sundogs down the home stretch of the campaign.

In 2011-12, Baker scored 27 goals and produced 56 points in 68 games for the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL.  He headed back across the Atlantic to join the Thunder after an Italian excursion that saw him score 15 goals and put up 36 points in 39 games with Ritten Renon in 2010-11.

Baker's ECHL MVP season was his most prolific- he led the league in goals (57) and points (102) while helping the Florida Everblades to first place overall in the first of his two campaigns with the club.  That first overall regular season finish was the second in as many seasons for Baker.  In 2007-08, he helped propel the Texas Wildcatters to a tie for the ECHL's top spot by scoring 29 goals and recording 56 points in only 44 games following his return from Germany, where he had started the campaign with Schwenningen ERC.  It was with the Wildcatters that Baker had made an explosive return to the pro ranks in 2006-07 after a three year hiatus spent at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.  Baker finished 2006-07 tied for fifth in the ECHL in goals (36) and points (81).

Baker was just as successful in the university ranks, scoring 58 goals and notching 103 points in 77 career games for Acadia and winning the Sullivan Trophy as national player of the year in his final season as an Axeman.  He led the nation in goals (24) and finished tied for fifth in points (40) in 2004-05 and finished tied for first nationally in points (47) and second in goals (24) the following season.  Baker helped power Acadia to back-to-back Atlantic University Sport regular season titles in 2005 and 2006 and the conference playoff crown in 2005.  He was named to the 2005-06 All-Canadian first team after earning second team honors in 2004-05 and was also selected to the AUS first all-star team each of those two seasons.

Baker already had two seasons of pro hockey under his belt when he arrived at Acadia.  He broke in with the AHL's Lock Monsters in 2000-01, scoring six goals and totaling 11 points in 26 games.  He spent the bulk of the following year with the American League's Flames, scoring 13 times and racking up 20 points in 46 games with time out to score six goals and accumulate 16 points in 18 ECHL games with the Johnstown Chiefs.

Baker turned pro after three junior seasons with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League.  He scored 93 goals and picked up 182 points in 191 career OHL games.  In 1998-99 he finished tied for eighth in the OHL with 44 goals and pocketed a total of 81 points in 68 games.

The Mallards will open their eighteenth season on home ice Friday, October 24 at 7:05 p.m. against the Rapid City Rush.  2014-15 Mallards season tickets are now on sale.  Ticket packages are available to meet almost any budget.  A limited edition season ticket holder Mallard jersey, 12 additional ticket vouchers per seat and free parking are among a host of exclusive benefits available to season ticket holders.  For more season ticket information fans can call the Mallards' business office at 309-277-1364.

About the Quad City Mallards
A proud affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild, the Quad City Mallards are approaching their eighteenth season and their fifth in the Central Hockey League.  One of the winningest teams in all of minor league hockey, the Mallards competed in the United Hockey League from 1995 through 2007 and in the International Hockey League in 2009-10.  The Mallards' proud history has seen them capture the UHL's Colonial Cup Championship three times (1997, 1998, 2001) and secure that league's Tarry Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) for the best overall regular season record.  In 2001, the Mallards made professional hockey history, recording their sixth consecutive season with 50 or more wins, a feat that has yet to be matched.  The iWireless Center provides a unique environment for hockey and features one-of-a-kind seating areas such as the Nest for groups and functions and the exclusive Drake Club.  For more information on the Quad City Mallards or for Mallards tickets go to www.myqcmallards.com.  Fans can also follow the Mallards via Twitter at twitter.com/myqcmallards and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quadcitymallards.

 

-### Quad City Mallards ###-

MOLINE, Ill. (April 29, 2014) - Six different Allen Americans scored and 12 different players provided at least one point for the host Americans, who struck for three power play goals and got 32 saves from Bryan Pitton Tuesday night on the way to a 6-1 win over the Quad City Mallards that evens the best-of-seven Central Hockey League semi-finals at three games apiece and forces a seventh and deciding game tomorrow evening in Allen.

The Americans' Spencerk Asuchak wristed home the opening goal from the slot at 5:20 of the first period.  Allen was on the power play when Bruce Graham's tip-in doubled the Allen lead at 15:05 of the first.

The Americans tightened their grip by scoring twice in 11 seconds late in the in the second period.  Tyler Ludwig's power play blue line blast stretched the gap to 3-0 at the 18 minute mark of the second.  Moments later Jonathan Lessard's close range goal brought about the replacement of Mallard starting goaltender Thomas Heemskerk by Ty Rimmer.

It was the Mallards who were up a man when Mike Monfredo scored what proved to be the only Quad City goal from the top of the left wing circle at 4:28 of the third period.  The Americans would respond with two more goals later in the third.  Greger Hanson converted a 5-on-3 Allen advantage from the side of the net at 16:25.  Brian McMillan capped off the Americans' win by burying a rebound with just a minutes and 38 seconds remaining.

The winner of tomorrow night's game will advance to face the Denver Cutthroats in the CHL President's Cup finals.