The 2024-2025 ECHL season is off and running, and the opening weekend didn’t disappoint. 

Only two teams have yet to play – the expansion Tahoe Knight Monsters and the Allen Americans – but the ones that did gave us plenty to think about.

Here’s what stood out from the opening weekend of the ECHL season:

The Reading Royals Are Undefeated

Jason Binkley started to get the Royals on track when he replaced James Henry as coach midway through last season, leading them to a 13-16-4 record down the stretch. 

A solid blue-liner in his playing days, it’s not surprising that Binkley’s team has capitalized on good defense to start this season 3-0-0 – all in road games.

The Royals defeated the Trois-Rivières Lions 3-2, then bested the Worcester Railers 2-1 twice. 

Reading has allowed an average of only 23.3 shots per game, which is good road hockey, even if the Royals’ offense has averaged just 21.6 shots, with Tyler Gratton and Connor McMenamin potting two goals apiece.

The Indy Fuel Had A Rough Start

Indy is opening a new arena in Fishers, Indiana, but the Fuel won’t have their home opener until Dec. 6 against the Iowa Heartlanders. That means 15 straight road games to start the season.

Having a backloaded schedule isn’t a bad thing, especially at this level, when teams really don’t normally hit their strides until December or so. But that doesn’t mean the Fuel can totally skimp on the early games this season, especially in the stacked Central Division, and Indy isn’t off to a good start.

The Fuel dropped all three of their games over the weekend – 4-1 to the Savannah Ghost Pirates, then 1-0 and 3-0 to the Atlanta Gladiators, who were the worst team in the league last season.  

The lack of offense was surprising for a Fuel team that included the likes of Kyle Maksimovich, Colin Bilek and Bryan Lemos.

Speaking Of The Gladiators …

Kudos to Atlanta, which got a 25-save shutout from Drew DeRidder on Saturday and a 31-save shutout from rookie Ethan Haider on Sunday.

Cody Sylvester, in his 12th professional season, is off to a good start with two goals and three points, and there’s no surprise there. 

Jackson Pierson has a goal and two points as he tries to build on his solid rookie season of 17 goals and 43 points.

But Atlanta has teased us before – it won its first eight games last season and then lost 14 of its next 15 – so let’s just say the optimism should be cautious.

SHUTOUT SHUTOUT SHUTOUT !!!

A 31-save shutout in his first professional game!
Ethan Haider, have yourself an evening! #IgniteTheFury pic.twitter.com/raCCqC9Akm

— Atlanta Gladiators (@atlgladiators) October 20, 2024

Rookie Goalies Stood Out

Haider, who played last season at the University of Connecticut, wasn’t the only rookie goalie to sparkle.

Maybe the best performance in the entire league came from the Heartlanders’ William Rousseau, who stopped 40 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss to the visiting Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday, thwarting three breakaway rushes along the way. 

SAY THANK YOU….

…AGAIN.#GoLanders🦌 #DefendTheForest pic.twitter.com/cwykduC3Cd

— Iowa Heartlanders (@GoHeartlanders) October 20, 2024

Rousseau, who played last season for the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, is the grandson of four-time Stanley Cup champion Bobby Rousseau of the Montreal Canadiens.

Fort Wayne’s Brett Brochu, who still qualifies as a rookie, despite playing 21 pro games last season, also was impressive with 30 saves in that game. He shrugged off a penalty-shot goal by Matthew Sop 17:41 into the third period, making a sprawling kick save on Sop early in overtime before new acquisition Alex Aleardi won it with a power-play goal.

The Toledo Walleye’s Carter Gylander, who played last season for Colgate University, impressed Sunday with 38 saves in a 4-2 victory at the Bloomington Bison. 

And the Maine Mariners’ Ryan Bischel, who manned the Notre Dame net last season, had 25 saves Saturday in a 4-1 victory over the visiting Wheeling Nailers.

The Idaho Steelheads Wowed

Look, it was only one game, but what a game it was for the Steelheads – a 7-2 victory over the visiting Utah Grizzlies on Friday.

Ty Pelton-Byce had two goals, Patrick Kudla had three assists and Hank Crone had two assists – to name just a few of the standouts – as the Steelheads peppered the Utah net with 39 shots.

This should be a taste of things to come for a stacked Idaho lineup.

Lots More To Love

• Tulsa’s Ruslan Gazizov, a rookie out of the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights, impressed with two goals and four points as the Oilers went on the road to defeat the Rapid City Rush 7-1 and 4-1. Teammate Tyler Poulsen had three goals and an assist.
  
  
• Orlando’s Tyler Bird had a hat trick – including the overtime winner – on Friday as the Solar Bears beat the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 5-4. However, the Solar Bears lost 4-3 at the South Carolina Stingrays on Saturday, when Micah Miller netted the winner 36 seconds into overtime. Orlando’s Alex Frye, by the way, had short-handed goals in both games.
  
  
• Fort Wayne’s Yanick Turcotte, one of the ECHL’s most feared enforcers, scored in Friday’s 6-5 victory over Iowa. It was only his ninth goal in eight pro seasons. Fort Wayne rallied in that one from a three-goal deficit, getting two third-period goals from Kyle Mayhew.
  
  
• The ECHL’s Friday announcement that an expansion team will come next season to Greensboro, North Carolina, was welcome news as the league tries to get to 32 teams so it can have one affiliate for every ECHL team. Greensboro will make 30 ECHL teams.
  
  It should be noted that ECHL hockey has been tried before in Greensboro twice – the Monarchs, from 1989 to 1995 and the Generals, from 1999 to 2004. The new team will be owned by Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Jacksonville Icemen and the Ghost Pirates.

Nothing like a little breaking news on Opening Day! The @ECHL has granted an expansion team to Greensboro, N.C., starting in 2025-26. Details: https://t.co/A2I8aaayeE pic.twitter.com/1hfFdkICGn

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) October 18, 2024

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