The ECHL is sort of like the safety net of pro hockey. Nobody wants to have to use it. But if you fall off the precipitous tightrope that is the narrow route to the NHL or AHL, you鈥檙e glad it鈥檚 there to catch you.
Without the now defunct Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL, undrafted and unheralded defenceman Jordie Benn may just have fallen through the cracks and never made it to the NHL.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about opportunities. Anything can happen,鈥� said Garry Nunn, the quicksilver former BCHL Victoria Grizzlies and WHL Vancouver Giants forward, under contract this season to the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL, and currently skating in the AHL training camp of the Providence Bruins.
Most of the best Victoria Royals alumni have played in the ECHL 鈥� Kevin Sundher, Steven Hodges and Logan Nelson. Victoria-raised players signed to ECHL contracts this season include Nunn with the Gladiators and Justin Courtnall with the Allen Americans, while Cody Carlson and Mike Hammond are headed to the Cincinnati Cyclones and former BCHL scoring champion Brandon Wong to the Tulsa Oilers after splitting last ECHL season between the Evansville Icemen and South Carolina Stingrays. Former Grizzlies star Brian Nugent came out of the NCAA鈥檚 Northern Michigan University and played last season for Cincinnati, while former New York Rangers prospect Paul Crowder was with the Fort Wayne Komets.
It鈥檚 all in the sorting out process this time of year, with bushels of players shuffling down from the NHL to the AHL, which creates a ripple push down to the ECHL.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping to stick through the AHL pre-season games,鈥� said Nunn, by phone from Providence.
鈥淭he Boston Bruins released some players down here to Providence but then called some back.鈥�
This is the uncertainty you live with daily in the minor pros of hockey as players pursue that slippery slope to the NHL.
鈥淚 have to use my strengths and assets as a player, which is skating,鈥� said Nunn.
Offence is not an issue, as the five-foot-nine winger proved over the spring by scoring nine goals with 12 assists for 21 points in 19 post-season games as the Ontario Reign made it to Game 7 of the 2015 ECHL Western Conference Kelly Cup playoffs.
鈥淚 have to prove to Providence that I am not a defensive liability,鈥� added Nunn, who did just that by going plus-10 in the Kelly Cup playoffs for the Reign.
The ECHL Cincinnati-bound blue-liner Carlson is also chasing the dream after a WHL junior career with Medicine Hat, Regina and Prince George, followed by ECHL stints with the Gladiators, San Francisco Bulls, Utah Grizzlies and last season in Germany with Peiting EC.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to give it another chance [in North America] and hopefully work my way up,鈥� said Carlson, who spent the summer back in Victoria training.
鈥淗opefully, I can get a couple of games in the AHL or stick in the AHL. That鈥檚 my goal. I鈥檓 starting fresh and the goal is to work my way up.鈥�
Without an NHL contract, it鈥檚 a self-guided journey through pro hockey.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy. It鈥檚 a lot of hard work when you鈥檙e not with an NHL team,鈥� said Carlson. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e kind of on your own path and have to set your own stones. So that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 trying to do right now.鈥�
So are hundreds of other major-junior, Junior A and NCAA hockey graduates.
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 understand how good the ECHL is . . . I鈥檝e seen guys with NHL deals sitting out games because other guys were playing better ahead of them,鈥� said Nunn.
How long to give it becomes the question. Nunn is 25 and Carlson 24. Both have played in Europe 鈥� Nunn in Italy and Carlson in France and Germany 鈥� and that remains an option also for later.
鈥淭here is still time,鈥� said Nunn.
鈥淏ut you have to be a realist. There may come a time when [you realize] it鈥檚 not going to happen. Then maybe it鈥檚 time to see the world.鈥�
Carlson concurred.
鈥淚 absolutely loved Europe. I got to play a ton and got a lot of confidence on the big ice,鈥� said the five-foot-10 rearguard.
鈥� With files from Mario Annicchiarico
