The 2019-20 Newfoundland Growlers Season – By The Numbers

The Newfoundland Growlers were ready to take a five-point lead in the North Division standings into the final 12 games of the 2019-20 ECHL Regular Season before the season screeched to a halt due to safety concerns over the Covid-19 virus.

Let’s take a look back at some of the numbers that made this season a memorable one.

0 – Number of playoff series defeats through 2019-20.

0 – Represents the number of losses against North Division rivals, the Adirondack Thunder, this season (10-0-0-0).

1 – Number of Zach O’Brien hat tricks. He netted a hat trick in a come-from-behind win in Brampton on March 10, 2020 in what would turn out to be the final game of the season.

1 – Number of penalty shot attempts.

1 – Number of penalty shot goals.  Aaron Luchuk scored on the Growlers’ lone penalty shot attempt this season, beating Worcester ‘s Evan Buitenhuis on January 11, 2020.

3 – Number of goalies with 10+ wins on the season. Depth in goal was a strength of the Growlers’ this season, as the roster boasted Angus Redmond (16), Maksim Zhukov (14) and Parker Gahagen (10), all reaching double digits in the win column.

3 – Number of Newfoundland and Labrador natives on this year’s Growlers squad. Zach O’Brien and Marcus Power from St. John’s and Captain James Melindy of the Goulds provided a little hometown flavour to this year’s team.

4 – New Growlers record for goals scored in a single game, initially set by Scott Pooley against Worcester on December 30, 2019 and matched by Justin Brazeau in Jacksonville on March 1, 2020.

4 - Also represents the number of 20+ goal scorers on this season’s squad. Justin Brazeau (27G), Zach O’Brien (25G), Brady Ferguson (24G) and Marcus Power (24G) all reached the 20-goal mark this season.

5 – Represents the new Growlers record for points in a game, set this season by Colt Conrad (1G, 4A), Riley Woods (2G, 3A) and Marcus Power (1G, 4A).

5 – Number of home losses.  Fewest in the ECHL.

5 - Number of rookies who scored their regular season first professional goals as a member of the Growlers this season. Justin Brazeau, Riley Woods, Joe Duszak, Trey Bradley, and Mac Hollowell each lit the lamp for the first time in their professional careers while wearing the Growlers uniform.

T5th - Where Brady Ferguson ended up among ECHL points leaders. The Lewisville, Texas native led the Growlers with 63 points, including 24 goals and 39 assists.

5 - Number of game-winning goals scored by rookie defenseman Joseph Duszak in just 34 games played to lead all ECHL defensemen. Five of his nine goals this season were game-winners.

6 – Number of game-winning goals scored by Justin Brazeau, tied for most among all ECHL rookies.

7 – Number of overtime wins for the Growlers in 2019-20. Newfoundland finished the season with a sterling 7-0-1 overtime record and were the only team this season without an overtime loss.

8 – Number of consecutive games in which Scott Pooley scored a goal. Pooley had the longest goal-scoring streak of the ECHL season from October 10, 2019 to December 30, 2018 as he scored 12 times over an eight-game span.

9 – Goals scored by defensemen Joe Duszak and Evan Neugold, setting new team mark for goals in a season. In 2018-19, Adam Pardy set the intial team record for goals in a season for a defenseman with six.

9 – New franchise record for goals in a game. On March 1, 2020, the Growlers scored twice in the first period, four times in the second and another three times in the third period en route to a 9-1 win over the Jacksonville Icemen, setting a new franchise record for goals in a single game.

11 – Number of returning players from last season’s Kelly Cup championship team. Zach O’Brien, Marcus Power, Brady Ferguson, Giorgio Estephan, Scott Pooley, Todd Skirving, Alex Gudbranson, Garrett Johnston, Matt Bradley, Evan Neugold and captain James Melindy all returned for a second tour of duty with the Growlers this season after hoisting the Kelly Cup with the club in 2018-19.

11 – Represents the longest win streak of the season for the Growlers. From December 17, 2019 to January 15, 2020, the Growlers picked up 11 straight wins for the first time ever, defeating Adirondack, Worcester, Maine and Kansas City in the process. It was the longest winning streak of any team in the ECHL this season.

13 – Number of consecutive wins by goaltender Angus Redmond. From November 9, 2019 to February 28, 2020, Redmond posted an eye-popping 13-0-0-0 run that goes down in ECHL history as the third longest goaltender winning streak.

14 – Number of players who played games for both the Growlers and their AHL parent club, the Toronto Marlies, this season. Joe Duszak, Scott Pooley, Mac Hollowell, Michael Kapla, Zach O’Brien, Giorgio Estephan, Riley Woods, Colt Conrad, Garrett Johnston, Brady Ferguson, Justin Brazeau, Matt Bradley, Aaron Luchuk and Parker Gahagen all saw time in the AHL this season.

14 – Number of games in Scott Pooley’s season-best point streak. Pooley recorded 22 points in his 14-game point streak from October 15, 2019 to December 31, 2019. Only Indy’s Spencer Watson had a longer point streak this season (15 games).

19 – Number of consecutive home wins by the Growlers this season, setting a new ECHL record. Newfoundland won every game played at Mile One Centre between November 8, 2019 and February 14, 2020, besting the previous record of 18 straight wins set by the 1994-95 South Carolina Stingrays.

20.5% - Marcus Power’s team-leading shooting percentage. Power scored 24 goals on just 117 shots and maintains his place among the league’s deadliest snipers.

24.1% - Represents the cumulative power play percentage for the Growlers this season. Newfoundland ranked second in the ECHL in power play percentage, trailing only the Fort Wayne Komets at 25.4%.

27 – Number of goals scored by Justin Brazeau to lead the team and all ECHL rookies.

38 – The number of power play goals scored at Mile One Centre to lead the league. Newfoundland boasted the best home power play in the ECHL this season at 28.6%.

42 – Final number of wins for the Growlers this season, just one shy of the club record set in the inaugural season in 2018-19 in a full 72-game schedule.

57 – Number of saves made by goaltender Parker Gahagen in a two-game weekend series over Brampton that saw Gahagen win Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week honours for January 27 to February 2, 2020. Gahagen went 2-0-0 with one shutout and stopped all 32 shots he faced in a 5-0 win on Friday and made 25 saves in a 6-1 victory on Saturday.

60 – Total number of regular season games played this season. A standard ECHL season sees each team play 72 regular season contests.

80 – Number of penalty minutes by this season’s team leader Matt Bradley. Captain James Melindy was right behind at 78.

240 – Number of goals the Growlers scored in the regular season. The Growlers scored the most goals of all teams in the Eastern Conference and trailed only the Allen Americans (247) for the league lead.

3,643 – Average attendance at Mile One Centre through 30 home games this season. Thank you fans!