News release
2 April 2012
Elmira Jackals forward Dustin Gazley has received the John A. Daley Memorial Trophy as the CCM ECHL Rookie of the Year for 2011-2012, the league announced on Monday.
Gazley led the ECHL with 85 points and 60 assists this season while also registering 25 goals. He became the fifth rookie in ECHL history to win the league's scoring title, edging out Las Vegas' Adam Miller by one point. Gazley was 19 points ahead of Cincinnati's Mathew Sisca for the rookie scoring crown in 2011-2012. A native of Novi, Mich., Gazley was named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team and the All-ECHL First Team last week. The 23-year-old was the ECHL Rookie of the Month for February and won the ECHL Player of the Week award for Jan. 2 - 8.
Gazley is the second Jackal to be named the ECHL Rookie of the Year, as Justin Donati garnered the accolade as well in 2009-2010.
The award is presented annually to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the ECHL as voted by the coaches of the ECHL teams. The trophy was named in honor of John A. Daley in 1997. Daley, who passed away in 1996, was one of the founding fathers of the ECHL, serving as general manger and minority owner of the Johnstown Chiefs from the inception of the team in 1988 until 1994.
The Eastern Conference regular-season champion Jackals will play the Reading Royals in the best-of-five first round of the 2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs. com.