Published: November 21, 2007 11:30 pm      

Brabham heads initial ECHL Hall of Fame class

The man who brought Chiefs hockey to Johnstown and founded the East Coast Hockey League is a charter member of the ECHL Hall of Fame.

Henry Brabham, majority owner of the Chiefs from 1988 to 1993, joins in the inaugural class: ECHL Commissioner Emeritus Pat Kelly; former Louisiana IceGators all-star defenseman Chris Valicevic; and Nick Vitucci, who won four championships as a goalie and one as an assistant coach.

“I feel like it’s an honor to be inducted on the first go-around,” said Brabham, who owned three of the Original Five ECHL teams in 1988-89.

The Virginia oilman brought the Chiefs into the rugged All-American Hockey League at midseason in January 1988. The AAHL gave way to the East Coast Hockey League, which eventually expanded to the current 25 members and developed 333 NHL players.

“I think it’s real special that Johnstown is still in there,” Brabham said of the only Original Five team playing in the ECHL’s 20th anniversary season. “I’m happy that Johnstown has had the fan base to keep it there even though I know they’ve lost money. The people at least held together and kept it there. I hope they are able to continue to do that. I know it’s a strain on Neil Smith and the others who he is associated with. I think Johnstown is a great hockey town and that old building is just so special.”

Brabham made Kelly his first commissioner, a role Kelly held through 1996. The league expanded to 21 teams under his watch and established NHL and AHL affiliations.

“Mr. Brabham is the gentleman who came up with the idea and had the finances to do it,” Kelly said. “I’m just glad he picked me to be the guy to lead it through the first years. It’s special going in with Mr. Brabham.”

The induction ceremony will be Jan. 23 in Stockton, Calif., the site of the ECHL All-Star Game.

Inductees will be honored at www.echlhalloffame.com as well as in the league office in Princeton, N.J., and in the ECHL section of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Vitucci won a record five ECHL championships, four as a player and one as an assistant coach. He was a two-time playoff MVP, and in 14 seasons held six career goaltending records.

With Toledo, he was ECHL Coach of the Year in 2004-05.

In nine years with Louisiana and Greensboro, Valicevic was in a record seven ECHL All-Star Games and a five-time, first-team All-ECHL player. He was the league MVP in 1998-99.