Two levels down from the NHL last season, right winger Michael Joly put up Alex Ovechkin-like numbers for the ECHL-champion Colorado Eagles.
Joly, a 23-year-old Quebec native and second-year Avalanche prospect, paced the “double-A” ECHL with 41 goals in just 52 games — missing nearly a quarter of the season while playing for San Antonio of the “triple-A” American Hockey League.
Joly’s goals-per-game average: .79 — nearly 20 points higher than Ovechkin’s .60 (NHL-high 49 goals in 82 games).
Make no mistake, there’s a big difference between the ECHL and NHL, but Joly hopes to take his high-scoring ways back to the Eagles — the Avs’ new AHL affiliate in Loveland — and eventually compete for a promotion to Colorado’s NHL team.