Throughout the 22 years that the Florida Everblades have been a part of the ECHL, they have had many talented players. These players have had not only ECHL success, but have also moved onto AHL and NHL success.
Ernie Hartlieb
Ernie Hartlieb is one of the three Everblades players to have his number retired by the team. Throughout his career with in Florida, Hartlieb showed leadership and motivation. Serving as an alternate captain in 2005-06 and 2008-09 and serving as a captain in 2007-08, Hartlieb clearly was a team leader and stepped up whenever he was needed.
Playing 11 seasons for the Everblades, Hartlieb racked up a total of 259 points. He also could be an aggressive and gritty player, amassing 349 penalty minutes. In perhaps an unusual turn of events, Hartlieb came out of retirement to play in a game for the Everblades after the team was short on players due to call-ups. Even though he hadn’t played professional hockey in five years, Hartlieb was able to record a goal.
What makes Hartlieb so important to the fans is his continued involvement with the team and the community. You can often see him and his family enjoying the weekend hockey games and cheering on the hometown team. He takes time to interact with the fans, stopping to talk with anyone who says hi.
After Friday night home games, you can find him hosting a postgame interview with a select player. This gives the fans even more insight into what goes on behind the scenes. He continues to be an ambassador for the team, even after his retirement from playing.
Anton Khudobin
While Anton Khudobin only played a single season for the Everblades, he still put up some rather impressive stats. During the 2008-09 season, Khudobin was named the ECHL goaltender of the month for November and the ECHL goaltender of the week for the week of 11/03. Khudobin had 2.71 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. He finished the season with an 18-10-1 record.
Since playing for the Everblades, Khudobin has played for a number of teams. Most notably, he has been a part of the Dallas Stars goalie tandem and has helped lead the team to two Stanley Cup Playoff appearances. He’s put up a 0.927 save percentage and a 2.40 goals against average. Most recently, Khudobin has filled in for goaltender Ben Bishop during the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Besides playing for the Everblades and Stars, Khudobin has also played for the Houston Aeros, Providence Bruins, Charlotte Checkers, San Diego Gulls and Texas Wildcatters. He has also had NHL starts with the Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild.
Even though Khudobin only played a single season for the Everblades, the team and its fans have a lot of appreciation for the Russian goalie.
John McCarron
John McCarron has been with the Everblades since the 2016-17 season and has been a star player for them since then. McCarron has been the captain of the Everblades for the past two seasons and has shown great leadership with this captaincy.
McCarron has put up 216 goals in 220 games spanned with the Everblades. He is ranked fifth in both all-time points and all-time goals with the organization. He will most certainly continue to rise up these lists as he has just signed an extension with the Everblades. As such, he shows no signs of slowing down.
McCarron has been loaned to a pair of teams in the AHL. He has been loaned to the Stockton Heat twice in the past two seasons and was loaned to the St. John’s IceCaps in 2016-17. McCarron has collected eight points with these two teams in 26 games.
The only downside of McCarron is he seems to take quite a few penalties. Throughout his time with the Everblades, McCarron has totalled 305 penalty minutes. McCarron proves that he is a solid player and isn’t afraid to defend himself or his teammates. The winger is a great team player and exemplifies the traits of what a captain should be.