ECHL
ECHL logo
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1988
No. of teams	25
Country(ies)	United States  Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Idaho Steelheads
Official website	www.echl.com

The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada, generally regarded as a tier below the American Hockey League. The ECHL's official website lists the league as "The Premier AA" league of hockey in North America, because most teams serve as feeder teams for American Hockey League teams. Hockey generally does not use letter-designations to define their league's levels, but the ECHL has tried for years to establish such a pecking order, with some success.

League History

The league, which combined teams from the defunct Atlantic Coast Hockey League and All-American Hockey League, began play as the East Coast Hockey League in 1988 with 5 teams, the Carolina Thunderbirds (now the Wheeling Nailers), the Erie Panthers (now the Victoria Salmon Kings), the Johnstown Chiefs, the Knoxville Cherokees (the franchise, as the Pee Dee Pride, is currently suspended, to resume play in Conway, South Carolina in 2008-09), and the Virginia Lancers (now the Utah Grizzlies).

Since that time, the ECHL has met with a mixture of failures and successes, reaching its largest size in 2003 of 31 teams before being reduced to 28 teams for the 2004 season. In September 2002, the West Coast Hockey League ceased operations, and the ECHL Board of Governors approved membership applications from the Anchorage (now Alaska) Aces, the Bakersfield Condors, the Fresno Falcons, the Idaho Steelheads, the Las Vegas Wranglers, the Long Beach Ice Dogs and the San Diego Gulls as well as from teams in Ontario, California and Reno, Nevada. Alaska, Bakersfield, Fresno, Idaho, Las Vegas, Long Beach and San Diego began play in 2003-04 season as expansion teams.

The teams from the defunct lower-level WCHL, along with Las Vegas, joined as expansion teams for the ECHL’s 16th season in 2003-04. In a change reflective of the nationwide presence of the ECHL, the East Coast Hockey League changed its name to simply ECHL on May 19, 2003.

The league, because of geographical anomalies, continues to use unbalanced conferences and divisions, which has in the past made for some extremely varied playoff formats. Due to travel costs, the league has attempted to placate owners in keeping those costs down, which has led to the sometimes-odd playoff structures.

Teams

National Conference
Division	Team	Arena	City/Area	Affiliate Team(s)
West	Alaska Aces	Sullivan Arena	Anchorage, AK	St. Louis Blues, Peoria Rivermen
	Idaho Steelheads	Qwest Arena	Boise, ID	Dallas Stars, Iowa Stars
	Phoenix RoadRunners	US Airways Center	Phoenix, AZ
	Utah Grizzlies	E Center	West Valley City, UT	New York Islanders, Bridgeport Sound Tigers
	Victoria Salmon Kings	Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre	Victoria, BC	Vancouver Canucks, Manitoba Moose
Pacific	Bakersfield Condors	Rabobank Arena	Bakersfield, CA
	Fresno Falcons	Save Mart Center	Fresno, CA	San Jose Sharks, Worcester Sharks
	Las Vegas Wranglers	Orleans Arena	Las Vegas, NV	Calgary Flames, Quad City Flames
	Stockton Thunder	Stockton Arena	Stockton, CA	Edmonton Oilers, Springfield Falcons
American Conference
Division	Team	Arena	City/Area	Affiliate Team(s)
North	Cincinnati Cyclones	US Bank Arena	Cincinnati, OH	Montreal Canadiens, Hamilton Bulldogs, Nashville Predators, Milwaukee Admirals
	Dayton Bombers	Nutter Center	Dayton, OH	Columbus Blue Jackets, Syracuse Crunch
	Elmira Jackals	First Arena	Elmira, NY
	Johnstown Chiefs	Cambria County War Memorial Arena	Johnstown, PA	Colorado Avalanche, Lake Erie Monsters; Boston Bruins, Providence Bruins
	Reading Royals	Sovereign Center	Reading, PA	Los Angeles Kings, Manchester Monarchs
	Trenton Devils	Sovereign Bank Arena	Trenton, NJ	New Jersey Devils, Lowell Devils
	Wheeling Nailers	WesBanco Arena	Wheeling, WV	Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Phantoms; Pittsburgh Penguins, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
South	Augusta Lynx	James Brown Arena	Augusta, GA	Anaheim Ducks, Portland Pirates
	Charlotte Checkers	St. Lawrence Homes Home Ice	Charlotte, NC	New York Rangers, Hartford Wolf Pack
	Columbia Inferno	Carolina Coliseum	Columbia, SC	Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Marlies
	Florida Everblades	Germain Arena	Estero, FL	Carolina Hurricanes, Albany River Rats; Florida Panthers
	Gwinnett Gladiators	Arena at Gwinnett Center	Duluth, GA	Atlanta Thrashers, Chicago Wolves
	Mississippi Sea Wolves	Mississippi Coast Coliseum	Biloxi, MS	Tampa Bay Lightning, Norfolk Admirals
	Pensacola Ice Pilots	Pensacola Civic Center	Pensacola, FL	Chicago Blackhawks, Rockford IceHogs
	South Carolina Stingrays	North Charleston Coliseum	North Charleston, SC	Washington Capitals, Hershey Bears
	Texas Wildcatters	Ford Arena	Beaumont, TX	Minnesota Wild, Houston Aeros

Future Teams

Two teams under suspension are planned to return in 2008 and 2009, respectively, as new arenas in their respective areas are slated to open.

• Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area franchise previously known as the Pee Dee Pride (which had played in Florence, 1997-2005), 2008-09; pending completion of YRT2 Arena on the campus of Coastal Carolina University) in Conway, South Carolina, between Florence and Myrtle Beach.

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• Toledo, Ohio, area franchise previously known as the Toledo Storm (which had played from 1991-2007), 2009-10; The Toledo Sports Arena is being demolished, and a new arena on the site is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2009 season. A new nickname is expected from the owners. http://www.echl.com/fteams.shtml

Defunct and relocated teams

Teams that no longer play within the ECHL are listed below. Many of the former teams which had not moved are considered to have suspended operations and the franchises placed for sale, but in reality are and were simply financial failures, similar to defunct teams in all other minor league sports histories.

While the ECHL stated in recent years they would not grant voluntary suspensions of franchises for more than one year, both the Toldeo Storm and Mississippi Sea Wolves have had two-year suspensions -- the Sea Wolves because of Hurricane Katrina and the Storm in order to demolish their present arena and construct a new arena on the site. The new owners of the Toledo franchise, the businessmen who own the area AAA-baseball team the Toledo Mud Hens, have stated they will choose a new name for the team but none has been picked yet.

Arkansas RiverBlades (1999-2003) Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (2001-2005; moved to Stockton, CA) Baton Rouge Kingfish (1996-2003; moved to Victoria, BC) Birmingham Bulls (1992-2001; moved to Atlantic City, NJ) Chesapeake Icebreakers (played in Upper Marlboro, MD, 1997-1999; moved to Jackson, MS) Columbus Chill (1991-1999; moved to Reading, PA) Columbus Cottonmouths (GA) (2001-2004; replaced by SPHL franchise) Erie Panthers (1988-1996; moved to Baton Rouge, LA) Greensboro Generals (1999-2004; team franchise revoked) Greensboro Monarchs (1989-1995; replaced by the Carolina Monarchs of the AHL) Greenville Grrrowl (1998-2006) (franchise revoked) Hampton Roads Admirals (1989-2000; replaced by the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL) Huntington Blizzard (1993-2000; now in Beaumont as Texas Wildcatters) Huntsville Blast (1993-1994; moved to Tallahassee, FL) Jackson Bandits (1999-2003) Jacksonville Lizard Kings (1995-2000) Knoxville Cherokees (1988-1997; moved to Florence, SC) Lexington Men O' War (2002-2003; moved to West Valley City, UT) Long Beach Ice Dogs (1993-2007) (franchise revoked) Louisiana IceGators (1995-2005) (franchise revoked) Louisville IceHawks (1990-1994; moved to Jacksonville, FL) Louisville River Frogs (1995-1998; moved to Miami, FL)

Macon Whoopee (2001-2002; moved to Lexington, KY) Miami Matadors (1998-1999; moved to Cincinnati, OH) Mobile Mysticks (1995-2002; moved to Duluth, GA) Nashville Knights (1989-1996; moved to Pensacola, FL when NHL arrived) New Orleans Brass (1997-2002; team suspended operations after the arrival of the NBA's Hornets when arena lease was not given) Pee Dee Pride (1997-2005; team suspended operations after the 2004-05 season and will become the Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz once a new arena is completed in nearby Conway, SC) Peoria Rivermen (1996-2005; replaced by the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL) Raleigh IceCaps (1991-1998; moved to Augusta, GA when NHL arrived) Richmond Renegades (1990-2003; Replaced by UHL Richmond RiverDogs whom were replaced by the Richmond Renegades of the SPHL) Roanoke Express (1993-2004; franchise revoked) San Diego Gulls (2003-2006) (franchise revoked) Tallahassee Tiger Sharks (1994-2001; moved to Macon, Georgia) Virginia Lancers (1988-1993 in Vinton, VA; franchise later renamed the Roanoke Valley Rebels and Rampage; moved to Huntsville, AL) Winston-Salem Thunderbirds (1988-1992; originally called Carolina before reverting to city name; moved to Wheeling, WV, and eventually become the Nailers in 1995)

See also

• Kelly Cup
• ECHL All-Star Game
• List of ECHL seasons
• List of developmental and minor sports leagues
• List of ice hockey leagues
• Sports league attendances

External links

• ECHL website
• PHPA website

ECHL

2007-08 teams: Alaska Aces | Augusta Lynx | Bakersfield Condors | Charlotte Checkers | Cincinnati Cyclones | Columbia Inferno | Dayton Bombers | Elmira Jackals | Florida Everblades | Fresno Falcons | Gwinnett Gladiators | Idaho Steelheads | Johnstown Chiefs | Las Vegas Wranglers | Mississippi Sea Wolves | Pensacola Ice Pilots | Phoenix RoadRunners | Reading Royals | South Carolina Stingrays | Stockton Thunder | Texas Wildcatters | Trenton Devils | Utah Grizzlies | Victoria Salmon Kings | Wheeling Nailers

Trophies and Awards: Patrick J. Kelly Cup | Seasons

Related Articles: NHL | AHL | CHL | IHL | SPHL | MAHL | World Cup

Current arenas in the ECHL
American Conference		National Conference
Arena at Gwinnett Center | Cambria County War Memorial Arena | Carolina Coliseum | St. Lawrence Homes Home Ice | First Arena | Ford Arena | Germain Arena | James Brown Arena | Mississippi Coast Coliseum | North Charleston Coliseum | Nutter Center | Pensacola Civic Center | Sovereign Bank Arena | Sovereign Center | U.S. Bank Arena | WesBanco Arena		E Center | Orleans Arena | Qwest Arena | Rabobank Arena | Save Mart Center | Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre| Stockton Arena | Sullivan Arena | US Airways Center