2020–21 ECHL Season
The 2020–21 ECHL season was the 33rd season of the ECHL. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season was pushed back to December 11, 2020. The Fort Wayne Komets were the Kelly Cup champions, defeating the South Carolina Stingrays in four games. League business Due to the uncertainty of being able to host games in some locations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, several member teams had not been able to confirm participation in the 2020–21 season and the season start was postponed. In October 2020, thirteen teams confirmed plans to begin to play in December 2020 with others hoping to return in January 2021. All teams had a deadline to voluntarily opt out of the 2020–21 season by November 30, but two teams had been granted extensions: the Fort Wayne Komets and Toledo Walleye. The Komets and Walleye were then approved to postpone their start to February. The league announced its schedule through February 11, 2021. By Decem ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The league serves as a farm system to the AHL and National Hockey League (NHL). The ECHL and the AHL are the only minor leagues recognized by the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), meaning any player signed to an entry-level NHL contract and designated for assignment must report to a club in either the ECHL or the AHL. Additionally, the league's players are represented by the Professional Hockey Players' Association (PHPA) in negotiations with the ECHL itself. At least 739 players have played at least one game in the NHL after appearing in the ECHL. As of the 2024–25 season, 30 of the 32 NHL teams held affiliations with an ECHL team, with only the Columbus Blue ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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WPTA
WPTA (channel 21) is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with ABC, NBC, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Media alongside CW+ affiliate WISE-TV (channel 33). The two stations share studios on Butler Road in Northwest Fort Wayne, where WPTA's transmitter is also located. WPTA is popularly known within the Fort Wayne metropolitan area by its longtime on-air brand, 21 Alive, which the station has used from 1978 to 2016 and since 2022. History The station first signed on the air on September 28, 1957. It was founded by Sarkes Tarzian, an Indianapolis engineer whose company owned Bloomington's WTTV and several other stations in Indiana. The WPTA call letters come from the long tradition of other Tarzian stations that base the call letters upon the initials of family members of company management—in this case, Tarzian's children, Patricia and Thomas. Upon its launch, channel 21 took all ABC programming from NBC affiliate WKJG-TV (chan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Greg Wyshynski
Greg Wyshynski (born March 20, 1977) is an American sportswriter and radio personality, best known for creating Yahoo! Sports’ ice hockey blog ''Puck Daddy''. He has written two books, ''Glow Pucks and 10-Cent Beer'' and ''Take Your Eye Off the Puck''. Career Early career Wyshynski is a 1999 graduate of University of Maryland's College of Journalism. In 2000, he started working for ''The Connection Newspapers'' of Northern Virginia and spent nearly ten years as a writer and editor there, rising through the ranks to executive sports editor. While at ''The Connection'', Wyshynski received over 50 Virginia Press Association awards, including four first-place citations for sports column writing. During this time, Wyshynski branched out into other sports writing, serving as an editor for ''SportsFan'' magazine and writing a weekly syndicated sports column, "The Jester’s Quart". In 2006, Wyshynski signed on with AOL Sports’ '' FanHouse'' as an NHL writer. He also wrote the wee ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reading Eagle
The ''Reading Eagle'' is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania. A family-owned newspaper until the spring of 2019, its reported circulation is 37,000 (daily) and 50,000 (Sundays). It serves the Reading and Berks County region of Pennsylvania. After celebrating its sesquicentennial of local ownership and editorial control in 2018, the ''Reading Eagle'' was acquired by the Denver-based MediaNews Group's Digital First Media in May 2019. History The newspaper was founded on January 28, 1867. Initially an afternoon paper, it was published Monday through Saturday, and a Sunday morning edition was added later. In 1940, ''The Eagle'' acquired the ''Reading Times'', which was the city's morning paper, though they remained editorially separate newspapers. The staff of the two papers was combined in 1982. In June 2002, the ''Reading Times'' ceased publication, and the ''Eagle'' became a morning paper. The two newspapers published a joint Saturday-morning edition since ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Worcester Railers
The Worcester Railers (also called Worcester Railers HC) are a professional ice hockey team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. The team began play in the 2017–18 ECHL season, and is a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the ECHL. The team plays their home games at the DCU Center and are the ECHL affiliate of the New York Islanders. The team filled the void left by the AHL's Worcester Sharks, who relocated to San Jose, California, in 2015 to become the San Jose Barracuda. History On January 26, 2015, it was reported that the Worcester Sharks would move to San Jose and share SAP Center at San Jose with their parent club, the San Jose Sharks. These reports were confirmed with the Sharks' official announcement on January 29. Worcester did not initially receive an ECHL team to replace the relocated AHL team, unlike the other markets with relocated AHL teams in 2015, such as Manchester, New Hampshire; Norfolk, Virginia; and Glens Falls, New York. On Februar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reading Royals
The Reading Royals are a professional ice hockey team that currently plays in the ECHL. The team participates in the North Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Royals play their home games at the Santander Arena located in downtown Reading, Pennsylvania. Since 2001, the Royals have ranked among ECHL leaders in regular season attendance. On March 25, 2006, against the Trenton Titans, the Royals reached their one millionth fan in attendance. The Royals hosted two ECHL All-Star Games; one in 2005 and one in 2009. The Royals were the 2013 ECHL Kelly Cup champions. They earned the title with a five-game victory over the Stockton Thunder in the 2013 Kelly Cup Finals. Franchise history Columbus Chill and Kings era The Reading Royals were founded in 1991 as the Columbus Chill. David Paitson was the team's first president and general manager while former NHL player Terry Ruskowski was the head coach, started the team with a goal of introducing new audiences to the sport ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Norfolk Admirals (ECHL)
The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Norfolk, Virginia, the team plays its home games at Norfolk Scope. The Admirals replaced the American Hockey League (AHL) team of the same name, which played from 2000 until 2015, after which they moved to San Diego, California, and became the current incarnation of the San Diego Gulls. History On January 29, 2015, the Anaheim Ducks announced that they would be moving their AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, to San Diego as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The next day, the Edmonton Oilers announced that their outgoing ECHL team, the Bakersfield Condors (who would also be supplanted by a new Bakersfield Condors in the AHL), would move to Norfolk and take on the Admirals name and logo. The Oilers Entertainment Group had originally purchased the ECHL Condors in January 2014, one year prior to the announcement of the relocation. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Newfoundland Growlers
The Newfoundland Growlers were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League, ECHL based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The team began play in the 2018–19 ECHL season, 2018–19 season with home games held at Mary Brown's Centre. They were affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL). The East Coast Hockey League, ECHL terminated the team's membership in 2023–24 ECHL season, 2024 for failure to fulfill league bylaws. History The search for a new professional hockey team for St. John's began after the Montreal Canadiens announced in July 2016 that their affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League (AHL), would move to the newly constructed Place Bell (Laval, Quebec), Place Bell arena in Laval, Quebec for the start of the 2017–18 AHL season, 2017–18 season. Danny Williams (Canadian politician), Danny Williams, from the incumben ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maine Mariners (ECHL)
The Maine Mariners are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2018–19 ECHL season, 2018–19 season. Based in Portland, Maine, the team plays their home games at Cross Insurance Arena. The team participates in the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The team replaced the American Hockey League's Portland Pirates after the franchise became the Springfield Thunderbirds in 2016. History Efforts to bring hockey back to Portland On May 23, 2016, the Portland Pirates' franchise was sold and relocated to Springfield, Massachusetts, and became the Springfield Thunderbirds. A team of investors headed by former Pirates executives W. Godfrey Wood and Brad Church — the latter a former Portland player as well — announced their intentions to put an ECHL team in Portland to fill the void, joining as early as 2017. However, progress to attain a franchise by the Portland group stalled until four groups, none of which involved Wood, submitted their own pr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kalamazoo Wings
The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League, and the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League. Kalamazoo is home to the "Green Ice Game". Played since 1982 on St. Patrick's Day, it is one of the most celebrated games in minor league hockey. The team has sought to duplicate the game's success with the Pink Ice Game (Valentine's Day), the Orange Ice Game (Halloween), the Lavender Ice game (Hockey Fights Cancer) and the Rainbow Ice game. History The team began in the 1999–2000 UHL season, 1999–2000 season as the United Hockey League's Madison Kodiaks in Madison, Wisconsin. After one season in Madison, the franchise moved to Kalamazoo, where it renamed itself the Wings in honor of the Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000), ori ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Idaho Steelheads
The Idaho Steelheads are an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Boise, Idaho, and a member of the ECHL. The Steelheads play in the Mountain Division of the ECHL's Western Conference since the 2016–17 season. In 1996, the Steelheads were announced as a 1997–98 expansion team by Diamond Sports Management, headed by Cord Pereira, as a member of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL). The Steelheads and the rest of the WCHL joined the ECHL in 2003. As of the 2022-23 season, the Steelheads are the westernmost ECHL team. During the 2003–04 season and since the 2005–06 season the Steelheads have been an affiliate of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars. The Austin-based Texas Stars have been the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate since the 2009–10 season. Home games are played at the 5,002-seat Idaho Central Arena in downtown Boise. The Steelheads are named for a species of seagoing rainbow trout native to Idaho streams and rivers and popular with local a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cincinnati Cyclones
The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Originally established in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at Heritage Bank Center. Cincinnati has fielded Cyclones teams with three separate franchises in two different leagues: the International Hockey League (1992–2001) and the ECHL (1990–1992, 2001–2004, 2006–present). Together, the franchises have combined to win two Kelly Cups (2008 and 2010), three conference championships (2008, 2010 and 2014), two overall points championships (2008 and 2019), and six division championships (1996, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2019 and 2023). In 2007–08, the team had the most successful season in ECHL history with 55 wins, 115 points, and its first conference and league championships. History There have been three separate franchises known as the Cincinnati Cyclones, two in the ECHL and one in the IHL. The earl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |