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2016–17 ECHL Season
The 2016–17 ECHL season was the 29th season of the ECHL. The regular season schedule ran from October 14, 2016 to April 9, 2017, with the Kelly Cup playoffs following. Twenty-seven teams in 21 states and one Canadian province each played a 72-game schedule. League business Team changes *The Evansville IceMen voluntarily suspended operations for the 2016–17 season. The IceMen franchise was approved for relocation to Owensboro, Kentucky, following arena issues in Evansville but would have needed at least a year to finish renovations to the Owensboro Sportscenter. However, the IceMen's deal to move into the Sportscenter fell through in September 2016. In January 2017, various media sources reported that the franchise had been sold to an ownership group based out of Jacksonville, Florida, and was approved by the league on February 8. The team returned in 2017–18 as the Jacksonville Icemen. Conference realignment The ECHL returned to a four division alignment for the 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ECHL and the AHL are the only minor leagues recognized by the collective bargaining agreement between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' Association, 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 in negotiations with the ECHL itself. Some 662 players have played at least one game in the NHL after appearing in the ECHL. For the 2022–23 season, 28 of the 32 NHL teams have affiliations with an ECHL team with only the Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, and Winnipeg Jets having no official ECHL ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 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 of ice ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brampton Beast
The Brampton Beast were a professional ice hockey team based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The team originally played in the Central Hockey League for one year during the 2013–14 season prior to the league's folding before joining the ECHL from 2014 to 2020. The Beast played their home games at the CAA Centre. The team was one of only two ECHL members located in Canada, along with the Newfoundland Growlers, from 2018 to 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beast voluntarily suspended operations through at least the 2020–21 ECHL season, then ceased operations entirely. History Foundation From 1998 to 2013, Brampton was home to the Ontario Hockey League's Brampton Battalion, a major junior hockey team. The Battalion relocated to North Bay, Ontario, in the 2013 off-season after several years of low attendance and financial struggles. On January 23, 2013, the Central Hockey League announced that it had signed a Letter of Intent with the ownership group led by Gregg Rosen, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adirondack Thunder
The Adirondack Thunder are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2015–16 season. The team is based in Glens Falls, New York, and affiliated with the NHL's New Jersey Devils. The Thunder play their home games at the Cool Insuring Arena. The Thunder replaced the AHL's Adirondack Flames after they were relocated to Stockton, California, to become the Stockton Heat. History On January 29, 2015, the Calgary Flames announced that they would be moving their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Flames, to Stockton as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The next day, the Flames announced that the ECHL's Stockton Thunder (who they had purchased the day before) would move to Glens Falls in what was essentially a "market swap". The Thunder name, logo and colors were unveiled on February 11, 2015. Cail MacLean was announced the team's first head coach on July 23, 2015. The Thunder made the playoffs during their first season and were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 the Norfolk Scope. The Admirals replaced the American Hockey League 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. Ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utah Grizzlies
The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Stars in Nashville, Tennessee, in the Central Hockey League. Henry Brabham then took over the team in 1983 and relocated them to Vinton, Virginia mid-season, to become the Virginia Lancers. Brabham and the Lancers were then one of the founding members of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) in 1988. The franchise was sold and relocated several times until it went dormant after the 2002–03 season. After the American Hockey League (AHL) incarnation of the Grizzlies suspended operations, David Elmore and Donna Tuttle bought the rights to the dormant ECHL franchise and moved the team to the E Center to replace the previous Grizzlies franchise. Prior to the 2013–14 season, their NHL affiliate Calgary Flames changed their affiliation to the Ala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 2021, 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 anglers. Despite t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League, and the Cleveland Monsters 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). History The team began in the 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 original Wings that had played in the International Hockey League from 1974 through 2000. The new Wings obtained the righ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indy Fuel
The Indy Fuel are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2014–15 season. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Fuel play their home games at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. They are affiliated with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks and the AHL's Rockford IceHogs. History On November 11, 2013, the ECHL's board of governors approved the expansion membership application of the Indy Fuel for admission to the league for the 2014–15 season. On October 17, 2014, the Fuel played their franchise opening game against the Fort Wayne Komets, reigniting the Indianapolis and Fort Wayne rivalry after 15 years in a 4–5 defeat. On March 7, 2016, the Indy Fuel fired inaugural head coach Scott Hillman and named Bernie John as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2015–16 season. On April 8, 2016, the interim tag was removed and John was named head coach and vice president of hockey operations for the 2016–17 season. At the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Wayne Komets
The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This team was previously a member of the Central Hockey League, the original International Hockey League, and the second International Hockey League. They have won four post-season championship titles in the original IHL in 1963, 1965, 1973, and 1993, four in the UHL/second IHL in 2003, 2008, 2009, and 2010, one in the CHL in 2012, and one in the ECHL in 2021. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Original Six teams of the NHL and the Hershey Bears of the AHL have played continuously in the same city with the same name longer than the Komets. History The original Komets franchise played in the previous iteration of the International Hockey League from 1952 until 1990. The original IHL franchise then moved to Albany, New York in 1990 as the Albany Choppers. Only two days later, the Franke family of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL)
The Orlando Solar Bears are a professional ice hockey team that plays their home games at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and are affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League. History Orlando Pro Hockey Operations, L.P. and primary owners Joe Haleski, Bob Ohrablo, and Jason Siegel, obtained an expansion franchise in the ECHL in November 2011. The team revived the name of the original Orlando Solar Bears, who played in the International Hockey League from 1995 to 2001. The franchise also retained the original colors of their IHL predecessor, while adding the color Sunrise Gold. They are Orlando's third professional hockey team, after the original Solar Bears and Orlando Seals (2002–2004). Together with the Florida Everblades of Estero and the Jacksonville Icemen, they are one of three ECHL franchises in Florida. They are the eighth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlanta Gladiators
The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Gas South Arena, approximately northeast of Atlanta. The franchise originated as the Mobile Mysticks in 1995. They suspended operations in 2002 and moved to Duluth in 2003 where they were originally known as the Gwinnett Gladiators. In 2015, they changed their name to the Atlanta Gladiators. They were the South Division and American Conference champions in 2006, falling four-games-to-one to the Alaska Aces in the Kelly Cup finals. History Birth of the Gladiators The franchise originated as the Mobile Mysticks who played in Mobile, Alabama, from 1995 to 2002. It suspended operations in 2002 due to declining attendance. After a year off, Toby Jeffreys, the owner of the Mysticks, relocated his franchise to Gwinnett County, Georgia, in 2003 and was rebranded the Gwinnett Gladiators. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
