The Chesapeake Icebreakers were a minor league

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team that played in the

East Coast Hockey League 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 E ...

(ECHL) from 1997 to 1999. The Icebreakers were an expansion team that was granted to Upper Marlboro,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

for the start of the

1997–98 ECHL season The 1997–98 ECHL season was the tenth season of the ECHL. Before the start of the season, the league saw the Knoxville Cherokees move to Florence, SC and welcomed expansion teams in New Orleans, LA and Upper Marlboro, MD. The Louisiana IceG ...

. They were coached by noted NHL enforcer

Chris Nilan Christopher John Nilan (born February 9, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey player and former radio host. Nilan played 688 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season games as a right-wing for the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bru ...

for both of their seasons. The Icebreakers 34-28-8 record was good for 76 points and third place in the Northeast Division, 15 points behind the division leading

Roanoke Express The Roanoke Express were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL from 1993 until 2004. Home games were played at the Berglund Center, Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia. The Express were owned by legendary coach John Brophy ...

. Seeded 6th in the playoffs and matched up against the #3 ranked

Toledo Storm The Toledo Storm were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the ECHL from 1991 to 2007. The Storm played their home games at the venerable Toledo Sports Arena along the eastern banks of the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. The team colors ...

, they would be swept three games to none.

would win the

John Brophy Award The John Brophy Award goes to the ECHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success as voted by the coaches of each of the ECHL teams. The John Brophy Award has been awarded since 1989. The award is named after John Brophy, wh ...

as the league's top coach. Derek Clancey would lead the team in assists with 77, and in points with 105. John Cardwell would score 40 goals while Brad Domonsky led the team with 244 penalty minutes. Mike Tamburro played 25 games in net, and managed a 16-6-1 record with a 2.68 GAA and two shutouts. The team drew an average of 2,650 fans, third-worst in the league. For their second season, they improved their point total by three points. Their record was 34-25-11, however they would drop to fourth place in the tough Northeast Division. Seeded 7th, they played the 2nd-seeded

Columbus Chill The Columbus Chill were a professional ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League from October 1991 through the 1998–99 season. They played at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio. The Chill left Columbus in 1999 and ...

(who won the Northwest Division) in the first round of the playoffs. Their first playoff win in team history took place on April 8, which evened the series at one game apiece. They defeated the Chill 3–2 in overtime of Game 4 to take the series 3–1. Their next opponents were the top ranked

, who took the series against the Icebreakers in four games. The final game in franchise history was played April 24, 1999. Derek Clancey had another season finishing with a team high of 79 points, while Denny Felsner paced the team with 29 goals. L.P Charbonneau had 271 PIM. Mike Tamburro finished with a 19-11-2 record with a 2.45 GAA average. Attendance would slip to 2,347 fans, once again third-worst. Home games were played at a converted

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

facility known as

The Show Place Arena The Show Place Arena is a 5,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, which is used for sporting events, concerts, boxing and professional wrestling events, consumer shows, trade shows, religious services, graduations and other eve ...

in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Despite occasional sellouts and a playoff run, the franchise was plagued by a severe lack of publicity in the community and a near total lack of coverage by area newspapers. The team moved to become the

Jackson Bandits The Jackson Bandits were a minor league professional ice hockey team and member of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). The Bandits played at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, Mississippi between 1999 and 2003. Previously the franchise pla ...

after their second season.

References

Ice hockey teams in Maryland Defunct ECHL teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Ice hockey clubs established in 1997 Sports clubs disestablished in 1999 Tampa Bay Lightning minor league affiliates {{Maryland-sport-team-stub