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ECHL

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.

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 2009-10), 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 the 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 and limited interconference play. 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. The league currently (as of 2008) consists of ten West Coast-based teams in the National Conference, and thirteen eastern, midwestern and southern teams in the American Conference.

In the past four years, the ECHL has attempted to be more tech-friendly to its fans. Some improvements on the league's website have included a new schedule and statistics engine powered by League Stat, Inc. (introduced in 2006), internet radio coverage for most teams, and pay-per view broadcasting of ECHL games through B2 Networks. In 2008, the league introduced the ECHL toolbar for internet browsers which gave users short cut access to statistics, scores, transactions, and news updates.

Teams

Division	Team	Arena	City/Area	Affiliate Team(s)
National Conference
West	Alaska Aces	Sullivan Arena	Anchorage, AK	St. Louis Blues, Peoria Rivermen
	Idaho Steelheads	Qwest Arena	Boise, ID	Dallas Stars
	Phoenix RoadRunners	US Airways Center	Phoenix, AZ	San Jose Sharks, Worcester Sharks
	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	Anaheim Ducks, Iowa Chops
	Fresno Falcons	Selland Arena	Fresno, CA	Chicago Blackhawks, Rockford IceHogs
	Las Vegas Wranglers	Orleans Arena	Las Vegas, NV	Calgary Flames, Quad City Flames
	Ontario Reign	Citizens Business Bank Arena	Ontario, CA	Los Angeles Kings, Manchester Monarchs

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
	Elmira Jackals	First Arena	Elmira, NY	Ottawa Senators, Binghamton Senators
	Johnstown Chiefs	Cambria County War Memorial Arena	Johnstown, PA	Colorado Avalanche, Lake Erie Monsters; Columbus Blue Jackets, Syracuse Crunch
	Reading Royals	Sovereign Center	Reading, PA	Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Marlies; Los Angeles Kings, Manchester Monarchs
	Trenton Devils	Sovereign Bank Arena	Trenton, NJ	New Jersey Devils, Lowell Devils
	Wheeling Nailers	WesBanco Arena	Wheeling, WV	Pittsburgh Penguins, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
South	Augusta Lynx	James Brown Arena	Augusta, GA	Tampa Bay Lightning, Norfolk Admirals
	Charlotte Checkers	Time Warner Cable Arena	Charlotte, NC	New York Rangers, Hartford Wolf Pack
	Florida Everblades	Germain Arena	Estero, FL	Carolina Hurricanes, Albany River Rats; Florida Panthers, Rochester Americans
	Gwinnett Gladiators	Arena at Gwinnett Center	Duluth, GA	Atlanta Thrashers, Chicago Wolves
	Mississippi Sea Wolves	Mississippi Coast Coliseum	Biloxi, MS
	South Carolina Stingrays	North Charleston Coliseum	North Charleston, SC	Washington Capitals, Hershey Bears

Future teams

One team is scheduled to relocate for the 2009-10 season and two which were previously under suspension will return with new home arenas.

Columbia Inferno, 2009-10; granted a one-year voluntary suspension while the team attempts to find a new home arena.
Myrtle Beach ECHL team, 2009-10; previously the Pee Dee Pride franchise, pending completion of YRT2 Arena (on the campus of Coastal Carolina University) in Conway, South Carolina, between Florence and Myrtle Beach.
Toledo Walleye, 2009-10; franchise previously known as the Toledo Storm (1991-2007), 2009-10; The Toledo Sports Arena was demolished, The Walleye will play at the Lucas County Arena which is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2009 season.

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 Toledo 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. Toledo Arena Sports General Manager Joe Napoli and Toledo Arena Sports President Mike Miller unveiled the new name on February 20, 2008 The Mississippi Sea Wolves resumed play for the 2007-2008 season, while the Toledo Walleye will return to play for the 2009-2010 season.

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; moved to Bradenton-Sarasota, FL to play as Gulf Coast Swords, franchise revoked in summer 2006 after construction halted on proposed home arena)
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; moved to Beaumont, TX)
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 plans to move to the Myrtle Beach, SC area once a new arena is completed in nearby Conway, SC)
Pensacola Ice Pilots (1996-2008) (franchise revoked.)
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)
Roanoke Express (1993-2004; franchise revoked)
San Diego Gulls (2003-2006) (franchise revoked)
Tallahassee Tiger Sharks (1994-2001; moved to Macon, GA)
Texas Wildcatters (2003-2008; Ceased operations at the end 2007-08 season due to a failure in securing a new arena lease and moved to Ontario, CA)
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)

ECHL Hall of Fame

In celebration of the league's 20th year of play, the ECHL Board of Governors created the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2008, to recognize the achievements of players, coaches, and personnel who dedicated their careers to the league. Hall of Fame members are selected in four categories: Player, Developmental Player, Builder, and Referee/Linesman. Players must have concluded their career as an active player for a minimum of three playing seasons, though not continuous or full seasons. Development Players must have begun their career in the ECHL and went on to a distinguished career in the NHL, playing a minimum of 260 regular season games in the NHL, AHL and ECHL. Builders may be active or inactive whereas Referee/Linesman must have concluded their active officiating career for a minimum of three playing seasons.

No more than five candidates are elected to the Hall of Fame each year with no more than three Players, one Developmental Player, two Builders and one Referee/Linesman. The Builder and the Referee/Linesman categories are dependent upon the number of candidates in the Player category.

The nomination and subsequent selection of candidates is determined by the ECHL Hall of Fame Selection Committee which is appointed by the ECHL.

The ECHL Hall of Fame Inaugural Class was inducted during the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game festivities at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California and included ECHL founder Henry Brabham, the ECHL's first commissioner Patrick J. Kelly, and former players Nick Vitucci and Chris Valicevic