The ECHL 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 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 Fresno Falcons were a minor league hockey team. They were charter members of several long standing leagues in the western United States including the Pacific Southwest Hockey League and the West Coast Hockey League. In their final years, they were members of the ECHL. They were located in Fresno, California.
The Las Vegas Wranglers were a professional ice hockey team based in Las Vegas Valley. The Wranglers were members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL. The Wranglers were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 following the ECHL's takeover of the West Coast Hockey League.
The Alaska Aces, known as the Anchorage Aces until 2003, was a professional ice hockey team in Anchorage, Alaska. Home games were played at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. The Aces won three Kelly Cup championships, with their last championship following the 2013–14 ECHL season.
The 2003–04 ECHL season was the 16th season of the ECHL. This was the first season that the league would be known as only the ECHL instead of East Coast Hockey League after the absorption of the former West Coast Hockey League teams. The Brabham Cup regular season champions were the San Diego Gulls and the Kelly Cup playoff champions were the Idaho Steelheads.
The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) was a junior ice hockey league established in 1993. It was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union. Previously, it was sanctioned by USA Hockey from 1994 to 2011. Teams played approximately 50 games in the regular season schedule, mimicking what players would experience at the collegiate level. As of January 2022, there are no active teams in the league following the creation of the Can-Am Junior Hockey League by former WSHL teams.
Kimball J. Daniels is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played parts of two seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Christopher Jon Marinucci is an American former professional ice hockey player who played briefly in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Islanders. He also played with the Denver Grizzlies, Utah Grizzlies, Phoenix Roadrunners, Chicago Wolves, Kokudo Tokyo, Eisbären Berlin, Idaho Steelheads, IF Björklöven and Storhamar Dragons.
The Pacific Southwest Hockey League was a semi-professional ice hockey league that operated in California, Nevada and Alaska starting in 1972 and ran through 1995, when its members were incorporated into the upstart professional West Coast Hockey League. The league operated as the California-Nevada Hockey League from 1968 to 1972.
The Colorado Gold Kings, previously known as the Alaska Gold Kings, were an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Fairbanks, Alaska, and later Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Gold Kings were members of the West Coast Hockey League.
The Tacoma Sabercats were an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Tacoma, Washington. The team began play in the West Coast Hockey League as of the 1997–98 season.
John Olver is a Canadian ice hockey player and coach known for his league championship teams in the West Coast Hockey League and ECHL.
The Reno Renegades were a short-lived American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Reno, Nevada. The team was a founding member of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL).
The Bakersfield Oilers was a semi-pro hockey team in the Pacific Southwest Hockey League that played in Bakersfield, California in 1994-95. The Oilers played out of the 4,100 seat Bakersfield Convention Center. The Oilers were the predecessor to the Bakersfield Fog of the West Coast Hockey League. They made the transition along with the Alaska Gold Kings, Anchorage Aces, and Fresno Falcons to a minor professional league in 1995-96. The players had college, major junior, junior A and minor pro experience. Many of the players spent their off season playing roller hockey Roller Hockey International and were living in southern California.
The Idaho Jr. Steelheads, also called the Idaho IceCats, were a junior ice hockey team based in McCall, Idaho. The team played in the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) and home games were held at Manchester Ice & Event Centre in McCall. The team previously played some home games at Idaho Ice World and CenturyLink Arena in Boise, the latter being the home of the ECHL Idaho Steelheads. The team had been one of the most successful in the WSHL, winning five Thorne Cup championships over six seasons and appeared in seven straight between 2010 and 2017.
The 1997-98 West Coast Hockey League season was the third season of the West Coast Hockey League, a North American minor professional league. Nine teams participated in the regular season, and the San Diego Gulls were the league champions. In addition to league play, WCHL teams played regular season games against the Russian Superleague team CKA-Amur.
The 2014 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL started following the April 13th conclusion of the 2013–14 ECHL regular season.
The Pacific Hockey League (PHL) was a short lived semi-professional ice hockey league in the western United States in the 1990s. The league was formed by a merger of two previous semi-professional leagues, the Pacific Southwest Hockey League and Pacific Northwest Hockey League. Several PHL teams became charter members of the professional West Coast Hockey League in 1995.
Jack Michaels is an American ice hockey announcer who is currently the play-by-play announcer for Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on 630 CHED and Sportsnet television. He was previously the announcer for the Colorado Gold Kings of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) from 1999 to 2002, and the Alaska Aces of the ECHL from 2002 to 2010.
