The International Hockey League (IHL) was a minor professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1945 to 2001. The IHL served as the National Hockey League's alternate farm system to the American Hockey League (AHL). After 56 years of operation, financial instability led to the league's demise. Six of the surviving seven teams merged into the AHL in 2001.
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 Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) was a women's ice hockey league established in Canada in service from 1999 to 2007. In its final season the league was run by the Ontario Women's Hockey Association.
The West Coast Hockey League was a professional minor ice hockey league active in the western United States from 1995 to 2003. The number of teams ranged from six to nine. The teams were located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Washington.
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 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 were red and white, similar to the Detroit Red Wings, their NHL affiliate for fourteen of their sixteen seasons. The Storm would win six division titles, two Henry Brabham Cups and two Jack Riley Cups as champion of the East Coast Hockey League. The franchise suspended operations following the 2006–07 season after they were sold to Toledo Arena Sports, Inc. The Storm returned to the ECHL for the 2009–10 season as the Toledo Walleye.
The Macon Whoopee is a defunct professional ice hockey team that played from 1996 until 2001 in the Central Hockey League (CHL). Located in Macon, Georgia, the team played its home games at the Macon Coliseum.
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 ECAC Northeast was an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-only conference. For many years it was one of the three men's hockey conferences that operated under the umbrella of the Eastern College Athletic Conference; the others were the ECAC East, and the ECAC West. Member institutions were located in the New England region of the United States, in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The 2001–02 AHL season was the 66th season of the American Hockey League. It was the season of the biggest growth in the AHL's history, as it accepted eight new teams. The demise of the International Hockey League brought six teams transferring from the defunct league, in addition to two expansion teams.
The Phoenix Mustangs were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL). The Mustangs played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on the grounds of the Arizona State Fair, from the 1997–98 season through the 2000–01 season. The Mustangs came into existence after the demise of the International Hockey League's Phoenix Roadrunners who lost funding from a local Indian community and ceased operations after the 1996–97 season. Their arrival rekindled a decades long rivalry between Phoenix and San Diego based teams in several minor leagues.
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.
Mark Jay Lawrence is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played in the National Hockey League for the Dallas Stars and the New York Islanders from 1995 to 2000.
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 West Coast Express was an ice hockey line that played for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Vancouver Canucks from 2002 to 2006. Named after Vancouver's commuter rail service, the line consisted of captain Markus Näslund at left-wing, Brendan Morrison at centre, and Todd Bertuzzi playing right-wing. The West Coast Express was a high scoring line that was considered to be one of the best lines in hockey during its tenure.
The Macon Whoopee were a professional ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) during the 2001–02 season. Based in Macon, Georgia, the team played its home games at Macon Coliseum.
The United States Coast Guard Cutters were a senior amateur ice hockey team operated by the United States Coast Guard Yard on Curtis Bay, Baltimore. The team played in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League for parts of two seasons, using Carlin's Iceland for home games. The Cutters were a separate team from the established Coast Guard Bears of the United States Coast Guard Academy.