The Florida Everblades are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. They play in the ECHL and are affiliated with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL) starting in the 2022–23 ECHL season. Their home games are played at Hertz Arena.
The 2006–07 ECHL season was the 19th season of the ECHL. The league had 25 teams for 2006–07. The Brabham Cup regular season champions were the Las Vegas Wranglers and the Kelly Cup playoff champions were the Idaho Steelheads.
The 2007–08 ECHL season was the 20th season of the ECHL.
The Toledo Walleye are a professional ice hockey team based in Toledo, Ohio. The Walleye are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL. The Walleye were founded in 1991 as the Toledo Storm and play their home games at the Huntington Center, which opened in 2009. Since the beginning of the 2009–10 season, the team has been affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League with an agreement in place through the 2023–24 season.
The 2001–02 ECHL season was the 14th season of the East Coast Hockey League. Before the start of the season, the league saw one expansion franchise and five relocations, three of which were through the buying of the franchise rights of former clubs that had ceased operations. These relocations include the rights to the Columbus Chill moving to Reading, PA, the rights to the Hampton Roads Admirals moving to Columbus, GA, and the rights to the Miami Matadors relocating to the former ECHL market of Cincinnati, OH. The league also saw current franchises Birmingham Bulls move to Atlantic City, NJ and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks move to Macon, GA. The league also welcomed its fourth franchise from the state of South Carolina with an expansion franchise in the state's capital of Columbia, SC. The Louisiana IceGators finished first overall in the regular season, winning the Brabham Cup with the best record in league history. The Greenville Grrrowl won their first Kelly Cup sweeping the Dayton Bombers in four games.
The 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL began on April 9, 2009. The 16 teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played a best-of-7 series for division semifinals, finals and conference finals. The conference champions played a best-of-7 series for the Kelly Cup.
The 2010 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL began April 5, 2010. 15 teams qualified, eight from the American Conference and seven from the National Conference. In the American conference, the winners of each of the three divisions plus the five teams with the highest point totals from the teams remaining qualified. Due to the National Conference's membership being limited to only eight teams, the two division winners and the five teams with the highest point totals from the teams remaining qualified, with the division winner with the highest point total receiving a bye to the conference semifinals.
The 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL started on April 4, 2011 following the end of the 2010–11 ECHL regular season. The playoff format remains unchanged from that of the 2010 postseason, with the exception of the changed conference names. 15 teams will qualify for the playoffs, being the top seven teams from the Western Conference and the top eight teams from the Eastern Conference.
The 2011–12 ECHL season was the 24th season of the ECHL. The regular season schedule ran from October 4, 2011 to March 31, 2012 and was followed by the 2012 Kelly Cup playoffs beginning on April 2, 2012.
The 2012–13 ECHL season was the 25th season of the ECHL. The regular season schedule ran from October 12, 2012 to March 30, 2013, with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. The All-Star Game, not held in 2011-12, was brought back and held on January 23, 2013 at Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado, home of the Colorado Eagles.
The 2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL started on April 2, 2012 following the end of the 2011–12 ECHL regular season. The playoff format remains unchanged from that of the 2011 postseason. 15 teams qualified for the playoffs, being the top seven teams from the Western Conference and the top eight teams from the Eastern Conference.
The 2013 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL started on April 5, 2013, following the end of the 2012–13 ECHL regular season. The playoff format changed from that of the 2012 postseason; 16 teams qualified for the playoffs, the top eight teams from both the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference. First-round series were scheduled as best-of-seven, where in prior years they were best-of-five.
The 2014–15 ECHL season was the 27th season of the ECHL. The regular season schedule ran from October 17, 2014, to April 11, 2015, with the Kelly Cup playoffs following. Twenty-eight teams in 20 states and one Canadian province each played a 72-game schedule. Ten days prior to the start of the season, the league was significantly expanded on October 7, 2014, after the ECHL had accepted the Central Hockey League's remaining seven teams as members for the 2014–15 season.
The 2018 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL began in April 2018 following the conclusion of the 2017–18 ECHL regular season. The Kelly Cup was won by the Colorado Eagles, in their last season in the ECHL before joining the American Hockey League, in seven games over the regular season champions, the Florida Everblades.
The 2019 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL began in April 2019 following the conclusion of the 2018–19 ECHL regular season. The Kelly Cup was won by the expansion Newfoundland Growlers in six games over the Toledo Walleye.
The 2019–20 ECHL season was the 32nd season of the ECHL. The regular season began in October 2019 to and was set to conclude in April 2020 with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-six teams in 19 states and two Canadian provinces were each scheduled for 72 games.
The 2021–22 ECHL season was the 34th season of the ECHL. The regular season was scheduled to run from October 21, 2021, to April 17, 2022, with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-seven teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces were each scheduled to play 72 games. The Florida Everblades were the 2022 Kelly Cup champions when they defeated the Toledo Walleye in five games in the Kelly Cup championship.
The 2022 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL hockey league began on April 20, 2022, following the conclusion of the 2021–22 ECHL regular season and ended on June 11 with the Florida Everblades winning their second Kelly Cup over the Toledo Walleye in five games.
The 2022–23 ECHL season was the 35th season of the ECHL. The regular season began on October 21, 2022, and ended on April 16, 2023, with the 2023 Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. 28 teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces played 72 games.
The 2023 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL hockey league began on April 19, 2023, following the conclusion of the 2022–23 ECHL regular season and ended on June 9 with the Florida Everblades winning their second consecutive Kelly Cup and third overall over the Idaho Steelheads in four games.
