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The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston Coliseum. The Carolina Ice Palace, also located in North Charleston, serves as a practice facility and backup arena. Established in 1993, the team has been owned by a group of local businesses since 1995. The team was affiliated with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League from 2004 to July 2012, when the Capitals announced their affiliation with the ECHL's Reading Royals. On June 26, 2014, the Washington Capitals announced an affiliation agreement with the Stingrays for the 2014–15 season.
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.
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 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 Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Originally established in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at Heritage Bank Center. The Cyclones are a minor league affiliate of the New York Rangers and the Hartford Wolf Pack.
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 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 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 2005 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL began on April 12, 2005. 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. In the American Conference, the top eight teams qualified for the playoffs. In the National Conference, the top four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs.
The 2010–11 ECHL season was the 23rd season of the ECHL. The regular season schedule ran from October 15, 2010, to April 2, 2011. The Kelly Cup playoffs followed the regular season, with the first playoff game held on April 4, 2011, and the final game held on May 21, 2011. The league welcomed one new franchise, a relocation of the Johnstown Chiefs to Greenville, South Carolina, who played in the BI-LO Center. The ECHL held its annual All-Star Game and Skills Challenge on January 26 at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, California, home of the Bakersfield Condors.
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 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 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL started following the April 13th conclusion of the 2013–14 ECHL regular season.
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 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 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL began on June 7 following the conclusion of the 2020–21 ECHL regular season, and ended on July 2 with the Fort Wayne Komets winning their first Kelly Cup over the South Carolina Stingrays in four 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 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.
References
- 1 2 3 Press Release (June 29, 2009). "Annual ECHL Board of Governors Meeting Concludes". ECHL. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
- ↑ Woody, Doyle (March 11, 2010). "Schedule conflict puts Aces in Wasilla". Anchorage Daily News. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2010.