The Jackals severed ties with the Blue Jackets and Crunch at the conclusion of the 2007–08 season and became the affiliates of the NHL's Ottawa Senators and AHL's Binghamton Senators. During the 2008–09 regular season, the Jackals went 39–26–2–5 for 85 points to finish third in the North Division. The Jackals were able to clinch a playoff berth but fell in the second round to the Cincinnati Cyclones, 4-games-to-0. The team further improved under Martinson during the 2009–10 regular season when the Jackals finished first in the East Division and made the ECHL playoffs for the third straight season. However, the Jackals fell in the first round to the Florida Everblades in five games.
Ownership issues (2012–2017)
Pat Bingham was then hired as head coach for the 2011–12 season. On February 21, 2012, the Jackals season was threatened after the arena owner failed to pay $136,234 in taxes for three years and being hit with a foreclosure order by Chemung County. The Jackals continued to play not knowing if or when they would be locked out by the county. Jackals and First Arena's general manager, Robbie Nichols, and assistant general manager, Don Lewis, were fired in January 2012 and replaced by Matt Hufnagel. The operator of First Arena filed two lawsuits, one against Nichols and Lewis and the other against Chemung County, the county executive, county treasurer and Southern Tier Economic Development. This statement by the owner's lawyers was released: "The truth will come out. Fact of the matter is the money was here to pay the taxes. And the fact is Robbie Nichols told the Afrs it was paid." Afr, the Jackals and First Arena owner, requested that the legislature hold off their vote until June 30, 2012, to continue the foreclosure proceedings. On the ice, the Jackals had their best ECHL season and Bingham led the Jackals to a 45–22–5 record and captured the Eastern Conference regular season title. The Jackals advanced to the 2012 Kelly Cup playoffs for their fifth straight season, falling in the second round to the Florida Everblades in five games.
On May 30, 2012, the county entered into a memorandum of understanding with Elmira Downtown Arena and Southern Tier Economic Development to allow Elmira Downtown Arena to continue operating the First Arena for the 2012–13 season. The legislature ratified the agreement on July 9, 2012. On July 24, 2012, the county announced that First Arena would be sold to local businessman Tom Freeman, at the completion of the 2012–13 season. On September 8, 2012, Jackals head coach Bingham resigned one month before the season started. [5] The Jackals were able to find a quick replacement by announcing Dwight Mullens as the team's new coach.
On April 10, 2013, the Jackals held a press conference to name Tom Freeman and Nathan Cook the new owners of the First Arena and the Jackals. [6] Now under the new ownership, the Jackals completed the 2013–14 season with a 24–40–3–5 record and third place in the Atlantic Division [7] but missed the playoffs for the first time since joining the ECHL in 2007.
The Devils decided to not renew their affiliation with the Jackals for the 2014–15 season and the Jackals would also not renew their affiliation agreement with the NHL's Ottawa Senators. Instead, they signed a multi-year agreement to be the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and the AHL's Rochester Americans. [8] The Jackals also hired Jamie Russell as head coach. At the start of the season, the Jackals announced that they were now "community owned." Any profit above operating cost would be turned over to a local board of directors who would decide how the money should be invested in the community. [9] However, despite an increase in average attendance from 2,200 in 2013–14 to 2,557 in 2014–15, the team still lost money. The owner indicated that an attendance of 3,200 would have been the break-even point for a profit. [10] In 2015–16, the Jackals set a team record of 21 road wins, missed the playoffs for the third straight year, and the average attendance was still only 2,500 per game. [11]
On April 28, 2016, the Chemung County Executive announced that the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) would assume temporary ownership of First Arena and the Jackals until a new owner can be found. The move was made due to the ongoing team losses and the ability to pay rent to the arena combined with the county's interest in maintaining the viability of the arena and the team. [12] The IDA announced they would use $1 million to pay off team debts so any new owner could have a nearly-clean financial slate. [13]
After the 2015–16 season, head coach Jamie Russell left the organization after two seasons and no playoff appearances. [14] On July 25, 2016, the Jackals announced David Leger as the new head coach for the 2016–17 season. Under Leger, the team struggled and was in last place in the league, leading management to release him on January 13, 2017. [15] He was replaced by assistant coach Mike Duco on an interim basis.
On March 10, 2017, the IDA announced that it had an agreement to sell First Arena to local businessman Brian Barrett. As part of the agreement, it was announced that the Elmira Jackals would cease operations at the end of the season. [16] The Jackals played their final game on April 8, a 5–0 loss at home to the Adirondack Thunder.
By June 2017, Barrett backed out of the negotiations with the county and First Arena remained operated by the IDA. One year later, the Federal Hockey League expanded to Elmira with the Elmira Enforcers in 2018, owned by Elmira Pioneers co-owner Robbie Nichols.
