The ECHL is a professional ice hockey minor league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which operated the league from 2000 to 2013, at which point it was purchased by the individual franchise owners. As of the end of its final season in 2014, three of the 30 National Hockey League teams had affiliations with the CHL: the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Mississippi Sea Wolves were a professional hockey team based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and play in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Sea Wolves were members of the ECHL.
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 United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the United States and Canada. The league was headquartered in Rochester, Michigan, and, in its last year, consisted of seven teams. It folded in 2010, with most of its teams joining the Central Hockey League. The Central Hockey League teams still operating in 2014 were then added to ECHL. The only former CoHL/UHL/IHL teams still active as of 2022 are the Fort Wayne Komets and Kalamazoo Wings.
The Toronto Roadrunners were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Ricoh Coliseum. In their only season the Roadrunners featured players such as Jani Rita, Brad Winchester, Jamie Wright and Steve Valiquette who helped them advance to the AHL playoffs where they lost the first round to the Cleveland Barons.
The Pee Dee Pride, known as the Florence Pride for the 2003–04 ECHL season, was a professional minor-league hockey team that was based in Florence, South Carolina, where they played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) from 1997 until 2005. The team came to Florence as a relocation of the Knoxville Cherokees, one of the five charter members of the ECHL which was originally housed in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Charlotte Checkers were an American ice hockey team in Charlotte, North Carolina, and played in the ECHL.
The Trenton Titans were a professional minor league ice hockey team that played in the ECHL. The team last played in the Atlantic Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Titans played their home games at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Established in 1999, the team was owned by Delaware Valley Sports Group LLC, a local ownership group. They were most recently the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers and the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms.
Mississippi Coast Coliseum is an 11,500-seat reserved seating, 15,000 festival seating, multi-purpose arena in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was built in 1977. It hosted the WCW Beach Blast in 1993 and the Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament in 1992 and 1993. The Metro Conference men's basketball tournaments were contested there in 1990 and 1994. In addition, the rematch between legendary boxing former world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes and his fellow former world heavyweight champion Mike Weaver was held at the Coast Coliseum on November 17, 2000; Holmes winning by sixth-round technical knockout.
The Greensboro Generals were an East Coast Hockey League team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and played at the Greensboro Coliseum from 1999 to 2004. The name was originally used by the Greensboro Generals in the Eastern Hockey League.
The Chesapeake Icebreakers were a minor league ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) from 1997 to 1999. The Icebreakers were an expansion team that was granted to Upper Marlboro, Maryland for the start of the 1997–98 ECHL season. They were coached by noted NHL enforcer Chris Nilan for both of their seasons.
The Richmond Renegades were an ECHL ice hockey team in Richmond, Virginia that played in the East Coast Hockey League from 1990 until 2003. The Renegades played at the Richmond Coliseum, which they marketed in later years as the Freezer.
The Baltimore Bandits were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League in the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons. They played in Baltimore, Maryland, at the Baltimore Arena. The Bandits were an affiliate of the National Hockey League's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. After two years of minimal on-ice success, the franchise was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, as the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.
The Baton Rouge Kingfish were a minor professional ice hockey team in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a member of the East Coast Hockey League. The franchise arrived in Baton Rouge in 1996 after relocating from Erie, Pennsylvania, where they had played as the Erie Panthers since 1988 as one of the ECHL's charter teams. After a team-naming contest, they were renamed the Kingfish in honor of legendary Louisiana governor and U.S. Senator Huey P. Long who shared the nickname. They played as the Baton Rouge Kingfish from 1996 to 2003 before moving to Victoria, British Columbia, as the Victoria Salmon Kings.
Denny Walter Felsner is an American former professional ice hockey winger.
The Columbus Chill were a professional ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League from October 1991 through the 1998–99 season. They played at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio. The Chill left Columbus in 1999 and relocated to Reading, Pennsylvania, with the impending arrival of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League. The Columbus Chill are now known as the Reading Royals.
The 1999–2000 ECHL season was the 12th season of the ECHL. Before the start of the season, the Miami Matadors and Columbus Chill suspended operations, the Chesapeake Icebreakers, who originally suspended operations, moved to Jackson, Mississippi. The league also welcomed expansion franchises in North Little Rock, Arkansas and Trenton, New Jersey, as well as welcoming back a franchise in the former market of Greensboro, North Carolina. The New Orleans Brass moved into the New New Orleans Arena. The league also created a new individual award, the Plus Performer Award, to be awarded to the player who leads the league in plus-minus rating at the end of the regular season. The Florida Everblades finished first overall in the regular season, winning the Brabham Cup and the Peoria Rivermen won their first Kelly Cup, defeating the Louisiana IceGators four games to two.
The 2009–10 ECHL season was the 22nd season of the ECHL. It ran from October, 2009 until April, 2010, followed by the Kelly Cup playoffs which lasted until May 21, 2010 as the Cincinnati Cyclones won their second Kelly Cup championship in three years by defeating the Idaho Steelheads in five games. The league welcomed two franchises to the league for the 2009–10 season with the return of the Toledo Storm as the Toledo Walleye, who will play in the Lucas County Arena in Toledo, Ohio, after a two-year suspension of the franchise to allow for the construction of their new arena, and the admission of the Kalamazoo Wings as an expansion franchise who will play in Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The ECHL held its annual All-Star Game and Skills Challenge on January 19–20 at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, home of the Ontario Reign.
Mississippi has an inglorious history with ice hockey in the United States. Though a few teams have attempted to call the state home since the 1990s, few have met with any success.
