 | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | ECHL team with the most points in the regular season |
| History | |
| First award | 1988–89 ECHL season |
| First winner | Erie Panthers |
| Most wins | Alaska Aces Toledo Walleye (5 each) |
| Most recent | Kansas City Mavericks |
The Henry Brabham Cup is the trophy awarded annually by the ECHL to the team that finishes with the most points in the league during the regular season. The Brabham Cup has been awarded 34 times to 16 different franchises since its debut in 1989. [1]
Unlike the playoff championship, which was originally awarded with the Riley Cup and now the Kelly Cup, the trophy was introduced during the league's inaugural season in 1988 by the league's board of governors and was named after in recognition of Henry Brabham, who co-founded the ECHL in 1988–89 with five teams in four states. Brabham, who was the first inductee into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2008, owned three of the original five teams. The Virginia businessman was crucial to the league surviving its earliest seasons.
Only five Brabham Cup winners have gone on to win the ECHL Kelly Cup playoff championship, with the Alaska Aces doing so three times, despite the guaranteed home-ice advantage in all rounds of the playoffs.
Eight franchises — the Alaska Aces, Cincinnati Cyclones, Florida Everblades, Idaho Steelheads, Knoxville Cherokees franchise (including the Pee Dee Pride), Louisiana IceGators, Toledo Storm franchise (including Toledo Walleye), and the Thunderbirds/Nailers franchise (the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds and the Wheeling Thunderbirds/Nailers) have won the Brabham Cup on multiple occasions, with the Aces and Storm/Walleye winning five times, the Everblades winning four, the former Cherokees/Pride and Thunderbirds/Nailers franchises having won three each, while the others have two.
Defunct franchises are listed in italics.
| Year | Winner | Points | Playoff result | Cup # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988–89 | Erie Panthers | 77 | Lost Semifinals (CAR) [2] | 1 |
| 1989–90 | Winston-Salem Thunderbirds | 82 | Lost Riley Cup Finals (GRE) [3] | 1 |
| 1990–91 | Knoxville Cherokees | 97 | Lost Division Semifinals (LOU) [4] | 1 |
| 1991–92 | Toledo Storm | 95 | Lost Division 1st Round (LOU) [5] | 1 |
| 1992–93 | Wheeling Thunderbirds | 88 | Lost Riley Cup Finals (TOL) [6] | 2 |
| 1993–94 | Knoxville Cherokees | 94 | Lost 1st Round (LOU) [7] | 2 |
| 1994–95 | Wheeling Thunderbirds | 97 | Lost 1st Round (BIR) | 3 |
| 1995–96 | Richmond Renegades | 105 | Lost Riley Cup Quarterfinals (JAX) | 1 |
| 1996–97 | South Carolina Stingrays | 100 | Won Kelly Cup [8] | 1 |
| 1997–98 | Louisiana IceGators | 96 | Lost Kelly Cup Semifinals (PEN) [9] | 1 |
| 1998–99 | Pee Dee Pride | 106 | Lost Conference Finals (MIS) [10] | 3 |
| 1999–00 | Florida Everblades | 108 | Lost Conference Quarterfinals (AUG) [11] | 1 |
| 2000–01 | Trenton Titans | 104 | Lost Kelly Cup Finals (SC) [12] | 1 |
| 2001–02 | Louisiana IceGators | 116 | Lost Division Semifinals (JAC) [13] | 2 |
| 2002–03 | Toledo Storm | 104 | Lost Division Finals (CIN) [14] | 2 |
| 2003–04 | San Diego Gulls | 108 | Lost Division Semifinals (AK) | 1 |
| 2004–05 | Pensacola Ice Pilots | 107 | Lost Conference Quarterfinals (GVL) [15] | 1 |
| 2005–06 | Alaska Aces | 113 | Won Kelly Cup [16] | 1 |
| 2006–07 | Las Vegas Wranglers | 106 | Lost Conference Semifinals (IDH) [17] | 1 |
| 2007–08 | Cincinnati Cyclones | 115 | Won Kelly Cup [18] | 1 |
| 2008–09 | Florida Everblades | .730 1 | Lost Division Finals (SC) [19] | 2 |
| 2009–10 | Idaho Steelheads [20] | 103 | Lost Kelly Cup Finals (CIN) [21] | 1 |
| 2010–11 | Alaska Aces [22] [23] | 97 | Won Kelly Cup [24] | 2 |
| 2011–12 | Alaska Aces | 97 | Lost Conference Finals (LV) | 3 |
| 2012–13 | Alaska Aces | 106 | Lost Conference Semifinals (STK) | 4 |
| 2013–14 | Alaska Aces | 97 | Won Kelly Cup | 5 |
| 2014–15 | Toledo Walleye | 107 | Lost Conference Finals (SC) | 3 |
| 2015–16 | Missouri Mavericks | 109 | Lost Conference Semifinals (ALN) | 1 |
| 2016–17 | Toledo Walleye | 106 | Lost Conference Finals (COL) | 4 |
| 2017–18 | Florida Everblades | 112 | Lost Kelly Cup Finals (COL) | 3 |
| 2018–19 | Cincinnati Cyclones | 110 | Lost Division Finals (TOL) | 2 |
| 2019–20 | Not awarded 2 | |||
| 2020–21 | Florida Everblades | .667 3 | Lost Conference Semifinals (SC) | 4 |
| 2021–22 | Toledo Walleye | .708 3 | Lost Kelly Cup Finals (FLA) | 5 |
| 2022–23 | Idaho Steelheads | 119 | Lost Kelly Cup Finals (FLA) | 2 |
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 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.
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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 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 2004–05 ECHL season was the 17th season of the ECHL. The Brabham Cup regular season champions were the Pensacola Ice Pilots and the Kelly Cup playoff champions were the Trenton Titans.
The 2008–09 ECHL season was the 21st 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 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.
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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 2015–16 ECHL season was the 28th season of the ECHL. The regular season schedule ran from October 16, 2015 to April 9, 2016 with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-eight teams in 21 states and one Canadian province each played a 72-game schedule. The league alignment was significantly altered before the season when the American Hockey League announced the formation of a Pacific Division on January 30, 2015 displacing the ECHL teams that had been in California markets.
The 2016–17 ECHL season was the 29th season of the ECHL. The regular season schedule ran from October 14, 2016 to April 9, 2017, with the Kelly Cup playoffs following. Twenty-seven teams in 21 states and one Canadian province each played a 72-game schedule.
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.
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