ECHL - History

History

The league, which combined teams from the defunct Atlantic Coast Hockey League and All-American Hockey League, began play as the East Coast Hockey League in 1988 with 5 teams—the (Winston-Salem, North) Carolina Thunderbirds (now the Wheeling Nailers); the Erie Panthers (folded after 2011 as the Victoria Salmon Kings); the Johnstown Chiefs (now the Greenville Road Warriors); the Knoxville Cherokees (ceased operations as the Pee Dee Pride after 2005; folded after 2009 following failed relocation efforts); and the Virginia Lancers (now the Utah Grizzlies).

Reading Trenton Wheeling Florida Greenville Gwinnett Orlando South Carolina Cincinnati Evansville Fort Wayne Kalamazoo Toledo Alaska Colorado Idaho Utah Bakersfield Las Vegas Ontario San Francisco Stockton Teams currently in the ECHL. Dot colors correspond to division colors in the league chart. Not pictured are the Alaska Aces of the Mountain Division.

In September 2002, the West Coast Hockey League ceased operations, and the ECHL Board of Governors approved membership applications from the Anchorage (now Alaska) Aces, the Bakersfield Condors, the Fresno Falcons, the Idaho Steelheads, the Las Vegas Wranglers, the Long Beach Ice Dogs and the San Diego Gulls as well as from teams in Ontario, California and Reno, Nevada. Alaska, Bakersfield, Fresno, Idaho, Las Vegas, Long Beach and San Diego began play in the 2003–04 season as expansion teams. In a change reflective of the league's now-nationwide presence, the East Coast Hockey League shortened its name to the orphan initialism ECHL on May 19, 2003. The ECHL reached its largest size to date (31 teams) that season before being reduced to 28 teams for the 2004–05 season.

The league, because of geographical anomalies, has used unbalanced conferences and divisions, making for some extremely varied playoff formats and limited interconference play. Due to travel costs, the league has attempted to placate owners in keeping those costs down, which has led to the sometimes-odd playoff structures.

The ECHL has attempted to be more tech-friendly to its fans. Some improvements on the league's website have included a new schedule and statistics engine powered by League Stat, Inc. (introduced in 2006), internet radio coverage for most teams, and pay-per view broadcasting of ECHL games through B2 Networks (a subsidiary of America One Broadcasting). In 2008, the league introduced the ECHL toolbar for internet browsers which gave users short cut access to statistics, scores, transactions, and news updates.

At the annual ECHL Board of Governors Meeting on June 15, 2010 in Henderson, Nevada, the Board of Governors approved changes to the names of the conferences and divisions. The former American Conference (comprising eleven East Coast and Midwest teams) was renamed the Eastern Conference, while the National Conference (consisting of 8 West Coast teams, including the league's only Canadian team at the time), was re-designated the Western Conference. Within the Eastern Conference, the East Division was renamed the Atlantic Division, and the Western Conference's former West Division was dubbed the Mountain Division.

The league lost its only Canadian team with the folding of the Victoria Salmon Kings subsequent to the 2010–11 season. The league increased to 20 teams for the 2011–12 season with the addition of the expansion franchise Chicago Express and the Colorado Eagles who previously played in the Central Hockey League.

Following suspension of the Trenton Devils by the parent club New Jersey Devils in early July 2011, the league announced the return of the Trenton Titans (last seen in 2007) with a press conference that was made on July 28.

With the folding of the Chicago Express at the close of the 2011–12 season and the announcement of expansion franchises in Orlando, San Francisco, Evansville and Fort Wayne (both in Indiana and both from the Central Hockey League) the league will begin the 2012–13 season with 23 teams.