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Official website
www.echl.com
The ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) 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 ECHL and the AHL are the only minor leagues recognized by the collective bargaining agreement between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' Association, meaning any player signed to an entry-level NHL contract and designated for assignment must report to a club in either the ECHL or the AHL.[1] Additionally, the league's players are represented by the Professional Hockey Players' Association in negotiations with the ECHL itself. At least 739 players have played at least one game in the NHL after appearing in the ECHL.[2]
For the beginning of the 2023–24 season, 28 of the 32 NHL teams held affiliations with an ECHL team[3] with only the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, and Arizona Coyotes having no such franchise affiliations. Subsequently, the Toronto Maple Leafs would lose their ECHL affiliate, the Newfoundland Growlers, on April 2, 2024, raising the total number of teams without official ECHL affiliations to five.[4] Several days later, the Coyotes became a deactivated franchise and the Utah NHL team was announced, which also lacks an ECHL affiliate. NHL teams sometimes lend contracted players to ECHL teams with whom they have no affiliation agreements for development and increased playing time.
The league's regular season typically begins in October and ends in April, followed by the Kelly Cup playoffs. The most recent playoff champions are the Florida Everblades in 2023.
^"Collective Bargaining Agreement between National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players' Association" (PDF). NHL and NHLPA. July 22, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
^"The ECHL - Premier 'AA' Hockey League | ECHL Alumni". Archived from the original on November 2, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
^"NHL/AHL Affiliations". ECHL. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
^"ECHL Terminates Newfoundland Membership". ECHL. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
The ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) is a professional ice hockey minor league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and...
2024 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL hockey league began on April 17, 2024, following the conclusion of the 2023–24 ECHL regular season. Due to the Newfoundland...
The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. The current...
plans to make its debut in the ECHL in 2024-25. NHL and AHL affiliations are yet to be announced. On January 16, 2024, the ECHL awarded an expansion team to...
Amway Center) in Orlando, Florida. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and are affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the...
team based in the Lake Tahoe area. The team plans to make its debut in the ECHL in the 2024–25 season. Affiliation with teams from the National Hockey League...
Newfoundland Growlers were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The team began play in the...
located in Greenville, South Carolina. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and play their home games at the Bon Secours Wellness...
professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Savannah, Georgia. The team began play in the 2022–23 ECHL season with home games at Enmarket Arena...
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...
The Adirondack Thunder are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2015–16 season. The team is based in Glens Falls, New York...
2010. Press release (January 25, 2010). "Stingrays tie ECHL record for most players with point". ECHL. Retrieved November 10, 2011. Press release (August...
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...
mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings...
professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Coralville, Iowa. The team began play in the 2021–22 ECHL season, playing their home games at Xtream...
professional career during the 2005–06 season with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. He appeared in 14 games for the Nailers, while also playing 55 games with...
Kingdom Penalty (ice hockey) Violence in ice hockey "All-ECHL First and Second Teams announced". ECHL. April 4, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2023. Wheeler...
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...
The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner...
team began play in the 2017–18 ECHL season, and is a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the ECHL. The team plays their home games...
list of ECHL arenas including past and present arenas: Alaska played in the West Coast Hockey League from 1995 to 2003. They joined the ECHL for the 2003–04...
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...
The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of...
Global Information
2023–24 ECHL season