East Coast Hockey League / ECHL (1988-Today)

Background

The East Coast Hockey League formed in 1988 with five refugee clubs from the All-American Hockey League and the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, a pair of low-level minor league loops that went out of business after the 1987-88 season.  The original teams were based in Pennsylvania and the Southeastern United States.

In its early years the ECHL operated as a purely independent league.  ECHL teams had no affiliations with NHL clubs and the league was considered to be substantially below the level of play in the two affiliated leagues, the American Hockey League and the International  Hockey League.  The early ECHL brand was a throw back to the Slap Shot era of the 1970’s, with brawling and fighting a prominent selling point.  On the plus side, the independent status of the league meant that fan favorites tended to stay with clubs year after year, which helped several Southeastern clubs to develop passionate followings.

In its second decade, with the International League in decline (it would fold in 2001) the ECHL began to establish NHL affiliations.  The ECHL effectively became the NHL’s “double-A” league and began to expand into larger markets and more modern arenas across the United States.

In 2003, the ECHL accepted seven Western U.S. franchises from the defunct West Coast Hockey League which pushed league membership to an all-time peak of 31 clubs for the 2003-04 season.  With the ECHL now active in Alaska and California, the league’s original name no longer made sense.  As of May 2003, the league is officially known simply as the “ECHL”, but this no longer stands for “East Coast Hockey League”.  However, many fans still colloquially use the old name to this day.

East Coast Hockey League Franchise List

ECHL Shop

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