Don’t look now, but the Iowa Heartlanders suddenly are a factor in the ECHL.
Nov 20
Michal Stinil leads the ECHL in scoring three weeks into the season – he leads all skaters in goals (eight) and points (14) through eight games – and it’s kind of cool to see.
Nov 6
The ECHL has two expansion teams this season – the Bloomington Bison and Tahoe Knight Monsters – with another on the way in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Oct 25
The 2024-2025 ECHL season is off and running, and the opening weekend didn’t disappoint.
Oct 22
Matty Gaudreau wore two uniforms over his ECHL career that saw him play parts of four different seasons. He debuted in the league with the Worcester Railers and played his last ECHL game with the Reading Royals. On Saturday night, it just so happened that Reading was in Worcester for the latter’s home opener.
Oct 20
For the vast majority of players in the NHL, they're going to need a stop playing within the farm system of the club that either drafted or signed them. Some will get their start in the ECHL, the premier "AA" hockey circuit, while many will spends some time in the American Hockey League, the last step for most players before they realize their NHL dreams.
Sep 12
Johnny Gaudreau was not a big man, but he was larger than life. He was an artist with the puck on his stick who could make the seemingly impossible a reality. If only we could escape the reality his life and that of his younger brother Matthew were tragically cut short in a traffic accident Thursday in New Jersey.
Aug 30
It’s only natural that we give a lot of love to the players who score highlight-reel goals and make snazzy 100-foot passes. We also love the goaltenders who make acrobatic saves. Fighters, we never stop talking about them, do we?
Mar 28
I’m based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and whenever I watch the ECHL’s Komets play these days, I find myself pondering this question: What the heck is Jack Dugan doing at this level?
Nov 30, 2023
Unless it’s, oh, Dec. 15, it’s too early to panic about any ECHL team. That’s what I always tell people, anyway.
Nov 21, 2023
ECHL teams are only allowed to dress four veterans in games, a rule that used to seem incredibly important. But as the ECHL has evolved into a younger, faster developmental circuit for the NHL, the veteran limit has become increasingly inconsequential.
Nov 7, 2023
The ECHL, at its core, is a development league. According to the league, 72 players who donned an ECHL jersey in their career made NHL opening-night rosters this season. As the premier "AA" hockey league in North America, the ECHL can represent one of the first steps a player takes on his professional hockey journey.
Oct 25, 2023
The North Division proved last season that a coach need not have a ton of head-coaching experience to be successful.
Oct 17, 2023
Just before ECHL training camps opened this week, the Newfoundland Growlers named the long-awaited new head coach for the team. Matt Cooke, who appeared in more than 1,000 NHL games as a player and won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, will be the team's fourth head coach in franchise history, earning his first pro coaching job in the process.
Oct 9, 2023
In just its sixth season of existence, just as owner Bill Foley had predicted as the team was announced, the Vegas Golden Knights are Stanley Cup Champions. The Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers in five games to claim their first NHL title.
Jun 14, 2023