The 2006-07 ECHL Season will be the 19th season of the ECHL. Two teams will return to the ECHL after suspensions; the Texas Wildcatters had to suspend operations for the 2005-06 season as a byproduct of damage to their home arena caused by Hurricane Rita, and the Cincinnati Cyclones, who had ceased operations after the 2003-04 season, and as a result of the failure of the AHL to return to the area, owners decided to restart their franchise in the ECHL.
The ECHL Board of Governors announced in the June 2006 meetings that the league revoked the Greenville Grrrowl franchise, and the San Diego Gulls had returned its franchise. The league will have 25 teams for 2006-07.
League Realignment
At the 2006 pre-season meeting of the ECHL Board of Governors, the ECHL announced the alignment of the 25 teams of the ECHL.
American Conference
North Division
- Cincinnati Cyclones
- Dayton Bombers
- Johnstown Chiefs
- Reading Royals
- Toledo Storm
- Trenton Titans
- Wheeling Nailers
South Division
- Augusta Lynx
- Charlotte Checkers
- Columbia Inferno
- Florida Everblades
- Gwinnett Gladiators
- Pensacola Ice Pilots
- South Carolina Stingrays
- Texas Wildcatters
National Conference
West Division
Pacific Division
Regular Season
Standings
Final Standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L= Loses; T = Ties; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; PTS = Points; Green shade = Clinched Playoff Spot; Blue shade = Clinched Division; (z) = Clinched Home-Ice Advantage
- American Conference
| Northern Division | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dayton Bombers (CBJ) | 72 | 37 | 26 | 2 | 7 | 83 | 213 | 191 |
| Toledo Storm (Det/Chi) | 72 | 39 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 81 | 211 | 220 |
| Cincinnati Cyclones (Mtl) | 72 | 37 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 80 | 213 | 198 |
| Trenton Titans (NJ) | 72 | 36 | 31 | 1 | 4 | 77 | 250 | 242 |
| Johnstown Chiefs (TB) | 72 | 33 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 72 | 216 | 232 |
| Reading Royals (LA) | 72 | 32 | 33 | 2 | 5 | 71 | 221 | 235 |
| Wheeling Nailers (Pit) | 72 | 32 | 34 | 2 | 4 | 70 | 215 | 255 |
| Southern Division | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Everblades (Car/Fla) (z) | 72 | 44 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 94 | 272 | 212 |
| Texas Wildcatters (Independent) | 72 | 41 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 91 | 265 | 222 |
| Gwinnett Gladiators (Atl) | 72 | 41 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 89 | 289 | 256 |
| Charlotte Checkers (NYR) | 72 | 42 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 87 | 252 | 220 |
| Augusta Lynx (Ana) | 72 | 39 | 29 | 1 | 3 | 82 | 258 | 265 |
| South Carolina Stingrays (Was) | 72 | 36 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 81 | 250 | 251 |
| Columbia Inferno (Tor) | 72 | 29 | 34 | 4 | 5 | 67 | 217 | 256 |
| Pensacola Ice Pilots (NYI) | 72 | 20 | 46 | 2 | 4 | 46 | 233 | 318 |
- National Conference
| Pacific Division | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas Wranglers (Cal) (z) | 72 | 46 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 106 | 231 | 187 |
| Bakersfield Condors (Independent) | 72 | 41 | 19 | 3 | 9 | 94 | 270 | 236 |
| Stockton Thunder (Edm) | 72 | 38 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 86 | 225 | 197 |
| Fresno Falcons (SJ) | 72 | 34 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 77 | 195 | 197 |
| Long Beach Ice Dogs (Bos) | 72 | 27 | 42 | 0 | 3 | 57 | 209 | 267 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Aces (StL) | 72 | 49 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 105 | 270 | 176 |
| Idaho Steelheads (Dal) | 72 | 42 | 24 | 2 | 4 | 90 | 240 | 208 |
| Victoria Salmon Kings (Van) | 72 | 36 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 76 | 239 | 249 |
| Phoenix RoadRunners (Phx) | 72 | 27 | 40 | 2 | 3 | 59 | 201 | 255 |
| Utah Grizzlies (Independent) | 72 | 22 | 42 | 4 | 4 | 52 | 184 | 294 |
Scoring Leaders
After games on April 5th, 2007
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Schell | Gwinnett Gladiators | 63 | 25 | 85 | 110 | 60 |
| Scott Mifsud | Gwinnett Gladiators | 68 | 26 | 66 | 92 | 62 |
| Marty Flichel | Idaho Steelheads | 68 | 39 | 48 | 87 | 95 |
| Yannick Tifu | Dayton Bombers | 76 | 27 | 60 | 87 | 104 |
| Kevin Baker | Texas Wildcatters | 60 | 35 | 45 | 80 | 76 |
| Derek Nesbitt | Idaho Steelheads | 64 | 28 | 51 | 79 | 30 |
| Mark Lee | Charlotte Checkers | 58 | 26 | 53 | 79 | 64 |
| Kimbi Daniels | Alaska Aces | 68 | 18 | 61 | 79 | 124 |
| Mike Bayrack | Texas Wildcatters | 64 | 33 | 44 | 77 | 71 |
| Mike Wirll | Cincinnati Cyclones | 72 | 47 | 29 | 76 | 72 |
Leading Goaltenders
After games on April 5th, 2007
Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime Losses; SOL = Shootout Losses GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | OTL | SOL | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike McKenna | Las Vegas Wranglers | 36 | 2138 | 25 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 81 | 5 | .926 | 2.27 |
| Adam Berkhoel | Dayton Bombers | 42 | 2524 | 23 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 100 | 5 | .911 | 2.38 |
| Derek Gustafson | Alaska Aces | 42 | 2503 | 28 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 100 | 5 | .917 | 2.40 |
| Cedrick Desjardins | Cincinnati Cyclones | 43 | 2588 | 24 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 109 | 4 | .918 | 2.53 |
| Ryan MacDonald | Fresno Falcons | 37 | 2032 | 16 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 86 | 1 | .923 | 2.54 |
Playoff Format
The ECHL realigned the playoff format for the two conferences.
National Confernece
The ECHL will use a straight-up, eight team knockout format for the National Conference.
The top eight teams will advance to the playoffs, with the two division champions being the first and second seeds. The other six teams will be seeded by points.
In the second round, the best team remaining from each division is seeded first and second, and the other two teams are seeded by points.
The better team gains home-ice advantage for the conference finals.
All games are best of seven games.
American Conference
Because of the unbalance of the ECHL (15 teams in the American Conference compared to 10 teams in the National), the ECHL will have ten teams in the playoffs from the American Conference.
To save on travel expenses, both divisions will have individual playoffs before meeting in the conference finals. The top three teams in each division receive a bye and advance to the first round. A best-of-three "play-in" round will be held between the fourth and fifth place teams. The winner gains the fourth seed headed to the first round, a best-of-five series. The winners of the two series in the first round play in the division finals, a best-of-seven series.
The winners of the two division finals play in a best-of-seven conference final.
Kelly Cup Finals
The Kelly Cup Finals will be a best-of-seven series between the two conference champions.
Kelly Cup Playoffs
Playoff Bracket
National
| Conference Quarterfinals April 9-21 | Conference Semifinals April 23-May 5 | Conference Finals May 7-19 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Las Vegas | |||||||||||||
| 8 | Phoenix | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Idaho | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Stockton | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Bakersfield | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Fresno | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Alaska | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Victoria | |||||||||||||
American
| Divisional Quarterfinals April 8-12 | Divisional Semifinals April 13-22 | Divisional Finals April 23-May 5 | Conference Finals May 7-19 | ||||||||||||||||
| No.1 | Dayton | ||||||||||||||||||
| No.4 | Trenton | No. | |||||||||||||||||
| No.5 | Johnstown | ||||||||||||||||||
| No.2 | Toledo | ||||||||||||||||||
| No.3 | Cincinnati | ||||||||||||||||||
| So.2 | Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| So.4 | Charlotte | So.3 | Gwinnett | ||||||||||||||||
| So.5 | Augusta | ||||||||||||||||||
| So.1 | Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| So. | |||||||||||||||||||
- So. is short for South Division
- No. is short for North Division
Last Four
| Conference Finals May 7-19 | League Finals May 23-June 6 | ||||||||
| No. | |||||||||
| So. | |||||||||
| No./So. | |||||||||
| Na. | |||||||||
| Na. | |||||||||
| Na. | |||||||||
- No. is short for North Division (American Conference).
- So. is short for South Division (American Conference).
- Na. is short for National Conference.
Kelly Cup Finals
ECHL Awards
| Patrick Kelly Cup: | |
| Henry Brabham Cup: | |
| Gingher Memorial Trophy: | |
| Bruce Taylor Trophy: | |
| John Brophy Award: | |
| CCM TACKS Most Valuable Player: | |
| Kelly Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player: | |
| Reebok Hockey Goaltender of the Year: | |
| CCM Tacks Rookie of the Year: | |
| Defenseman of the Year: | |
| Leading Scorer: | |
| Reebok Hockey Plus Performer Award: | |
| Sportsmanship Award: |
See also
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