ECHL Logo Map
Friday · Jul 23 · 2010 | 8:19 AM PDT
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As expected, here's the ECHL logo map. We thought the Heat had it rough in the AHL, but they've got nothing on the Alaska Aces. It's great seeing a pro hockey team in Alaska, but the money they must spend on travel!
As for the rest of the league, there's a clear divide between east and west. A 1,600-mile divide, actually. The Great Plains are completely devoid of ECHL action. But the map will fill in a little bit next season when a new franchise begins play outside of Chicago.
And because there are only 19 teams, there aren't too many clumps — the closest teams are in Reading and Trenton. It's also surprising to see Canada is only represented by a single team. Shame. But the ECHL is home to my closest team, geographically, the Florida Everblades.
Reader Comments (18)
I always laugh when somebody still calls it the East Coast Hockey League. Not anymore, folks!
Wow. I actually thought the Ontario Reign were from the Canadian province of Ontario....
But then, I never really payrd much attention to the ECHL.
Wouldn't it be nice of the ECHL found a way to expand to 30 teams in the near future to mirror both the NHL & AHL? They are the only official AA affiliate of the NHL and the only league at that level represented by the NHLPA. Maybe they should pick up the stronger teams/markets in the CHL and make a real go of it? And add Des Moines since we'll probably never get an owner that can actually afford an AHL team...
But hey, the ECHL does have a leg up o nthe AHL since the west coast teams actually have their teams on the west coast!
Now if we can improve the name... I wonder if International or United is available since that league more or less merged with the CHL.
Ontario Reign have a great following in the Inland Empire. What used to be the Long Beach Icedogs is now the 'local' team for those too far away from Anaheim and LA -- at much more 'user friendly' prices.
yeah geographically speaking, aside from the Salmon Kings, this is more representative of an American Hockey League than the AHL is. And vice versa with the AHL having more Canadian teams, and being so east coast-centric.
I've always thought it was funny when acronyms lose their meaning: ESPN, MTV, ECHL, etc.
I was going to say the other day that if you did an ECHL map it would be amazing how far away the Aces were
Love the maps!
As usual, love these maps. Especially stacking them up and seeing all the teams, where everything's clumped up, and where the places without major professional hockey teams are.
as with the ahl, it's good to put the locations of the franchises in perspective. don't forget the echl was only in the northeast and southeast until they absorbed the West Coast Hockey League in '03. As for expanding more into Canada, i don't see it happening. Victoria scored a team only because they were rejected for a WHL franchise when the arena was built. Most of the other Canadian markets are happily represented by major junior teams with low overhead. love the maps, can't wait to see the CHL map.
This should be called the Coastal Hockey League.
Adam: Even with only 19 teams they are still the only AA league. Many of the teams are dual-affiliated. My own Buffalo Sabres are the only team that choose to not have an ECHL affiliate. btw GO GLADIATORS!!!
Also is Reading to Trenton honestly the shortest trip? I know for a fact making the drive myself from Gwinnett to Greenville many times that it is only 1.5 hours. I think that might have Reading-Trenton beat.
It would be very interesting to see a map of all the ECHL teams that are no longer in the league and see if they show any regional/geographic pattern.
My city used to have a team. I miss the Dayton Bombers. The games between Cincinnati and Toledo were always brutal.
While this may seem like an insignificant league, the IHL will begin playing Central Hockey League teams next year. I would like to see a map of the two combined. I am sure the travel will definitely increase for the IHL teams.
How far is the closest neighbor of the Alaska Aces in this league? I'm pretty it is nowhere close to the 3000 kilometers between the Amur Khabarovsk and its closest neighbor in the Russian KHL league, the Metallurg Novokuznetsk! I would love to see a map for this league just because of the sheer distance between the teams.
The ECHL has always been a strange combination of regions that could have been three separate leagues. It started out with a bunch of southeastern teams (South Carolina alone had four at one point) combined with rust belt "Slap Shot" type markets too small for the AHL or old IHL (i.e. Wheeling, Johnstown), but then merged with the old WCHL and gained the western teams. Because of team failings this separation is not as apparent as it once was, but 5 years ago the clumps of teams in the three regions was quite noticeable.
At least the 19 teams left seem to be on good footing; they've gone through the darwinistic tremors of minor league hockey and have survived and so the ECHL will probably look to heavy expansion should economic conditions allow it in the next decade. The league may be smart to work out a deal with the Central League and realign both leagues as feeders to the AHL, giving the western teams to the CHL and giving the UHL/IHL teams (Flint, Fort Wayne, and Kalamazoo fit nicely to the ECHL map) to the ECHL.
I like how you think Walter!! I have been saying for a while that the Fort Wayne Komets need to get out of the IHL/UHL/CHL or whatever they are calling themselves these days. They have been relatively successful in this league, granted there are only 6 teams now, but also successful when it was larger. They are definitely a strong minor league hockey town and attendance is one of hte highiest in minor league hockey if I remember right. I think they would fit in nicely with the ECHL and fans like myself you love to see new teams and talent come through instead of the same old teams every night.
Don't forget to eventually add the Express! ;)