Goodbye East Coast Hockey League.
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Hello ECHL.
Citing 15 seasons as the premier Double-A league in hockey and strong brand recognition, ECHL President and CEO Brian McKenna announced Monday that the 32-team circuit has been renamed "ECHL."
With the westward expansion of the league and the inclusion of six teams from the West Coast Hockey League for the upcoming season, the East Coast League was obsolete.
League officials and owners considered several options, including Super Hockey League (SHL), Premier Hockey League (PHL), Continental Hockey Association (CHA), and Federal Hockey League (FHL).
The ECHL logo will continue to be used, but the words "East Coast Hockey League" will be removed from the top and bottom of the logo.
"Everything old is new again," McKenna said. "Basically, we're moving forward with the ECHL with a name that will reflect the league going forward. We've have tremendous brand identity with the ECHL call letters over the last 15 years. We will be and are the largest league in professional hockey. This allows us to continue to establish a national footprint."
McKenna compares the new name to ESPN, 3M, MCI, CNN and AT&T, some of the world's most successful companies that use acronyms as a stand-alone brand.
In addition to the name modification, the league will incorporate the tag line "America's Premier AA Hockey League."
"Our league will have teams from San Diego to Atlantic City, from Anchorage to Florida, and we needed to be able to drop the geographical reference and come up with something recognized in the long term not blinded by the geographical reference," McKenna said.
The East Coast League was founded in 1988-89 with five teams in three states, and enters its 16th season in 2003-04 with 32 teams in 18 states.
Nine new markets will join the league in 2003-04 - the Anchorage Aces, the Bakersfield Condors, the Fresno Falcons, the Gwinnett Gladiators, the Idaho (Boise) Steelheads, the Las Vegas Wranglers, the Long Beach Ice Dogs, the San Diego Gulls, and the Texas (Beaumont) Wildcatters.
FLORIO UN-LYNXED: Former Roanoke Express coach Perry Florio was named coach of the Pee Dee Pride on Monday.
The 35-year-old Florio interviewed for the vacant Lynx head coaching position earlier this month, but was also a candidate for openings with Wheeling and Columbus. Florio indicated that the Lynx were not his top choice.
Florio posted a 109-80-21 record in three seasons with the Express.
CBA NOTES: McKenna said the next meeting with the players union is scheduled before the end of the month with the hopes of moving closer to drafting and approving a new collective bargaining agreement.
"Suffice it to say, our discussions so far have been positive," McKenna said.
McKenna said the boundaries for a new salary cap and veteran rule are among the main issues, but indicated that there is a need for a CBA containing language that is more clearly defined.
"The agreement itself is not that well written," McKenna said. "There are a lot of gray areas, and things need to be tightened up so the teams and players know exactly what their rights are."
ONE TIMERS: With new divisional alignments in place to reflect the addition of western teams, the league will begin discussions on a new playoff format at the league meetings in June. ... Also on the June agenda, McKenna said, will be the possible ownership changes of a few teams and the election of a new chairman of the board of governors.
