Elmira Jackals

The Elmira Jackals were an ice hockey team that play in the ECHL. Their home games are played in First Arena in Elmira, New York and they refer to themselves as "the beasts of the east". Their mascot is named Blade, and they were originally part of the United Hockey League.

The UHL Years
Logo when they were in the UHL

The Jackals were born as a member of the United Hockey League before the 2000-2001 season, as an affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Eventually, they severed ties with the Blue Jackets and became an independent operation for the rest of their years in the league. During their tenure in the UHL, their average attendance was 3,308 per game, which included 31 sellouts. The largest crowd was a standing-room-only of 4,126 on October 13, 2006.

Playoff History
The team made a splash in their first season by immediately making the playoffs. Improving dramatically in the off-season, the Jackals won the Eastern Conference for the first time, in just their second season. They even got as far as playing the Muskegon Fury in the Colonial Cup finals, but lost in a hard fought 6 game series. They returned to the playoffs in 2003, but didn't get the chance to play for The Cup again until the 2004 season when they again faced the Muskegon Fury. After being swept in the 2004 Colonial Cup series, they never returned to the playoffs in the UHL.



The Final UHL Year
Their final season in the league, was especially disappointing. They hired a new head coach who'd proven successful elsewhere and signed a few solid players, giving the team hope for a return to the playoffs. The season brought three head coaching changes, after the first one suffered a mini-stroke. There were also some injuries to key players. One of which, limited top ranked goalie Shawn Degagne to only 4 games.

Despite finishing in last place, there were some bright spots. Star forward Frank Littlejohn scored a franchise record 42 goals. The fans were very supportive of the team, averaging 3,427 per game during the season in an arena that only seats 4,000. Then on April 14, 2007, ownership announced they would be leaving the UHL for the North Division of the ECHL.

ECHL
The Elmira Jackals joined the ECHL in the summer of 2007 with a new logo and jerseys. They are a member of the North division.

Returning from a loss in Cincinnati, the team bus was involved in crash on Interstate 90 in Pennsylvania early in the morning of November 29, 2007. Several players sustained minor injuries. The Jackals suffered their worst loss in their first year. They lost to Johnstown 9-3. On March 9, 2008 after three seasons of being out of playoff contention in the United Hockey League, the Elmira Jackals qualified for the East Coast Hockey League playoffs.

For the 2007-08 season, the Jackals were the affiliate of the Syracuse Crunch (AHL) and Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL). Prior to the 2008-09 season, the Jackals affilliated with the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators and the American Hockey League's Binghamton Senators.

Elmira would win their first division title since moving to the ECHL in 2010, when the team won the East Division title with a record of 37-26-9 and 80 points, three better than second place Reading.

In July 2010, the team announced that it had come to an affiliation agreement with the NHL's Anaheim Ducks and Anaheim's AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, in Syracuse, NY, 90 miles north of Elmira.

The team was facing the possibility of having to relocate after the 2016-17 season as the ownership of the arena, the city of Elmira, and Chemung County have not been able to come to an agreement on funding for a new ice plant for the arena. Present ownership of the arena has been trying to sell the arena and may be forced to have the arena go dark if either funding for a new ice plant or a sale does not occur. The only other arena large enough in the immediate area would be the Murray Athletic Center Arena which is home to the men's and women's Elmira Soaring Eagles hockey teams. Nothing has been mentioned if the team would fold, relocate, or move into the Murray Athletic Center Arena. The team would end up announcing on March 10th that the organization would be ceasing operations at the end of the 2016-17 season. The arena is believed to be under agreement to be sold as of the end of the regular season but the team had already announced its folding; and the agreement was contingent upon the possible new owners of the arena acquiring a team for the arena.