2017-18 ECHL Season



The 2017–18 ECHL season is the 30th season of the ECHL. The regular season ran from October 13, 2017, to April 8, 2018 with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-seven teams in 21 states and one Canadian province each played a 72-game schedule.

The league was shocked by the collapse of Tulsa Oilers head coach Rob Murray during a  November 17, 2017 game against the Quad City Mallards. The game was suspended and will be completed at a later date. He was released from the hospital the following day.

A December 15th game between the Manchester Monarchs and the Greenville Swamp Rabbits was suspended with 5:45 remaining in the 3rd period due to issues with the ice surface. The game was completed the next night with Greenville winning 4-3.

Team changes

 * The Alaska Aces, three-time Kelly Cup champions and one of the last two teams remaining from the West Coast Hockey League, ceased operations. The franchise was later purchased and relocated to Portland, Maine, for the 2018–19 season The team was later announced as being named the Maine Mariners.
 * The Allen Americans plan to rebrand to make the locale of their name be more inclusive of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
 * The Elmira Jackals had been losing money, suffering from ownership issues since 2012, and county operated since 2016. The county agency operating the team and arena had an agreement to sell the arena to a new owner, but the owner did not want the Jackals and the team ceased operations.
 * The Missouri Mavericks were renamed as the Kansas City Mavericks.
 * The Jacksonville IceMen (formerly the Evansville IceMen) rejoined after a one-year hiatus.
 * The Worcester Railers are added as an expansion team.
 * The Colorado Eagles were announced as becoming the American Hockey League's 31st member for the 2018-19 season leaving the ECHL after the 2017-18 season.
 * On March 13, 2018 the city of St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador was announced a team will begin play out of the Mile One Centre for the 2018-19 season. On May 23, 2018 the team would be announced as being called the Newfoundland Growlers.
 * Also on March 13th the Quad City Mallards announced they would cease operations effective the end of the 2017-18 season. The arena would land a Southern Professional Hockey League team for the 2018-19 season.  The franchise rights will be of the former Louisiana IceGators franchise.

Conference realignment
With the addition of another ECHL team in the South, the Jacksonville IceMen, the Cincinnati Cyclones returned to the Western Conference and Central Division after one season in the Eastern Conference. The Worcester Railers took the North Division spot vacated by the folded Elmira Jackals. The Western Conference divisions were reshuffled with the Kansas City Mavericks moving to the Central while the Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder joined the Mountain Division.

Annual Board of Governors meeting
The annual ECHL Board of Governors meeting were held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 12 and 13, 2017. The ECHL Board of Governors re-elected Cincinnati Cyclones' president Ray Harris as chairman for a third season. The Board also approved of the the transfer of the Alaska Aces franchise to Portland, Maine, for the 2018–19 season as well as the 2017–18 alignment.

All-star game
The 2018 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic will be held on January 15, 2018, at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.

2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs
In the Mountain Division Semifinals, the Idaho Steelheads come back from an 3 games to none deficit to win the series becoming just the second team in ECHL history to accomplish the feat.

Format
At the end of the regular season the top four teams in each division qualifies for the 2018 Kelly Cup playoffs and be seeded one through four based on highest point total earned in the season. Then the first two rounds of the playoffs are held within the division with the first seed facing the fourth seed and the second seed facing the third. The division champions then play each other in a conference championship. The Kelly Cup finals pits the Eastern Conference champion against the Western Conference champion. All four rounds are a best-of-seven format.

North Division Semifinals

 * Adirondack Thunder defeated Worcester Railers 4 games to 2
 * Manchester Monarchs defeated Reading Royals 4 games to none

South Division Semifinals

 * Florida Everblades defeated Atlanta Gladiators 4 games to none
 * Orlando Solar Bears defeated South Carolina Stingrays 4 games to none

Central Division Semifinals

 * Toledo Walleye defeated Indy Fuel 4 games to none
 * Fort Wayne Komets defeated Cincinnati Cyclones 4 games to 1

Mountain Division Semifinals

 * Colorado Eagles defeated Wichita Thunder 4 games to 2
 * Idaho Steelheads defeated Allen Americans 4 games to 3

North Division Final

 * Adirondack Thunder defeated Manchester Monarchs 4 games to 2

South Division Final

 * Florida Everblades defeated Orlando Solar Bears 4 games to 1

Central Division Final

 * Fort Wayne Komets defeated Toledo Walleye 4 games to 2

Mountain Division Final

 * Colorado Eagles defeated Idaho Steelheads 4 games to none

Eastern Conference Final

 * Florida Everblades defeated Adirondack Thunder 4 games to 1

Western Conference Final

 * Colorado Eagles defeated Fort Wayne Komets 4 games to 3

Kelly Cup Final

 * Colorado Eagles defeated Florida Everblades 4 games to 3