East Coast Hockey League

ECHL

Current season, competition or edition: 2016–17 ECHL season
ECHL Official logo
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1988
No. of teams	27
Country	United States (26 teams) Canada (1 team)
Most recent champion(s)	Allen Americans (2nd title)
Most titles	Alaska Aces, Hampton Roads Admirals and South Carolina Stingrays (3 each)
TV partner(s)	Canada (English): Sportsnet/Sportsnet One Canada (French): TVA Sports United States: NHL Network
Official website	Official website

The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and one franchise in Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League.

The ECHL and the AHL are the only minor leagues recognized by the collective bargaining agreement between the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association, meaning any player signed to an entry-level NHL contract and designated for assignment must report to a club in either the ECHL or the AHL. Additionally, the league's players are represented by the Professional Hockey Players' Association in negotiations with the ECHL itself. Some 614 players have played at least one game in both the NHL and the ECHL.

All but four National Hockey League teams have affiliations with an ECHL team with Columbus, Florida, New Jersey, and St. Louis having no official affiliations as of July 20, 2016. However, these teams do sometimes lend contracted players to ECHL teams for development and increased playing time.

The league's regular season begins in October and ends in April. The current ECHL champion is the Allen Americans.

The league, which combined teams from the defunct Atlantic Coast Hockey League and All-American Hockey League, began play as the East Coast Hockey League in 1988 with 5 teams—the (Winston-Salem, North) Carolina Thunderbirds (now the Wheeling Nailers); the Erie Panthers (folded in 2011 as the Victoria Salmon Kings); the Johnstown Chiefs (now the Greenville Swamp Rabbits); the Knoxville Cherokees (ceased operations as the Pee Dee Pride in 2005; folded in 2009 following failed relocation efforts); and the Virginia Lancers (now the Utah Grizzlies).