Florida Everblades
| Florida Everblades | |
|---|---|
 2016–17 ECHL season
|
|
 |
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| City | Estero, Florida |
| League | ECHL |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | South |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Home arena | Germain Arena |
| Colors | Navy blue, green and white |
| Owner(s) | Peter Karmanos |
| General manager | Craig Brush |
| Head coach | Brad Ralph |
| Media | Alex Reed |
| Affiliates |
Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) Charlotte Checkers (AHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1998–present | Florida Everblades |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 2 (1999–00, 2008–09) |
| Division Championships | 5 (1999–00, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2014–15, 2016–17) |
| Conference Championships | 3 (2003–04, 2004–05, 2011–12) |
| Kelly Cups | 1 (2011–12) |
The Florida Everblades are a minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida; near Fort Myers. They play in the ECHL and are affiliated with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home games are played at Germain Arena.
The Everblades were founded in 1998. They play in the South Division of the Eastern Conference in the ECHL. They have only missed the playoffs once in team history (2013–14), and have made three appearances in the Kelly Cup finals, winning in 2012.
The team was founded in 1998, when current GM Craig Brush was inspired to bring a minor-league hockey team to Southwest Florida while reading a free copy of a National Geographic magazine that featured articles on the Florida Everglades. The team's name derives from the former Kentucky Thoroughblades AHL franchise.
The Everblades' logo features a gator-head design fused in the form of an ice skate. Barnstorm Creative Group, a Vancouver graphic design company, designed the logo. Barnstorm was contacted by Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, who came up with the idea of choosing the Everblades' colors as blue and green, in tribute to the Hartford Whalers team that Karmanos moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. The Everblades' inaugural home opener featured a pre-game ceremony in which a large alligator was brought onto the ice to pay tribute to the team's name and logo, as well as Florida's vast population of reptile species. The Everblades won their first Kelly Cup on May 23, 2012, against the Las Vegas Wranglers. Brandon MacLean scored the championship-winning-goal in overtime during game five. Everblades goaltender, John Muse, was named the most valuable player of the 2012 Kelly Cup playoffs.
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