ECHL Now at 29 Teams after Merger with CHL

The ECHL has absorbed the seven remaining teams of the Central Hockey League. The move brings the ECHL up to 29 total franchises (28 active, 1 suspended) and signals an end to the Central Hockey League which had been in operation since the early 1990s.

Making the move to the ECHL are the Allen Americans (Allen, TX), Brampton Beast (Brampton, ON), Missouri Mavericks (Independence, MO), Quad City Mallards (Moline, IL), Rapid City Rush (Rapid City, SD), Tulsa Oilers (Tulsa, OK), and Wichita Thunder (Wichita, KS). Both the Oilers and Thunder had been with the CHL since the league’s inaugural season.

ECHL Team Map for 2014-15, click for larger version

“The ECHL is very pleased to welcome these new Members to the League. These additions strengthen our base in the center of the country and give the ECHL, for the first time, a true national presence. It expands our ability to act as a development league and more closely aligns our number of teams with both the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League.” – ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna

There are a number of issues yet to be addressed, such as the Dallas Stars now being the sole affiliate of both the Allen Americans and the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads. The new season was also set to get underway this week, a new schedule and divisional alignment are both still waiting release.

We’ve added all the new ECHL teams to our ECHL section of the website, you can check that out here.