1996–97 ECHL season

Ice hockey league season August 2023 The 1996–97 ECHL season was the ninth season of the ECHL. Before the start of the season, two franchises relocated, one was renamed, and two expansion franchises were founded. Founding member Erie Panthers moved to Baton Rouge, LA and the Nashville Knights moved to Pensacola, FL, the Wheeling Thunderbirds changed their name to the Wheeling Nailers following a lawsuit with WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds, and the ECHL welcomed franchises in Peoria, IL and Biloxi, MS. In 1996, the ECHL Board of Governors decided to retire the Jack Riley Cup and create a new trophy, the Patrick J. Kelly Cup, named after founding father and former ECHL commissioner, Patrick J. Kelly. The league also created a new individual award, the Sportsmanship Award, to be awarded to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability as voted by the coaches of each of the ECHL teams.http://www.echl.com/echl-trohpies-p144405 ECHL Trophies and Awards 2011-06-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20101012143547/http://echl.com/echl-trohpies-p144405 2010-10-12 dead The South Carolina Stingrays finished first overall in the season and became the first team in ECHL history to win the Brabham and Kelly Cups in the same year as they defeated the Louisiana IceGators 4 games to 1. Regular season Final standings Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Green shade = Clinched playoff spot, Blue shade = Clinched division East Division GP W L T Pts GF GASouth Carolina Stingrays 70 45 15 10 100 345 253Hampton Roads Admirals 70 46 19 5 97 286 223Richmond Renegades 70 41 25 4 86 252 235Roanoke Express 70 38 26 6 82 262 250Charlotte Checkers 70 35 28 7 77 271 267Raleigh Icecaps 70 30 33 7 67 256 293Knoxville Cherokees 70 24 43 3 51 260 343 North Division GP W L T Pts GF GA Columbus Chill 70 44 21 5 93 303 257 Peoria Rivermen 70 43 21 6 92 308 219 Dayton Bombers 70 36 26 8 80 253 258 Wheeling Nailers 70 36 29 5 77 298 291 Toledo Storm 70 32 28 10 74 258 248 Huntington Blizzard 70 33 33 4 70 273 296 Louisville RiverFrogs 70 29 31 10 68 234 290 Johnstown Chiefs 70 24 39 7 55 253 354 South Division GP W L T Pts GF GA Tallahassee Tiger Sharks 70 39 23 8 86 263 236 Birmingham Bulls 70 36 25 9 81 291 296 Louisiana IceGators 70 38 28 4 80 292 244 Mobile Mysticks 70 34 25 11 79 257 263 Mississippi Sea Wolves 70 34 26 10 78 241 245 Pensacola Ice Pilots 70 36 31 3 75 275 275 Baton Rouge Kingfish 70 31 33 6 68 222 238 Jacksonville Lizard Kings 70 21 37 12 54 220 299 1996-97 ECHL Standings Kelly Cup playoffs Bracket First Round (Best of 5) Quarterfinals (Best of 5) Semifinals (Best of 5) Finals (Best of 7) South Carolina 3 Charlotte 0 Hampton Roads 3 Roanoke 1 Richmond 3 Dayton 1 Tallahassee 0 Pensacola 3 Columbus 3 Toledo 2 Peoria 3 Wheeling 0 Birmingham 3 Mississippi 0 Louisiana 3 Mobile 0 South Carolina 3 Hampton Roads 0 Richmond 1 Pensacola 3 Columbus 0 Peoria 3 Birmingham 2 Louisiana 3 South Carolina 3 Pensacola 2 Peoria 1 Louisiana 3 South Carolina 4 Louisiana 1 First round South Carolina vs. Charlotte Date Away Home April 2 Charlotte 2 S. Carolina 4 April 4 Charlotte 3 S. Carolina 5 April 5 S. Carolina 4 Charlotte 2 South Carolina wins series 3–0 Hampton Roads vs. Roanoke Date Away Home April 2 Roanoke 3 Hampton Roads 4 OT April 4 Roanoke 4 Hampton Roads 2 April 5 Hampton Roads 4 Roanoke 1 April 6 Hampton Roads 4 Roanoke 3 Hampton Roads wins series 3–1 Richmond vs. Dayton Date Away Home April 1 Dayton 3 Richmond 5 April 3 Dayton 3 Richmond 4 April 5 Richmond 1 Dayton 4 April 6 Richmond 5 Dayton 2 Richmond wins series 3–1 Tallahassee vs. Pensacola Date Away Home April 2 Pensacola 4 Tallahassee 2 April 4 Pensacola 4 Tallahassee 0 April 5 Tallahassee 3 Pensacola 4 OT Pensacola wins series 3–0 Columbus vs. Toledo Date Away Home April 2 Toledo 2 Columbus 5 April 4 Columbus 2 Toledo 3 OT April 5 Toledo 3 Columbus 2 OT April 6 Columbus 3 Toledo 2 OT April 9 Toledo 2 Columbus 5 Columbus wins series 3–2 Peoria vs. Wheeling Date Away Home April 1 Wheeling 5 Peoria 6 April 2 Wheeling 4 Peoria 9 April 4 Peoria 8 Wheeling 3 Peoria wins series 3–0 Birmingham vs. Mississippi Date Away Home April 1 Mississippi 3 Birmingham 6 April 4 Mississippi 3 Birmingham 4 April 5 Birmingham 4 Mississippi 3 OT Birmingham wins series 3–0 Louisiana vs. Mobile Date Away Home April 2 Mobile 2 Louisiana 4 April 4 Louisiana 3 Mobile 2 April 6 Mobile 4 Louisiana 5 Louisiana wins series 3–0 Quarterfinals South Carolina vs. Hampton Roads Date Away Home April 11 Hampton Roads 4 South Carolina 5 OT April 12 Hampton Roads 5 South Carolina 6 OT April 17 South Carolina 3 Hampton Roads 8 April 19 South Carolina 4 Hampton Roads 5 April 20 Hampton Roads 2 South Carolina 6 South Carolina wins series 3–2 Richmond vs. Pensacola Date Away Home April 11 Pensacola 4 Richmond 2 April 12 Pensacola 3 Richmond 6 April 17 Richmond 3 Pensacola 4 April 18 Richmond 4 Pensacola 8 Pensacola wins series 3–1 Columbus vs. Peoria Date Away Home April 2 Columbus 2 Peoria 5 April 4 Peoria 3 Columbus 2 April 6 Peoria 5 Columbus 2 Peoria wins series 3–0 Birmingham vs. Louisiana Date Away Home April 11 Louisiana 4 Birmingham 3 April 13 Louisiana 4 Birmingham 5 April 15 Birmingham 4 Louisiana 5 April 16 Birmingham 6 Louisiana 5 April 19 Louisiana 6 Birmingham 5 OT Louisiana wins series 3–2 Semifinals South Carolina vs. Pensacola Date Away Home April 24 Pensacola 6 South Carolina 5 OT April 25 Pensacola 2 South Carolina 4 April 17 South Carolina 6 Pensacola 5 OT April 19 South Carolina 3 Pensacola 4 April 30 Pensacola 1 South Carolina 6 South Carolina wins series 3–2 Peoria vs. Louisiana Date Away Home April 24 Louisiana 4 Peoria 3 OT April 26 Louisiana 4 Peoria 2 April 28 Peoria 10 Louisiana 3 April 29 Peoria 3 Louisiana 4 OT Louisiana wins series 3–1 Kelly Cup finals Kelly Cup Finals South Carolina vs. Louisiana Date Away Home May 2 Louisiana 1 South Carolina 6 May 4 Louisiana 2 South Carolina 4 May 7 South Carolina 4 Louisiana 5 May 9 South Carolina 7 Louisiana 4 May 11 South Carolina 6 Louisiana 4 South Carolina wins series 4–1 ECHL awards ECHL awards Patrick J. Kelly Cup: South Carolina Stingrays Henry Brabham Cup: South Carolina Stingrays John Brophy Award: Brian McCutcheon (Columbus) ECHL Most Valuable Player: Mike Ross (South Carolina) Kelly Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player: Jason Fitzsimmons (South Carolina) ECHL Goaltender of the Year: Marc Delorme (Louisiana) ECHL Rookie of the Year: Dany Bousquet (Birmingham) Defenseman of the Year: Chris Valicevic (Louisiana) Leading Scorer: Ed Courtenay (South Carolina) Sportsmanship Award: Mike Ross (South Carolina) See also ECHL All-Star Game List of ECHL seasons 1996 in sports 1997 in sports References Category:ECHL seasons ECHL season, 1996-97