The 2012–13 ECHL season was the 25th season of the

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

. The regular season schedule ran from October 12, 2012 to March 30, 2013, with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. The

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

, not held in 2011-12, was brought back and held on January 23, 2013 at

Budweiser Events Center The Budweiser Events Center is a multi-purpose arena in Loveland, Colorado, northeast of Denver. The arena is located on The Ranch Events Complex (formerly the Larimer County Fairgrounds and Events Complex) and is owned by Larimer County, Color ...

in Loveland, Colorado, home of the

Colorado Eagles The Colorado Eagles are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League. The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hoc ...

League business

Team changes

On September 21, 2011, the ECHL Board of Governors approved the membership of the

San Francisco Bulls The San Francisco Bulls were a professional minor ice hockey team of the ECHL located in Daly City, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area market. They were an affiliate to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League and the Worcest ...

for the 2012–13 season. The Bulls will play in the

Cow Palace The Cow Palace (originally the California State Livestock Pavilion) is an indoor arena located in Daly City, California, situated on the city's northern border with neighboring San Francisco. Because the border passes through the property, a por ...

, which was the home of the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

for their first two seasons. On November 1, 2011, the ECHL Board of Governors approved the membership of the reincarnation of the

Orlando Solar Bears The Orlando Solar Bears are a professional ice hockey team that plays their home games at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and are affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning of t ...

for the 2012–13 season. The Solar Bears will play in the

Amway Center Amway Center is an indoor arena located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League. Amway Center hosted the 2012 N ...

which is currently home to the NBA's Orlando Magic. The league announced on April 6, 2012, that the expansion franchise

Chicago Express The Chicago Express were a professional ice hockey team located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, serving the Chicago market. The Express were a member of the North Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The team played its home games at the Se ...

had withdrawn from the ECHL, effective immediately. The Express finished their inaugural season ninth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 34 wins, 26 losses, 8 overtime losses, and 4 losses in shootouts, eliminating them from playoff contention. The team also finished last in the league for attendance, averaging 2,508 fans per game (compared to the league average of 4,282 fans per game). On May 17, 2012, the ECHL announced the addition of two expansion franchises - the

Evansville IceMen The Evansville IceMen were a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Evansville, Indiana. The franchise was originally a member of the United Hockey League before it merged into the Central Hockey League in 2010. The franchise has won four po ...

and the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This team was previously a member of the Central Hockey League, the original Inte ...

, both located in Indiana and both former

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

markets. The IceMen will play home games at the Ford Center and the Komets at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The league also indicated that 23 teams would play in the 2012–13 season, making these two franchises the last to be added.

Annual Board of Governors meeting

The league's annual Board of Governors meeting concluded on June 25, 2012. Announcements included the re-election of Steve Chapman, president of the

Gwinnett Gladiators The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Gas South Arena, approximately northeast o ...

, to his seventh term as board president, capping of league membership at 26 teams, adoption of a two-referee system for the conference finals and Kelly Cup finals, and the league re-alignment for the 2012–13 season. The

joined the Western Conference's Pacific Division, while in the Eastern Conference, the

joined the South Division and the

and

joined the North Division following the departure of the

. The league also voted to table any decision regarding the playoff format until the Board of Governors' preseason meeting.

Preseason Board of Governors meeting

The preseason Board of Governors meeting was held on September 27, 2012. Announcements included changes to the Kelly Cup playoff format and a change to the league's reserve list policy. The 3-day and 7-day injured reserve spots were changed to two generic reserve spots with no minimum stay required. No change was made to the 21-day reserve list policy.

All-star game

The 2013 ECHL All-Star Game was played on January 23, 2013, and was hosted by the

. The format featured the host team Eagles taking on the ECHL All-Star Team. The ECHL All-Stars won the game 7–3, scoring five unanswered goals in the second period to tie an ECHL All-Star Game record.

Regular season

Standings

By division

Eastern Conference Western Conference

By conference

* - Division leader; y - Won division; z - Won conference (and division) * - Division leader; y - Won division; b - Won

Brabham Cup The Henry Brabham Cup is the trophy awarded annually by the ECHL to the team that finishes with the most points in the league during the regular season. The Brabham Cup has been awarded 33 times to 16 different franchises since its debut in 1989. ...

, best record in the league

2013 Kelly Cup playoffs

Format

The 2013 Kelly Cup playoffs format represented a significant departure from previous years. Eight teams qualified in the Eastern Conference: the three division winners plus the next five teams in the conference. With the addition of the expansion franchise in the

, the Board of Governors changed the Western Conference seeding such that eight teams qualified: two division winners and the next six teams in the conference. This eliminated the Western Conference first-round bye. Similar to the

, the division winners were seeded as the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference and the top two seeds in the Western Conference; the conference winner faces the eighth seed, second faces seventh, third faces sixth, and fourth faces fifth in the conference quarterfinal round. The winner of the 1st/8th series plays the winner of the 4th/5th series while 2nd/7th winner plays against the 3rd/6th winner in the conference semifinal series. The Board of Governors also elected to change the playoff format such that all rounds of the playoffs were best of seven series. For 2013, the conference finals and Kelly Cup finals used a two-referee system.

Bracket

Awards

All-ECHL First Team

* Michael Forney (F),

Casey Pierro-Zabotel Casey Pierro-Zabotel (born November 8, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in ...

(F),

* Mathieu Roy (F),

Florida Everblades The Florida Everblades are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. They play in the ECHL and are affiliated with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (N ...

Matt Case Matt Case (born February 16, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played in the North American minor-leagues and with Lillehammer IK of the GET-ligaen of Norway. Playing career Case attended Ferris State University ...

(D),

Idaho Steelheads The Idaho Steelheads are an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Boise, Idaho, and a member of the ECHL. The Steelheads play in the Mountain Division of the ECHL's Western Conference since the 2016–17 season. In 1996, th ...

Sacha Guimond Sacha Guimond (born March 28, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. Having already played in Canada, the United States, Slovenia, Slovakia and Austria, he now plays for the Dragons de Rouen in France. Playing career Guimond pl ...