The 1997–98 ECHL season was the tenth season of the

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

. Before the start of the season, the league saw the Knoxville Cherokees move to Florence, SC and welcomed expansion teams in

New Orleans, LA New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and Upper Marlboro, MD. The Louisiana IceGators finished the regular season first overall and the

Hampton Roads Admirals The Hampton Roads Admirals were a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL, East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). They played in Norfolk, Virginia at the Norfolk Scope Arena from 1989 until 2000, when the owners purchased an expansion American Hockey ...

won their record setting third overall ECHL championship (1st

Kelly Cup The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...

), defeating the Pensacola Ice Pilots 4 games to 2.

League realignment

With the league expanding to 25 teams, the Board of Governors decided to divide the league into two conference (Northern and Southern), with two divisions each. With the realignment the Board of Governors also created two new trophies, one each for the playoff champion of each conference.ECHL Trophies and Awards

Northern Conference

Northeast Division

* Chesapeake Icebreakers *

Johnstown Chiefs The Johnstown Chiefs were a minor league ice hockey team located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, that played in the ECHL. The team was founded in 1987 in the All-American Hockey League, and moved to the East Coast Hockey League (now ECHL) when th ...

Richmond Renegades The Richmond Renegades were a professional ice hockey team in Richmond, Virginia that played in the East Coast Hockey League from 1990 until 2003. The Renegades played at the Richmond Coliseum, which they marketed in later years as ''the Freeze ...

* Roanoke Express *

Wheeling Nailers The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...

Northwest Division

Columbus Chill The Columbus Chill were a professional ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League from October 1991 through the 1998–99 season. They played at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio. The Chill left Columbus in 1999 an ...

Dayton Bombers The Dayton Bombers were an ECHL ice hockey team located in Dayton, Ohio. The team most recently was in the North Division of the ECHL's American Conference. The Bombers originally played at Hara Arena from 1991 to 1996. The team moved to the Erv ...

* Huntington Blizzard *

Louisville RiverFrogs The Louisville RiverFrogs were a professional ice hockey team competing in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), which was a mid-level professional American hockey league with teams from all over the United States as well as one franchise from Can ...

* Peoria Rivermen *

Toledo Storm The Toledo Storm were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the ECHL from 1991 to 2007. The Storm played their home games at the venerable Toledo Sports Arena along the eastern banks of the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. The team colors w ...

Southern Conference

Southeast Division

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affiliate of the ...

* Jacksonville Lizard Kings *

Pee Dee Pride The Pee Dee Pride, known as the Florence Pride for the 2003–04 ECHL season, was a professional minor-league hockey team that was based in Florence, South Carolina, where they played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) from 1997 until 2005. ...

Raleigh Icecaps The Raleigh IceCaps were a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1991 and playing at Dorton Arena, located at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, the IceCaps were members of the ECHL. The club was forced ...

South Carolina Stingrays The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston ...

Tallahassee Tiger Sharks The Tallahassee Tiger Sharks were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played in Tallahassee, Florida, from 1994 to 2001 as members of the East Coast Hockey League. The Tiger Sharks home rink was the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Cent ...

Southwest Division

* Baton Rouge Kingfish * Birmingham Bulls * Louisiana IceGators *

Mississippi Sea Wolves The Mississippi Sea Wolves were a professional hockey team based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and played in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Sea Wolves were members of the ECHL. The Sea Wolves were founded in 1996 and had considerable success ove ...

* Mobile Mysticks *

New Orleans Brass The New Orleans Brass were a ice hockey, hockey team in the ECHL from 1997 to 2002. The team was at one time affiliated with the San Jose Sharks. Home games were played first at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium (New Orleans), Municipal Audito ...

* Pensacola Ice Pilots

Regular season

Final standings

''Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; Green shade = Clinched playoff spot; Blue shade = Clinched division; (z) = Clinched home-ice advantage''

League realignment

Northern Conference

Northeast Division

Northwest Division

Southern Conference

Southeast Division

Southwest Division

Regular season

Final standings

Northern Conference

Southern Conference

Kelly Cup playoffs

Bracket

Northern Conference

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Southern Conference

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Kelly Cup finals

ECHL awards

See also

References