The 2020–21 ECHL season was the 33rd 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 ...

. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the start of the regular season was pushed back to December 11, 2020. The Fort Wayne Komets were the Kelly Cup champions, defeating the South Carolina Stingrays in four games.

League business

Due to the uncertainty of being able to host games in some locations caused by the

, several member teams had not been able to confirm participation in the 2020–21 season and the season start was postponed. In October 2020, thirteen teams confirmed plans to begin to play in December 2020 with others hoping to return in January 2021. All teams had a deadline to voluntarily opt out of the 2020–21 season by November 30, but two teams had been granted extensions: the Fort Wayne Komets and Toledo Walleye. The Komets and Walleye were then approved to postpone their start to February. The league announced its schedule through February 11, 2021. By December 7, 2020, the other eleven teams had opted out from participating in the season and voluntarily suspended operations: the Adirondack Thunder, Atlanta Gladiators, Brampton Beast, Cincinnati Cyclones, Idaho Steelheads, Kalamazoo Wings, Maine Mariners, Newfoundland Growlers, Norfolk Admirals, Reading Royals, and Worcester Railers. On January 5, 2021, the league announced that Toledo had opted out of the season as well, but that Fort Wayne had finalized plans to start playing on February 12. The league announced a conference-based alignment and its schedule through April 4. The league announced a remainder of the schedule on February 10. Due to COVID-19 related postponements and teams' arenas availability, several games throughout the season were rescheduled or cancelled. During the season, the Brampton Beast announced the team had ceased operations entirely on February 18, 2021.

Affiliation changes

All-star game

During the previous season, the league had awarded the Jacksonville Icemen the 2021 All-Star Game, but the Jacksonville-hosted event was deferred to 2022.

Standings

Due to the imbalanced schedule during the pandemic, teams are ranked on points percentage. Final standings – clinched playoff spot; – clinched regular season conference title; – Brabham Cup (regular season) champion

Postseason

For the 2021 Kelly Cup playoffs, the top four teams from each conference at the end of the regular season qualified for the postseason. The playoff format is a three-round best-of-five tournament for each series. The postseason began on June 7.

Bracket

Awards

All-ECHL teams

First Team

* Jake Hildebrand (G) – Florida * Samuel Jardine (D) – Greenville * Les Lancaster (D) – Allen * Anthony Beauregard (F) – Wichita * Aaron Luchuk (F) – Orlando * John McCarron (F) – Florida

Second Team

* Evan Buitenhuis (G) – Wichita * Matt Register (D) – Allen * Dean Stewart (D) – Wichita * Tyler Coulter (F) – Rapid City * Peter Quenneville (F) – Rapid City * Cole Ully (F) – South Carolina

All-Rookie

* Evan Weninger (G) – Wichita * Ben Finkelstein (D) – Greenville * Dean Stewart (D) – Wichita * Matthew Boucher (F) – Utah * Jay Dickman (F) – Wichita * Joseph Garreffa (F) – Orlando

References

External links

ECHL website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Echl Season 2020-21 ECHL season 2020-21 3 Ice hockey events curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic