The Chesapeake Icebreakers were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team that played in the

East Coast Hockey League 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 ...

(ECHL) from 1997 to 1999. The Icebreakers were an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

that was granted to Upper Marlboro,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

for the start of the 1997–98 ECHL season. They were coached by noted NHL enforcer Chris Nilan for both of their seasons. The Icebreakers 34-28-8 record was good for 76 points and third place in the Northeast Division, 15 points behind the division leading Roanoke Express. Seeded 6th in the playoffs and matched up against the #3 ranked

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 ...

, they would be swept three games to none. Chris Nilan would win the

John Brophy Award The John Brophy Award goes to the ECHL coach judged to have contributed the most to his team's success as voted by the coaches of each of the ECHL teams. The John Brophy Award has been awarded since 1988-89 ECHL season, 1989. The award is named aft ...

as the league's top coach. Derek Clancey would lead the team in assists with 77, and in points with 105. John Cardwell would score 40 goals while Brad Domonsky led the team with 244 penalty minutes. Mike Tamburro played 25 games in net, and managed a 16-6-1 record with a 2.68 GAA and two shutouts. The team drew an average of 2,650 fans, third-worst in the league. For their second season, they improved their point total by three points. Their record was 34-25-11, however they would drop to fourth place in the tough Northeast Division. Seeded 7th, they played the 2nd-seeded

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 ...

(who won the Northwest Division) in the first round of the playoffs. Their first playoff win in team history took place on April 8, which evened the series at one game apiece. They defeated the Chill 3–2 in overtime of Game 4 to take the series 3–1. Their next opponents were the top ranked Roanoke Express, who took the series against the Icebreakers in four games. The final game in franchise history was played April 24, 1999. Derek Clancey had another season finishing with a team high of 79 points, while Denny Felsner paced the team with 29 goals. L.P Charbonneau had 271 PIM. Mike Tamburro finished with a 19-11-2 record with a 2.45 GAA average. Attendance would slip to 2,347 fans, once again third-worst. Home games were played at a converted equestrian facility known as The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Despite occasional sellouts and a playoff run, the franchise was plagued by a severe lack of publicity in the community and a near total lack of coverage by area newspapers. The team moved to become the Jackson Bandits after their second season.

References

Defunct ice hockey teams in Maryland Defunct ECHL teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States 1997 establishments in Maryland 1999 disestablishments in Maryland Ice hockey clubs established in 1997 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1999 Tampa Bay Lightning minor league affiliates {{Maryland-sport-team-stub