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14-835: During the 2015–16 season , the City of Evansville and the owner of the ECHL 's Evansville IceMen , Ron Geary, were unable to agree to a new lease for the IceMen to continue to operate out of the Ford Center. On January 19, 2016, Geary announced that he had agreed to terms with the nearby city of Owensboro, Kentucky to relocate the team to the Owensboro Sports Center . On February 8, 2016, Evansville mayor, Lloyd Winnecke , announced that local businessman and IceMen season ticket holder, Mike Hall, had secured an expansion team in

28-738: A parent NHL team in order to give an opportunity for previously unaffiliated teams (such as those added from the Central Hockey League in 2014) to gain NHL prospects. As in 2012 and 2014, the ECHL will not have a traditional All-Star Game . Instead, they will hold a Hockey Heritage Week hosted by the Kalamazoo Wings at the Wings Event Center in the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan from February 1–6, 2016. The week's theme

42-576: A single affiliation with an NHL team leading to many affiliation changes. The annual ECHL Board of Governors meeting was held at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas , Nevada , in June 2015. The ECHL Board of Governors unanimously elected Cincinnati Cyclones ' president Ray Harris as chairman replacing Atlanta Gladiators ' president Steve Chapman who had served as chairman for

56-546: Is Past, Present, and Future and includes Hall of Fame exhibits, K-Wings throwback jerseys, alumni reunions, a youth hockey showcase, and two games between the Wings and the Toledo Walleye . At the end of the regular season the top team in each division will qualify for the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs and be seeded either 1, 2, or 3 based on highest point total earned in the season. Then the five non-division winning teams with

70-597: The American Hockey League announced the formation of a Pacific Division on January 30, 2015 displacing the ECHL teams that had been in California markets. As part of a massive market swap with the American Hockey League , the three California based ECHL franchises moved east into markets that the AHL had vacated. Two South Division teams changed names to reflect their regions: Due to the relocation of

84-563: The Southern Professional Hockey League to play at the Ford Center beginning in the 2016–17 season, thus displacing the IceMen franchise from Evansville. On March 1, the City of Evansville and the new team signed a five-year lease agreement to play at the Ford Center. Hall would act as general manager while the majority owner was VW Sports, LLC., a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc., the arena management company. On March 22, 2016, former IceMen head coach Jeff Pyle

98-664: The West, Brampton to the North, and Quad City to the Midwest. Former North Division teams Cincinnati, Evansville, Fort Wayne and Indy joined Quad City in the new Midwest Division. All former East Division teams except Elmira and Reading are realigned to the new South Division with the relocated teams Adirondack, Manchester and Norfolk being placed in the East Division. For the 2015–16 season, all 28 ECHL teams are only allowed to have

112-562: The former Californian franchises, the league's conference alignment was significantly altered. ECHL brought back the Midwest and South Divisions to increase the number of divisions from four to six, whereas the number of teams per division was reduced from seven to either four or five. With fewer teams on the Pacific coast, the former Pacific Division was renamed as the West Division. The Central division lost three teams: Rapid City to

126-461: The general manager. 2015%E2%80%9316 ECHL season The 2015–16 ECHL season was the 28th season of the ECHL . The regular season schedule ran from October 16, 2015 to April 9, 2016 with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-eight teams in 21 states and one Canadian province each played a 72-game schedule. The league alignment was significantly altered before the season when

140-490: The head coaching position with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL . Pyle was replaced by former NHL player Ian Moran as head coach and Adam Stio was named general manager for the 2018–19 season . The team finished in last place and general manager Stio was fired at the end of the season and Moran resigned. Longtime SPHL head coach Jeff Bes was hired as the head coach for the 2019–20 season, while Patrick Kelly

154-749: The highest point totals in each conference will qualify for the playoffs and be seeded 4 through 8. The Kelly Cup final will pit the Eastern Conference champion against the Western Conference champion. All four rounds will be a best-of-seven format. Final standings.   x   - clinched playoff spot,   y   - clinched regular season division title,   z   - Brabham Cup (regular season) champion All-First Team All-Second Team All-Rookie Team Monte Carlo Resort and Casino Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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168-420: The previous seven seasons. The Board also approved of several rule changes including the change to a 3-on-3 overtime for the full five-minute duration. If still tied after overtime the shootout is decreased to three shooters per side before entering the "sudden death" format. It was later announced that league owners voted unanimously that all 28 ECHL franchises should only allow for a single affiliation with

182-630: Was announced as the head coach for its inaugural season. The new team name was announced on April 15, 2016, taken from the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft which was manufactured in Evansville during the Second World War . Near the end of the first season, Mike Hall sold his portion of the team to VW Sports, LLC. and Pete Xander was named the new general manager for the 2017–18 season. After two seasons, head coach Pyle left for

196-544: Was hired as the new general manager. The 2019–20 SPHL season was curtailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic while the Thunderbolts were in a position to qualify for the playoffs. Due to the ongoing effects and restrictions during the pandemic, the Thunderbolts were one of five SPHL teams to not participate in the 2020–21 season . Before returning for the 2021–22 season , the Thunderbolts hired Bob McNamara as

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