Ryan Crelin enters his seventh season as ECHL Commissioner during the 2024-25 Season. He is just the fourth person to fill the position in the League’s history. 

Crelin was named Chief Operating Officer of the ECHL on May 1, 2017, and in that role, oversaw all day-to-day business operations of the League. Crelin enters his 14th season with the ECHL after initially beginning his tenure as intern during the 2005-06 season.

During his time with the League, Crelin has been responsible for the overall operations of the League focusing on financial initiatives, Leaguewide partnerships/contracts, and signature League showcase events such as the annual All-Star Game and Marketing Meetings. In addition, he also has worked closely with teams on Leaguewide risk management, ticket sales/corporate sponsorship revenue generation, arena-lease negotiations, and budgeting/operations within the scope of the ECHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, NHL/AHL Affiliation Agreements and overall business model. Crelin led the marketing initiative in the ECHL/GEICO relationship creating the first of its kind blue-painted and branded goal posts, and secured the partnership with EA Sports for the inclusion of the ECHL in the NHL video game series. 
  
Crelin earned his M.B.A. with a concentration in finance & taxation at Rutgers University in May 2010 after being awarded his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in sport management & marketing from Seton Hall University in May 2006. At Seton Hall, he also served as president of the Sport Management Student Association, was a member of the National Business Honor Society and played ice hockey for the Pirates. Prior to joining the ECHL, Crelin worked for a Public Accountant near his hometown of Middletown, New Jersey and currently resides in Belford, New Jersey with his wife and family.

Patrick J. Kelly was named Commissioner Emeritus of the ECHL following the 1995-96 season, after serving as Commissioner for the first eight seasons of the ECHL.

He was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 2008, and in 2016, received the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.

Kelly celebrates his 72nd season in hockey in 2024-25 having begun his career with the St. Catherine Tee Pees of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1953. He played professionally for the Trois Rivieres Lions in the Quebec League, the Troy Bruins of the International Hockey League and the Greensboro Generals, Jersey Devils and Clinton Comets of the Eastern Hockey League. He helped Crowland capture the 1948-49 Bantam B Championship of Ontario, beating Peterborough in the finals.

He began his coaching career in the Eastern Hockey League, serving as player/head coach beginning with the Jersey Devils in 1964-65 and continuing with the Clinton (New York) Comets from 1965-73. Clinton was 151-39-28 and won three straight regular season and postseason titles from 1967-68 through 1969-70. In 1967-68, the Comets finished with a 57-5-10 record, making them the only professional team in history to lose only five games or less in a season, and in 1969-70, Kelly was named Minor League Coach of the Year by The Hockey News. Kelly served as head coach and general manager for Charlotte in the Southern Hockey League from 1973-76 guiding the Checkers to a 136-68-12 record, two regular season titles and two postseason titles while earning Coach of the Year honors in the SHL twice.

He coached the Colorado Rockies in the National Hockey League in 1977-78 and is the only coach in history to lead the Rockies into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Following coaching stops in the AHL, Kelly went to Peoria in the IHL where he led the Rivermen to the Turner Cup in his first season behind the bench in 1984-85. He recorded his 800th career win on January 4, 1987 and was inducted into the Peoria Sports Hall of Fame in February of 1990. Kelly was inducted into the Roanoke Hall of Fame and the Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown of Welland, Ontario in 1998, in March of 2002 he became the first inductee into the Greensboro Hockey Hall of Fame when the Generals retired his uniform number (5). He was also part of the first class of inductees into the Charlotte Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008 and in June 2010, he was inducted into the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame.

Patrick and his wife, June, reside in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dan Petrino is in his ninth season with the ECHL. He is in his first season as Vice President of Hockey Operations after serving as Vice President of Hockey Administration during the 2023-24 season.

Petrino is responsible for overseeing all day-to-day operations of the League’s Hockey Operations Department, including the application of all ECHL Playing Rules and Regulations in conjunction with the ECHL/PHPA Collective Bargaining Agreement. He will also oversee the Player Discipline Committee which will consist of members from the ECHL League Office and NHL Player Safety Department for review of plays for potential supplementary discipline. He will also be working with the ECHL Equipment Managers, Athletic Trainers and Game Operations staffs on all League-related details.

Prior to joining the ECHL, Petrino spent three years with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, including the last year as the conference’s Assistant Commissioner for Championships. He was responsible for the supervision of in-season and postseason competition for several MAAC sports as well as overseeing officiating operations within his assigned sports.

He joined the MAAC staff in August 2013 after graduation from Rider University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and minors in the business of sports and communications. While at Rider, he worked in the school’s athletic department, primarily in event and facility operations. He also was part of Rider’s club baseball team, serving as vice president and president of the program.

Todd Corliss is in his 22nd season as Director of Finance for the ECHL and is responsible for the accounting, budgeting and financial reporting for the league. In addition, he is responsible for the annual ECHL Financial Project as well as auditing for salary cap compliance.

He was Chief Financial Officer for the Long Beach Ice Dogs from 2002-06 and was responsible for the daily financial matters, including accounting, budgeting, general administration and workman’s compensation as well as managing the merchandise, web site design and player immigration. He was chief financial officer for the Texas Wildcatters from 2002-06 while serving in a similar capacity for the Johnstown Chiefs from 2003-05.

Corliss graduated from the University of Massachusetts where he received dual bachelor’s degrees in finance and sport management. He and his wife, Amy, have four children, Grace, Ian and Connor and Shannon.

Joe Babik is in his 15th season with the ECHL.

Babik is responsible for the day-to-day communications efforts of the ECHL, including writing of press releases; oversight of the official League website, ECHL.com; managing the League's social media channels; assisting in the layout and design of ECHL printed publications, including the Official Guide and Record Book as well as ongoing contact with ECHL member teams and regional and national media outlets.

Babik joined the League office in March 2010 with seven seasons of experience in minor league hockey, including six in the ECHL. He began his career as the Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations with the Pee Dee Pride from 2001-05, while serving in the same capacity for the Fresno Falcons from 2006-08. He was part of the radio broadcast crew for the 2004 ECHL All-Star Game in Peoria, Illinois, and following the 2007-08 season, was named as the National Conference recipient of the ECHL Broadcaster of the Year Award. Babik also served a season as the Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for the Adirondack Frostbite of the United Hockey League in 2005-06.

The Johnstown, Pennsylvania native received his Bachelor’s Degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University in 2001. While at Syracuse, Babik served as both a public relations and broadcast intern with the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch from 1998-2001.

In 2023, the ECHL's annual Media/PR Director of the Year Award was named in his honor.

He and his wife, Cristen, have two sons, Elijah and Landon.

Natalie Bernstein was promoted to Vice President of Marketing and Licensing in September 2023.

Bernstein had served as the League’s Director of Licensing and Events since the 2021-22 season after previously serving as Office & Marketing Manager for the previous three seasons. Bernstein joined the League Office in February 2015 as the Executive/Marketing Assistant.

She is responsible for managing the ECHL Licensing Program, consisting of more than 50 national and local licensees, executing leaguewide sponsorship programs and marketing initiatives, as well as leading efforts on League-hosted events including the annual ECHL Hockey Summer Meetings and All-Star Classic

Originally from Ashburn, Virginia, Bernstein earned her M.B.A. with a concentration in analytics and strategic management at Villanova University in June 2020 after graduating from James Madison University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in sport and recreation management and a minor in business. While at JMU, she worked in the school’s athletics’ department for two years, assisting the Athletic Events and Facilities departments with game days and special events. Bernstein completed an internship with the marketing department of the National Football League’s Washington Redskins, where she assisted with sponsorship activation and community outreach programs.

Tara Schwinn enters her fourth season with the ECHL in 2024-25, and her first as the Director of Marketing and Team Business Services. She spent her first two seasons as the League's Office Manager/Marketing Assistant before being named Manager of Marketing and Team Business Services for the 2023-24 season.

Schwinn assists the marketing department on licensing, sponsorship program coordination and planning for League-hosted events, while also being responsible for compiling and distributing internal League reports, administering the sales consulting and training program for Member Teams, and coordinating the ECHL Ticket Sales Management University curriculum, amongst various other tasks provided by the League’s Team Services Department.
 
 

She joined the ECHL after completing her Master’s Degree in Global Sports Business at Rutgers University. Schwinn has previous experience with Rutgers Athletics, the United States Amateur Baseball League, PGA of America - NJ Section and Monmouth Race Track. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management from Rutgers.

Riley Yerkovich enters his third season in the ECHL Office and his first as the ECHL's Director of Officiating Operations after spending his first two seasons as Manager of Officiating.

Yerkovich oversees the application of rules and directives, travel and administration of officials, communications with the National Hockey League and American Hockey League on ECHL officials, and the ECHL Rule Book.
 

 
Prior to joining the League staff, Yerkovich spent three-plus seasons as an ECHL referee, and was selected to work the 2022 ECHL All-Star Classic in Jacksonville and the 2022 Kelly Cup Finals. The Wyoming native also worked games in the AHL and for the IIHF. He was a member of USA Hockey’s Officiating Development Program since 2015, and refereed the 2018 and 2019 NAHL Top Prospects Tournaments and the 2019 NAHL Robertson Cup Final. Yerkovich attended the NHL Officiating Exposure Combine in 2019 and worked the 2019 Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament and the 2021 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Tim Nowak is in his first season as the ECHL's Director of Officiating Development.

In this role, he will serve as the lead in helping to develop on-ice officials in the ECHL through on-site supervision, video sessions and the recruitment of new officiating prospects. Nowak will also serve as a member of the Player Discipline Committee.

Nowak began his career as a linesman in the ECHL before embarking on 26 seasons in the National Hockey League, and was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2022. He worked four seasons in the league, twice earning an assignment working the Riley Cup Finals. He became the first ECHL on-ice official to reach the NHL when he made his debut on Oct. 8, 1993, and he went on to work over 1,700 NHL games in 26 seasons before retiring in 2019. Nowak was selected to work the 2003 All-Star Game, the 2003 Stanley Cup Final, the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the first-ever Winter Classic in 2008. He also was selected to officiate in two Winter Olympics, working games in 2002 in Salt Lake City and 2010 in Vancouver. He has served as an ECHL Officiating Development Coach since 2019.

Byron de Rose enters his first season with the ECHL as the League's Manager of Hockey Administration.

De Rose is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the ECHL Hockey Operations Department including the organization and release of team rosters, salary cap, player background and immigration matters, while also overseeing all transactions and ongoing relations with the PHPA and other leagues.

He joins the ECHL with over five years of experience in the sports industry. Last season, he spent time with both the National Hockey League Toronto Office and the Toronto Blue Jays MLB Club. He served as the All-Star Location Office Coordinator for the National Hockey League, helping to plan and coordinate behind-the-scenes efforts for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto. De Rose spent his time with the Toronto Blue Jays serving as the Coordinator of Facility Operations, aiding senior management with the operations of the Rogers Centre facility and the Jays’ event staff. From 2021-2023, de Rose was Coordinator of Operations and Team Services Assistant for the American Hockey League’s Belleville Senators where he supported executive staff with business and event operations. He also assisted with team services, planning and coordinating travel, immigration documents, housing, team facilities upgrades, and team administrative duties. 

De Rose received a Bachelor of Sports Management from Brock University in St. Catharine’s, Ontario in April of 2021.

Tim Mayer is in his first season as the ECHL's Manager of Officiating Development.

In this role, he assists Tim Nowak and Riley Yerkovich through on-site supervision, as well as making recommendations for recruitment and development of on-ice officials, as well as presenting at the ECHL Officiating Training Camp and Coaches’ Meetings.

Mayer spent two seasons as an ECHL referee from 2008-10, and worked over 1,100 career professional games, including more than 700 in the AHL from 2009-22. He also officiated games in the United States Hockey League, Southern Professional Hockey League, Central Hockey League, United Hockey League and International Hockey League. Mayer represented USA Hockey by working five IIHF World Championships, and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he was selected to work the bronze medal game. Mayer worked the AHL All-Star Game in 2018, and received the Michael Condon Memorial Award in 2021 for outstanding contributions by an on-ice official. He has spent the previous two seasons as an ECHL Officiating Development Coach and owns and operates his own business, Shoreliners Striping LLC, which specializes in pavement marking and surface striping/field striping.

Amanda Arrowsmith joined the ECHL as Manager of Social & Digital Media in August 2023.

Arrowsmith is responsible for assisting with the implementation of the ECHL digital and social media platforms, creating and designing graphic and video content to fulfill digital strategies, as well as assisting with the League’s streaming service and managing the ECHL’s social pages.
 
 

She joined the ECHL after serving as the Assistant Director/Sports Facilities Manager for Brighton Area Schools /Brighton Area Recreation Connection Athletics in Brighton, Michigan. Arrowsmith earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Management, with a minor in Marketing, from Central Michigan University in December 2022. While in college, she was the Social Media Manager for Central Michigan’s Men’s DII Club Hockey Team.