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ECHL mourns loss of Hall of Fame Member Carl Scheer

ECHL mourns loss of Hall of Fame Member Carl Scheer

Saturday, December 14th

The ECHL and its member teams mourn the loss and express their condolences to the family and friends of former ECHL executive Carl Scheer, who passed away at the age of 82.

Scheer was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2015 after having over 20 years of experience as an ECHL team executive. He first joined the League in 1993-94, when the Charlotte Checkers joined the League as an expansion team. It was the first time professional hockey had called Charlotte home in over 15 years, and the team was a nearly instant success drawing over 8,100 fans per game in its inaugural season. Charlotte finished in the top four in ECHL attendance in each of its first four seasons and went on to capture the Riley Cup championship in 1996.

Scheer, who served as the Chairman of the ECHL Board of Governors for several seasons in the 1990s, developed the BI-LO Center in downtown Greenville and brought the Greenville Grrrowl into the ECHL for the 1998-99 season. The Grrrowl averaged over 9,200 fans per game in their first season, and still hold four of the nine largest single-game crowds in ECHL history.

"Carl was a great asset to the ECHL bringing hockey back to Charlotte with the Checkers, serving as Chairman of the Board for a number of years, and was also instrumental in bringing hockey to Greenville," said ECHL Commissioner Emeritus Patrick J. Kelly. "He was a great sports executive and will be deeply missed."

In addition to his experience in the ECHL, Scheer also enjoyed considerable success in basketball, serving as the general manager for the American Basketball Association’s Carolina Cougars in the early 1970s. He later served as GM of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers before joining the Charlotte Hornets for their first season of existence in 1987.

During his time in the ABA, he was the driving force of the creation for the Slam Dunk Contest, which has become a fixture of NBA All-Star Weekend.

Scheer is survived by his wife, Marsha, and his children, Bob and Lauren.