AHL champion Abbotsford has three former ECHL players

For the 34th season in a row the ECHL is represented on the American Hockey League champion as three of the 25 players who played for the Abbotsford Canucks in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs played in the ECHL.

There have been 157 former ECHL players on the last 19 AHL champions. 

The ECHL has had affiliations with 20 or more teams in the AHL each of the last 24 years. The Kalamazoo Wings served as the ECHL affiliate for Abbotsford during the 2024-25 season.

Former ECHL players who captured the 2025 Calder Cup title are Joe Arntsen (Kalamazoo, 2024-25), Ty Glover (Kalamazoo, 2023-24) and Arturs Silovs (Trois-Rivières, 2021-22).

Silovs received the Jack Butterfield Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Calder Cup Playoffs becoming the seventh player to receive the award after playing in the ECHL, and the second in the last three seasons after Hunter Shepard received the award in 2023.

Abbotsford’s Development & Goaltending Coach Justin Pogge went 6-2-0 in nine appearances with Bakersfield during the 2009-10 season.

Three of the 24 players on the runner-up Charlotte Checkers had ECHL experience with Riley Bezeau (Savannah, 2024-25), Dennis Cesana (Florida, 2023-24 and Savannah, 2024-25) and Wilmer Skoog (Florida, 2023-24).

During the 2024-25 season, 298 ECHL players were recalled to the American Hockey League for a total of 575 recalls. The Wheeling Nailers led the ECHL with 22 players recalled while the Bloomington Bison and Iowa Heartlanders led the League with 41 overall recalls. 

Eleven times in the last 25 years the winner of the AHL Coach of the Year award has been a former ECHL coach including former South Carolina Stingrays’ head coach Spencer Carbery, who won the award in 2020-21, and former Reading Royals and Ontario Reign head coach Karl Taylor, who won the award in 2019-20. Former Roanoke Valley Rebels’ and Richmond Renegades’ head coach Roy Sommer, won the award in 2016-17 while former Trenton Devils’ coach Rick Kowalsky, a 2017 inductee into the ECHL Hall of Fame, won the award in 2015-16. Former ECHL coaches Scott Gordon and Mike Haviland won the award in back-to-back years in 2006 and 2007. Former ECHL coaches won the award four consecutive years from 2001-04 with Don Granato, Bruce Cassidy, Geoff Ward and Claude Noel. The first former ECHL coach to win the award was Peter Laviolette in 1999. 

For the 18th season in a row at least six former ECHL players were named AHL Player of the Week with former Florida Everblades’ goaltender Devin Cooley; former South Carolina Stingrays’ goaltender Pheonix Copley; former Orlando Solar Bears, Tulsa Oilers and Worcester Railers’ goaltender Colten Ellis; former Kalamazoo Wings’ goaltender Jet Greaves, former Idaho Steelheads’ forward Antonio Stranges and former Reading Royals’ forward Max Willman.

Twelve of the 32 head coaches in the American Hockey League during the 2024-25 season previously served as coaches in the ECHL with Bakersfield’s Colin Chaulk, Bridgeport’s Rick Kowalsky, Coachella Valley’s Derek Laxdal, Colorado’s Aaron Schneekloth, Grand Rapids’ Dan Watson, Manitoba’s Mark Morrison, Milwaukee’s Karl Taylor, Providence’s Ryan Mougenel, Rochester’s Mike Leone, San Diego’s Matt McIlvane, Texas’ Neil Graham and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Kirk MacDonald.

Former ECHL broadcasters working in the American Hockey League during the 2024-25 season included Ryan Holt of the Bakersfield Condors, Alan Fuehring of the Bridgeport Islanders, Jason Shaver of the Chicago Wolves, Tony Brown of the Cleveland Monsters, Evan Pivnick of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Kevin McGlue of the Colorado Eagles, Brian McCormack of the Henderson Silver Knights, Zack Fisch of the Hershey Bears, Bob Rotruck of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Jared Shafran of the Ontario Reign, Dana Grey of the Rockford IceHogs, Lukas Favale of the Syracuse Crunch, John Peterson of the Texas Stars and Jason Shaya of the Utica Comets.

Forty-five of the 88 referees working in the American Hockey League, came from the ECHL, while 82 of the 146 linespeople in the AHL have worked games in the ECHL.

About the ECHL

Formed in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 29 teams in 22 states and one Canadian province for its 37th season in 2024-25. There have been 768 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 16 who have made their NHL debuts in the 2024-25 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 29 of the 32 NHL teams in 2024-25, marking the 27th consecutive season that the league has affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com.