The ECHL announced on Wednesday the launch of the 2026 Kelly Cup Tour with the first stop on Saturday, Feb. 21 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico as the New Mexico Goatheads announce their first-ever National Hockey League affiliation. Every team begins the season with the goal of winning the Patrick J. Kelly Cup, presented annually to the Postseason Champion of the ECHL and won in 2025 by the Trois-Rivières Lions.
 
The tour will travel to six ECHL cities, making appearances at games, schools, sponsors, radio and television stations and other community events. The Kelly Cup will travel 5,774 miles during the tour, with the longest trek encompassing 1,936 miles from New Mexico to Norfolk, Virginia.
 
After its stop in New Mexico this weekend the Kelly Cup Tour will head to Norfolk on March 7, Maine on March 21 and 22, Reading on March 28, Cincinnati on April 11 and Fort Wayne on April 19.
 
The Kelly Cup Tour offers ECHL fans the opportunity to view the coveted Patrick J. Kelly Cup, which has been awarded to the ECHL postseason champion since 1996-97. The ECHL retired its playoff championship trophy, the Jack Riley Cup, in 1996 and replaced it with the Kelly Cup, first awarded to the playoff champion in 1997. Standing 28 inches tall and weighing 19 pounds, the Kelly Cup features the names of players, coaches and support staff from each of the 35 ECHL champions. Accompanying the Kelly Cup will be a special display that highlights the intensity and excitement of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
 
The Kelly Cup is named in recognition of Patrick J. Kelly, who is one of the founding fathers of the ECHL. Kelly served as Commissioner of the ECHL for the first eight seasons before being named Commissioner Emeritus in 1996, a title which he continues to hold. Kelly celebrates his 73rd season in hockey in 2025-26, having begun his career with the St. Catherine Teepees of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1952. He played professionally for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, the Troy Bruins of the International Hockey League, and the Greensboro Generals of the Eastern Hockey League. Kelly coached in the Eastern Hockey League from 1965-73 and was head coach and general manager of Charlotte in the Southern Hockey League from 1973-76. He coached the Colorado Rockies in the NHL in 1977-78 and is the only coach to lead the Rockies to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Following coaching stops in the American Hockey League, he went to Peoria in the International Hockey League where he led the Rivermen to the Turner Cup in his first season in 1984-85. In 2016, Kelly received the Lester Patrick Trophy from the National Hockey League for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.  
 
Forty-nine players whose name appears on the Kelly Cup have played in the National Hockey League: Sebastien Charpentier (Hampton Roads, 1998); Chris Schmidt and Travis Scott (Mississippi, 1999); Cody Rudkowsky and Cam Severson (Peoria, 2000); Zdenek Blatny, Tyrone Garner, Simon Gamache and Luke Sellars (Greenville, 2002); Kevin Colley and Matt Yeats (Atlantic City, 2003); Dan Ellis, Zenon Konopka, Warren Peters (Idaho, 2004); Chris Beckford-Tseu, Barrett Heisten, Doug Lynch, Chris Minard and Matt Underhill (Alaska, 2006); Jay Beagle, B.J. Crombeen, Greg Rallo and Francis Wathier (Idaho, 2007); David Desharnais, Cedrick Desjardins and Ryan Russell (Cincinnati, 2008); Travis Morin and James Reimer (South Carolina, 2009); Jeremy Smith and Mark Van Guilder (Cincinnati, 2010); Gerald Coleman (Alaska, 2011 and 2014) and Brian Swanson (Alaska, 2011); Kevin Quick and Justin Shugg (Florida, 2012); Stanislav Galiev (Reading, 2013); Turner Elson and John Ramage (Alaska, 2014); Darryl Bootland, Mason Geertsen and Kent Simpson (Colorado, 2017); Alex Belzile (Alaska, 2014 and Colorado, 2017); Drayson Bowman, J.C. Beaudin and Nicolas Meloche (Colorado, 2018); Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Adam Pardy and Kristians Rubins (Newfoundland, 2019); Dylan Ferguson (Fort Wayne, 2021) and Josh Ho-Sang (Florida, 2024).
 
Jared Bednar and Jay Beagle are the only two individuals to win a Kelly Cup, Calder Cup and Stanley Cup championship during their career. Bednar, who won Kelly Cups as a player with South Carolina in 1997 and 2001 and as head coach in 2009, led Lake Erie to Calder Cup title in 2016 and Colorado to Stanley Cup title in 2022, and is the only coach to win championships in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. In addition to winning the Kelly Cup with Idaho in 2007, Beagle won the Calder Cup with Hershey in 2009 and 2010 and the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018.
 
Mike Haviland, Al MacIsaac and Davis Payne each have their names engraved on both the Kelly Cup and Stanley Cup. Haviland coached Atlantic City to the 2003 Kelly Cup title and Trenton to the 2005 title and won the Stanley Cup as an assistant coach with Chicago in 2010; MacIsaac was an assistant coach for Hampton Roads’ Kelly Cup title in 1998 and captured titles as Chicago’s vice president of hockey operations in 2010, 2013 and 2015 while Payne was head coach for Alaska in 2006 and was an assistant coach with Los Angeles in 2014.      
 
2026 Kelly Cup Tour
 
February 21                 Rio Rancho Events Center                 Rio Rancho, New Mexico
March 7                       Norfolk Scope Arena                          Norfolk, Virginia
March 21 and 22         Cross Insurance Arena                        Portland, Maine
March 28                     Santander Arena                                 Reading, Pennsylvania
April 11                       Heritage Bank Center                         Cincinnati, Ohio
April 19                       Memorial Coliseum                            Fort Wayne, Indiana
 
About the ECHL
 
Formed in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 30 teams in 23 states and one Canadian province for its 38th season in 2025-26. There have been 778 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 10 who have made their NHL debuts in the 2025-26 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 30 of the 32 NHL teams in 2025-26, marking the 28th 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.