At the end of the
2004β05 season, the
Pee Dee Pride and
Louisiana IceGators franchises ceased operations, with the Florence-based Pride announcing a move to nearby Conway (in the Myrtle Beach area; the cities of Florence and Myrtle Beach are considered one market for television purposes) while awaiting completion of the new Atlantic Center Arena that eventually never happened. The ECHL eventually revoked the franchise at the 2009 Board of Governors meeting. The
Peoria Rivermen franchise also ceased operations when the ownership acquired an
AHL franchise and
under the same name.
The league also approved of
Barry Kemp's
Ontario, California, expansion franchise rights to be transferred to play in
Bloomington, Illinois, in May 2004.[1][2][3] After an apparent fallout among the Bloomington Partners and the nearby Peoria Rivermen transferring to the AHL,[4] the Bloomington ECHL franchise was sold to Legacy Partners, LLC, headed by
Phoenix Suns' majority owner
Robert Sarver and the franchise was relocated as the
Phoenix RoadRunners[5] as the only expansion team for the season.
Just prior to the start of the season, the
Texas Wildcatters and the
Mississippi Sea Wolves were both forced to sit out the season due to damage caused by Hurricanes
Katrina and
Rita. The Wildcatters were given permission to re-enter the league for the
2006β07 season, while the Sea Wolves were allowed to return for the
2007β08 season.
While most leagues adopted the entire NHL rule change package for 2005β06 (based on the 2004β05 AHL rule changes), the ECHL kept the shootout at five players, and kept the automatic icing rule which has been used in the league.
At the end of the
2004β05 season, the
Pee Dee Pride and
Louisiana IceGators franchises ceased operations, with the Florence-based Pride announcing a move to nearby Conway (in the Myrtle Beach area; the cities of Florence and Myrtle Beach are considered one market for television purposes) while awaiting completion of the new Atlantic Center Arena that eventually never happened. The ECHL eventually revoked the franchise at the 2009 Board of Governors meeting. The
Peoria Rivermen franchise also ceased operations when the ownership acquired an
AHL franchise and
under the same name.
The league also approved of
Barry Kemp's
Ontario, California, expansion franchise rights to be transferred to play in
Bloomington, Illinois, in May 2004.[1][2][3] After an apparent fallout among the Bloomington Partners and the nearby Peoria Rivermen transferring to the AHL,[4] the Bloomington ECHL franchise was sold to Legacy Partners, LLC, headed by
Phoenix Suns' majority owner
Robert Sarver and the franchise was relocated as the
Phoenix RoadRunners[5] as the only expansion team for the season.
Just prior to the start of the season, the
Texas Wildcatters and the
Mississippi Sea Wolves were both forced to sit out the season due to damage caused by Hurricanes
Katrina and
Rita. The Wildcatters were given permission to re-enter the league for the
2006β07 season, while the Sea Wolves were allowed to return for the
2007β08 season.
While most leagues adopted the entire NHL rule change package for 2005β06 (based on the 2004β05 AHL rule changes), the ECHL kept the shootout at five players, and kept the automatic icing rule which has been used in the league.