NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Washington Capitals, parent club of the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears, were in Nashville for the 2023 iteration of the National Hockey League’s Entry Draft to select the latest crop of new players to join the organization. The Bears are fresh off of a Calder Cup win only a week prior to the draft that had the fingerprints of previous draftees all over it, and the Capitals have picked up some quality players out of the draft with a staff that has a keen eye for not only good talent, but great people as well. Much of their talent has gone on to play in the NHL, wh ..read more

GREENVILLE, S.C. – While most of the hockey world had its sights on the NHL Draft on Wednesday night in Nashville, TN, the ECHL held its summer meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada. The ECHL streamed their award ceremony on the league’s Facebook page that night. The league had announced its finalists for the 2022-23 ECHL Team Awards earlier in June, one of them being Greenville Swamp Rabbits’ own, Mark Shelley. The Man Behind the Mic Mark Shelley, who’s been with the team since 2021, starting as the team’s Manager of Media Relations and Broadcaster, was nominated for the ECHL’s Broadcaster of the Yea ..read more

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits will have an interesting task to figure out going into the 2023/24 season. After a remarkable season, Swamp Rabbits rookie forward, Alex Ierullo, will not be with the team next season. He signed with the Italian hockey team Asiago in the Austrian win2day ICE Hockey League. It comes as a bit of a shock after scoring 27 goals and 60 assists in 67 games in his rookie season with Greenville. It’ll be interesting going into the 23/24 season for the Swamp Rabbits with Alex Ierullo & his 87 points not coming back https://t.co/PDb7CTmh9A — Zach ..read more

HERSHEY, Pa. – In the hours preceding Game 7 of the Calder Cup Final between the Hershey Bears and the Coachella Valley Firebirds, head coach Todd Nelson and his wife put together an impromptu cookout. With an expanded group of people joining the players on the trip out to Palm Springs, California, the players got to spend time with each other and their families one more time before skating in the biggest game of their hockey careers. Nelson put together a similar type of event back in Hershey before the season started in order to get to know the players and their families before hitting ..read more

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Another deadline in the ECHL has come and gone. At 3 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, all ECHL teams had to submit their season-ending rosters to the league. The list cannot exceed more than 20 players. You can find how that works in A Guide to Understanding the ECHL Off-Season. A couple of weeks ago, The Greenville Swamp Rabbits also released their protection list featuring 29 players. For complete stats, check the protection list article. Let’s take a look at who made the season-ending roster for Greenville. Who Made the List? Forwards (9): Anthony Beauchamp, Tanner Eberle ..read more

WICHITA, Kan. – Welcome to the start of ECHL free agency! Today starts a months-long dash for teams to find the best available player on the market and get them signed before the start of the 2023-24 season. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen lists of all kinds flying from the ECHL offices, and we’re not done yet. My colleagues, Zach Martin and Thomas Thrift put together this handy article breaking down the lists and what they mean. Before I get into where I think the greatest need is for Wichita, a note about what to expect in the next couple of months: while signings will ..read more

PALM SPRINGS, Ca. – The Calder Cup is coming back to the Sweetest Place on Earth. The Hershey Bears staged a comeback of epic proportions in Game Seven of the Calder Cup Finals. Mike Vecchione buried a puck at the side of the net at the 16:19 mark of the extra session, erasing a 2-0 deficit and claiming the Calder Cup in overtime by a 3-2 count. It was just the second time in American Hockey League history that a Game 7 in the championship round went to extra time. The win brings home Hershey’s 12th Calder Cup championship, its first in 13 years. It didn’t look like that would be the resu ..read more

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The ECHL has announced the 2023-24 protected lists for all 28 teams in the league. As stated in previous articles, the protected list can contain more than 20 players and a team can control their signing rights going into next season. There is a specific criteria each team must meet to keep certain players, which can be found in A Guide to Understanding the ECHL Off-Season. This article will focus on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Let’s take a closer look at the Swamp Rabbits’ protected list: Decisions, Decisions… Greenville Swamp Rabbits 2023/24 Protected List: Courtesy of ..read more

SHREWSBURY, N.J. – Congratulations! You made it through another season of ECHL hockey, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably curious about how exactly the ECHL off-season works. As you may or may not already know, all ECHL contracts are one-year deals. This begs the question of how a team could build chemistry and continuity as it attempts to keep its identity from year to year. There are actually a plethora of options that an ECHL team holds within its power to make this happen. Protected Lists, Season-Ending Rosters, Qualifying Offers…OH MY At surface level, each of these terms may see ..read more

WICHITA, Kan. – One of the final pieces of business from the 2022-23 season was completed Tuesday, when Wichita Thunder head coach Bruce Ramsay had two trades to square up. The first trade happened on February 20, when the Thunder acquired defenseman Austin Crossley from the Florida Everblades. The second-year defenseman played in 13 games for Wichita, piling up 71 penalty minutes while chipping in just two points (1G, 1A). In exchange for Crossley, the Thunder sent defenseman Chris McKay to the Everblades, who then traded him to Wheeling to complete a prior deal. The second trade that wa ..read more