2011 - 12 ECHL season The 2011 – 12 ECHL season was the 24th season of the ECHL . The regular season schedule ran from October 4 , 2011 to March 31 , 2012 and was followed by the 2012 Kelly Cup playoffs beginning on April 2 , 2012 . League Business . Team changes . Following the loss of the Victoria Salmon Kings at the end of the 2010 – 11 season , the league welcomed as its 19th and 20th teams , the Chicago Express , who played home games at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates , Illinois and the Colorado Eagles , who moved to the ECHL from the Central Hockey League and played home games at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland , Colorado . Chicago played in the North Division of the Eastern Conference and Colorado played in the Mountain Division of the Western Conference . On July 6 , 2011 the New Jersey Devils announced that the Trenton Devils were suspending operations immediately , citing a desire to restructure their player development system to more closely mirror those of other NHL franchises . New Jersey was the only NHL team to wholly own its ECHL affiliate . Trenton had failed to qualify for the playoffs for three out of the previous four seasons and had regularly posted league - low attendance numbers . Prior to folding , the team lost $ 1 . 5 million during the 2010 – 11 ECHL season . Later on July 27 , an announcement was made that the franchise would re - enter the ECHL for the 2011 – 12 season as the Trenton Titans , with a press conference officially announcing the team occurring on July 28 . However , the ECHL Board of Governors gave the team a new membership on July 28 . The new membership allows the team to avoid paying off the debt . The team maintained their place in the Eastern Conference ' s Atlantic Division spot and will maintain their original schedule for the 2011 – 12 season . Annual Board of Governors meeting . The league ' s annual Board of Governors meeting concluded on August 1 , 2011 . Announcements included the re - election of Steve Chapman , president of the Gwinnett Gladiators as board president ; adoption by the league of an attainable icing rule similar to that employed by the NHL and the league re - alignment for the 2011 – 12 season . The Colorado Eagles joined the Western Conference ' s Mountain Division , while in the Eastern Conference , the Wheeling Nailers moved to the Atlantic Division and the Chicago Express occupied the North Division spot left vacant by the Nailers . The league also announced that no All - Star game would be conducted during the 2011 – 12 season . 2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs format . The format for the 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs remained unchanged from the previous season . In the Eastern Conference , postseason berths were awarded to the first - place team in each division and the next five teams in the conference , based on points . The division winners were seeded first , second and third and played the eighth - place finisher , the seventh - place finisher and the sixth - place finisher , respectively , while the fourth - place finisher and the fifth - place finisher met . The conference semifinals had the winner of the first - place and eighth - place matchup meet the winner of the fourth - place and fifth - place game while the winner of the second - place and seventh - place game faced the winner of the third - place and sixth - place matchup . In the Western Conference , postseason berths were awarded to the first - place team in each division and the next five teams in the conference , based on points . The division winner with the best record in the conference received a bye in the first round . The other division winner was seeded second and met the team that finished seventh in the conference in the first round . The other first round matchups were the third - place finisher in the conference against the sixth - place finisher in the conference and the fourth - place finisher in the conference against the fifth - place finisher in the conference . The conference semifinals had the first - place finisher meet the winner of the fourth - place and fifth - place matchup and the winner of the second - place finisher and seventh - place finisher against the winner of the third - place finisher and the sixth - place finisher . The first round in each Conference was a best of five series with each subsequent round being a best of seven series . Regular Season . Standings . By Division . < br > Eastern Conference < br > Western Conference < br > By Conference . < br > < nowiki > * < / nowiki > – Division leader ; y – Won division ; z – Won conference ( and division ) < br > < nowiki > * < / nowiki > – Division leader ; y – Won division ; z – Won conference ( and division ) < br > Player statistics . Scoring leaders . The following were the top ten players in the league in points at the conclusion of the 2011 – 12 season . " GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; PIM = Penalty minutes " Leading goaltenders . The following were the top ten goaltenders in the league in goals against average at the conclusion of the 2011 – 12 season . " GP = Games played ; Min = Minutes played ; W = Wins ; L = Losses ; OTL = Overtime losses ; SOL = Shootout losses ; GA = Goals against ; SO = Shutouts ; SV % = Save percentage ; GAA = Goals against average "