2010 – 11 ECHL season The 2010 – 11 ECHL season is the 23rd season of the ECHL . The regular season schedule runs from October 15 , 2010 to April 2 , 2011 . The Kelly Cup playoffs followed the regular season , with the first playoff game held on April 4 , 2011 , all the way to late May or early June . The league is expected to welcome one new franchise , a relocation of the Johnstown Chiefs to Greenville , South Carolina , who will play in the BI - LO Center . The ECHL will hold its annual All - Star Game and Skills Challenge on January 26 at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield , California , home of the Bakersfield Condors . League Business . Team changes . In February 2010 , Charlotte Checkers owner Michael Kahn purchased the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League from Capital District Sports and that the team would relocated to Charlotte for the 2010 – 11 season . Rumors had surfaced that the franchise rights that were held by the Checkers would be transferred to an ownership group with plans of putting a team at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego , California , but instead Charlotte returned its franchise to the ECHL . Also in February 2010 , the Johnstown Chiefs , the only member from the original five teams to compete in the league ' s inaugural season to stay in its original city , announced that they would be relocating to Greenville , South Carolina following the completion of the 2009 – 10 season . On February 15 , 2010 , the Greenville Arena District Board announced that they had agreed to a five - year deal to bring the Chiefs to Greenville ' s BI - LO Center and the ECHL Board of Governors approved the relocation of the Johnstown franchise to Greenville on February 17 . 2011 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 . Final League Standings Conference standings . x - clinched playoff spot , y - clinched division title , z - clinched best conference record , e - eliminated from playoff contention < nowiki > * < / nowiki > – division leader x - clinched playoff spot , y - clinched division title , b - clinched Brabham Cup , best record in the conference and first round bye , e - eliminated from playoff contention < nowiki > * < / nowiki > – division leader