2001-02 ECHL season

The 2001-02 ECHL season was the fourteenth season of the East Coast Hockey League. Before the start of the season, the league saw one expansion franchise and five relocations, three of which were through the buying of the franchise rights of former clubs that had ceased operations. These relocations include the rights to the Columbus Chill moving to Reading, PA, the rights to the Hampton Roads Admirals moving to Columbus, GA, and the rights to the Miami Matadors relocating to the former ECHL market of Cincinnati, OH. The league also saw current franchises Birmingham Bulls move to Atlantic City, NJ and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks move to Macon, GA. The league also welcomed it's fourth franchise from the state of South Carolina with an expansion franchise in the state's capital of Columbia, SC. The Louisiana IceGators finished first overall in the regular season, winning the Brabham Cup with the best record in league history. The Greenville Grrrowl won their first Kelly Cup sweeping the Dayton Bombers in four games.
During the opening weekend of the ECHL season, the league had a moment of silence for former South Carolina Stingrays player Mark Bavis, who had been killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Ryan Brindley, who was wearing #12 for the Stingrays in the previous season, changed to #55 after the team retired the number that Bavis had worn during his two seasons (1994-96) with the Stingrays.
== Playoff format ==
The ECHL realigned the playoff format for the season.
=== Northern Conference ===
The top four teams in each division would qualify for the playoffs, with the division champions being ranked first in their brackets and the other qualified teams ranked by points. The first seeds will play the fourth seeds and the second seeds will play the third seeds in best-of-five series in the Division Semifinals. The winners will advance to the best-of-five Division Finals and the playoff winners of each division would play each other in a best-of-five Conference Championship series, with the winner advancing to the Kelly Cup Finals.
=== Southern Conference ===
The top five teams in each division would qualify for the playoffs, with the division champions being ranked first in their brackets and the other qualified teams ranked by points. The fourth and fifth seeds of each division will play a single-game series in the Division Wild Card, with each winner advancing to play their division leader in the best-of-five Division Semifinal series, while the second seeds will play the third seeds in best-of-five series in the Division Semifinals. The winners will advance to the best-of-five Division Finals and the playoff winners of each division would play each other in a best-of-five Conference Championship series, with the winner advancing to the Kelly Cup Finals.
==Regular season==
===Final standings===
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L= Loses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; Green shade = Clinched playoff spot; Blue shade = Clinched division; (z) = Clinched home-ice advantage
====Northern Conference====
Northeast Division 	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA
Trenton Titans 	72	46	16	10	102	238	178
Charlotte Checkers 	72	41	20	11	93 	256	207
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies	72	42	22	8 	92 	233	209
Roanoke Express 	72	35	26	11	81 	242	223
Richmond Renegades 	72	32	30	10	74 	191	225
Reading Royals 	72	27	36	9 	63 	182	215
Greensboro Generals 	72	23	41	8 	54 	188	278
Northwest Division 	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA
Dayton Bombers 	72	40	20	12	92 	222	196
Peoria Rivermen 	72	41	23	8 	90 	206	179
Johnstown Chiefs 	72	39	31	2 	80 	220	232
Cincinnati Cyclones	72	36	30	6 	78 	210	207
Wheeling Nailers 	72	36	32	4 	76 	213	208
Toledo Storm 	72	28	34	10	66 	225	265
====Southern Conference====
Southeast Division 	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA
Greenville Grrrowl 	72	43	23	6 	92 	231	198
Pee Dee Pride 	72	41	25	6 	88 	236	218
Columbia Inferno 	72	36	22	14	86 	211	197
South Carolina Stingrays	72	39	26	7 	85 	235	225
Florida Everblades 	72	37	27	8 	82 	207	221
Augusta Lynx 	72	36	26	10	82 	218	224
Macon Whoopee 	72	29	31	12	70 	194	228
Columbus Cottonmouths 	72	24	37	11	59 	197	242
Southwest Division 	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA
Louisiana IceGators 	72	56	12	4 	116	261	156
Mississippi Sea Wolves	72	41	26	5 	87 	251	232
Pensacola Ice Pilots 	72	38	28	6 	82 	247	242
Jackson Bandits 	72	34	29	9 	77 	187	202
New Orleans Brass 	72	36	32	4 	76 	211	209
Mobile Mysticks 	72	28	26	18	74 	215	237
Arkansas RiverBlades 	72	31	31	10	72 	189	206
Baton Rouge Kingfish 	72	29	35	8 	66 	187	244
== Kelly Cup playoffs ==
=== Northern Conference ===
==== Bracket ====
=== Southern Conference ===
==== Bracket ====
=== Kelly Cup finals ===
==ECHL awards==
Patrick J. Kelly Cup: 	Greenville Grrrowl
Henry Brabham Cup: 	Louisiana IceGators
Northern Conference Champion: 	Dayton Bombers
Southern Conference Champion: 	Greenville Grrrowl
John Brophy Award: 	Dave Farrish (Louisiana)
ECHL Most Valuable Player: 	Frederic Cloutier (Louisiana)
Kelly Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player:	Simon Gamache and Tyrone Garner (Greenville)
ECHL Goaltender of the Year: 	Frederic Cloutier (Louisiana)
ECHL Rookie of the Year: 	Frederic Cloutier (Louisiana)
Defenseman of the Year: 	Duncan Dalmao (Roanoke)
Leading Scorer: 	Louis Dumont (Pensacola)
Plus Performer Award: 	Konstantin Kalmikov (Louisiana)
Sportsmanship Award: 	Ben Stafford (Trenton)
==Team Photos==
01-02PeoRiv.jpg|Peoria Rivermen
==See also==
* ECHL
* ECHL All-Star Game
* Kelly Cup
* List of ECHL seasons
Category:ECHL seasons
ECHL season, 2001–02
ECHL season, 2001–02