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 ====
End of season standings
Eastern Conference
{| class="wikitable sortable"	
{| class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		
1	Elmira Jackals 	72	45	22	2	3	228	204	95		
2	Wheeling Nailers	72	37	26	4	5	219	202	83		
3	Reading Royals 	72	36	28	4	4	229	235	80		
4	Trenton Titans 	72	21	41	4	6	211	271	52		
{| class="wikitable sortable"	
{| class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		
1	Kalamazoo Wings 	72	38	26	2	6	264	237	84		
2	Chicago Express 	72	34	26	8	4	216	234	80		
3	Cincinnati Cyclones	72	35	28	2	7	228	227	79		
4	Toledo Walleye 	72	28	38	2	4	189	258	48		
{| class="wikitable sortable"	
{| class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		
1	Gwinnett Gladiators 	72	41	20	7	4	214	200	93		
2	Greenville Road Warriors	72	41	25	2	4	232	215	88		
3	Florida Everblades 	72	39	26	2	5	260	218	85		
4	South Carolina Stingrays	72	37	28	4	3	191	180	81		
Western Conference
{| class="wikitable sortable"	
{| class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		
1	Alaska Aces 	72	43	18	3	8	224	172	97		
2	Colorado Eagles 	72	38	28	1	5	250	252	82		
3	Utah Grizzlies 	72	33	33	0	6	183	223	72		
4	Idaho Steelheads	72	31	32	2	7	194	236	71		
{| class="wikitable sortable"	
{| class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		
1	Ontario Reign 	72	43	21	5	3	242	193	94		
2	Las Vegas Wranglers	72	42	22	1	7	235	198	92		
3	Stockton Thunder 	72	34	33	1	4	204	216	73		
4	Bakersfield Condors	72	24	41	4	3	199	241	55		
==== By Conference ====
End of season standings
{| class="wikitable sortable"	
{| class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		
1 	z - Elmira Jackals * 	AT 	72 	45 	22 	2 	3 	228	204	95 		
2 	y - Gwinnett Gladiators *	SO 	72 	41 	20 	7 	4 	214	200	93 		
3 	y - Kalamazoo Wings * 	NO 	72 	38 	26 	2 	6 	264	237	84 		
4 	Greenville Road Warriors 	SO 	72 	41 	25 	2 	4 	232	215	88 		
5 	Florida Everblades 	SO 	72 	39 	26 	2 	5 	260	218	85 		
6 	Wheeling Nailers 	AT 	72 	37 	26 	4 	5 	219	202	83 		
7 	South Carolina Stingrays 	SO 	72 	37 	28 	4 	3 	191	180	81 		
8 	Reading Royals 	AT 	72 	36 	28 	4 	4 	229	235	80 		
8.5	8.5 	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5		
9 	Chicago Express 	NO 	72 	34 	26 	8 	4 	216	234	80 		
10 	Cincinnati Cyclones 	NO 	72 	35 	28 	2 	7 	228	227	79 		
11 	Toledo Walleye 	NO 	72 	28 	38 	2 	4 	189	258	62 		
12 	Trenton Titans 	AT 	72 	21 	41 	4 	6 	211	271	52 		
* – Division leader; y – Won division; z – Won conference (and division)
{| class="wikitable sortable"	
{| class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		
1 	z - Alaska Aces * 	MT 	72 	43 	18 	3 	8 	224	172	97 		
2 	y - Ontario Reign *	PA 	72 	43 	21 	5 	3 	242	193	94 		
3 	Las Vegas Wranglers	PA 	72 	42 	22 	1 	7 	235	198	92 		
4 	Colorado Eagles 	MT 	72 	38 	28 	1 	5 	250	252	82 		
5 	Stockton Thunder 	PA 	72 	34 	33 	1 	4 	204	216	73 		
6 	Utah Grizzlies 	MT 	72 	33 	33 	0 	6 	183	223	72 		
7 	Idaho Steelheads 	MT 	72 	31 	32 	2 	7 	194	236	71 		
8.5	8.5 	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5		
8 	Bakersfield Condors	PA 	72 	24 	41 	4 	3 	199	241	55 		
* – Division leader; y – Won division; z – Won conference (and division)
==2011-12 Kelly Cup Playoffs==
===Bracket===
==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
Player	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	Elmira Jackals 	72	25	60	85 	73
 	Las Vegas Wranglers 	71	32	52	84 	45
 	Greenville Road Warriors	69	19	59	78 	37
 	Colorado Eagles 	47	29	47	76 	26
 	Kalamazoo Wings 	69	18	56	74 	40
 	Reading Royals 	69	23	47	70 	65
 	Alaska Aces 	70	35	33	68 	30
 	Cincinnati Cyclones 	62	30	38	68 	59
 	Colorado Eagles 	56	27	41	68 	60
 	Las Vegas Wranglers 	52	37	30	67 	38
=== 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
Player	Team 	GP	Min 	W 	L 	OTL	SOL	GA 	SO	SV% 	GAA
 	Alaska Aces 	27	1644	18	5 	1 	3 	53 	3 	.926	1.93
 	Gwinnett Gladiators 	26	1538	17	6 	1 	1 	52 	5 	.930	2.03
 	South Carolina Stingrays	43	2536	23	13	4 	1 	94 	1 	.918	2.22
 	Alaska Aces 	34	2022	19	10	2 	3 	80 	3 	.908	2.37
 	Las Vegas Wranglers 	47	2739	30	10	1 	3 	109	3 	.912	2.39
 	Ontario Reign 	30	1669	17	7 	2 	2 	67 	3 	.918	2.41
 	Florida Everblades 	25	1489	16	6 	1 	2 	60 	1 	.920	2.42
 	Stockton Thunder 	40	2388	16	18	1 	4 	99 	4 	.925	2.49
 	Wheeling Nailers 	37	2113	18	14	1 	2 	88 	3 	.909	2.50
 	Elmira Jackals 	40	2294	26	11	1 	1 	98 	1 	.917	2.56
== ECHL awards ==
Patrick Kelly Cup: 	Florida Everblades
Henry Brabham Cup: 	Alaska Aces
Gingher Memorial Trophy: 	Florida Everblades
Bruce Taylor Trophy: 	Las Vegas Wranglers
John Brophy Award: 	Rob Murray (Alaska Aces)John Wroblewski (Gwinnett Gladiators)
CCM U+ Most Valuable Player: 	Chad Costello (Colorado Eagles)
Kelly Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player:	John Muse (Florida Everblades)
Reebok Hockey Goaltender of the Year: 	Jeff Jakaitis (Gwinnett Gladiators)
CCM Rookie of the Year: 	Dustin Gazley (Elmira Jackals)
Defenseman of the Year: 	Aaron Schneekloth (Colorado Eagles)
Leading Scorer: 	Dustin Gazley (Elmira Jackals)
Reebok Plus Performer Award: 	Mathieu Aubin (Cincinnati Cyclones)
Sportsmanship Award: 	Kevin Ulanski (Colorado Eagles)
Community Service Award: 	Jason Fredricks (Ontario Reign)
Birmingham Memorial Award: 	Jason Rollins
===All-ECHL Teams===
All-ECHL First Team
 F Chad Costello (Colorado)
 F Dustin Gazley (Elmira)
 F Eric Lampe (Las Vegas)
 D Bryan Miller (Alaska)
 D Aaron Schneekloth (Colorado)
 G Jeff Jakaitis (Gwinnett)
All-ECHL Second Team
 F Justin Bowers (Greenville)
 F Dan Kissel (Alaska)
 F Adam Miller (Las Vegas)
 D Andrew Hotham (Wheeling)
 D Johann Kroll (South Carolina)
 G Joe Fallon (Las Vegas)
===ECHL All-Rookie Team===
ECHL-All Rookie Team
 F Chris Barton (Wheeling)
 F Dustin Gazley (Elmira)
 F Matthew Sisca (Cincinnati)
 D Andrew Hotham (Wheeling)
 D Mike Little (Stockton)
 G Philipp Grubauer (South Carolina)
==References==
Category:ECHL seasons
Category:2011 in hockey
Category:2012 in hockey