ECHL makes some changes

From an ECHL press release

The Board of Governors approved the following conference and divisional alignment for the 2014-15 season.

Eastern Conference

North Division
Cincinnati Cyclones, Elmira Jackals, Reading Royals, Toledo Walleye, Wheeling Nailers

South Division
Florida Everblades, Greenville Road Warriors, Gwinnett Gladiators, Orlando Solar Bears, South Carolina Stingrays

Western Conference

Midwest Division
Colorado Eagles, Evansville IceMen, Fort Wayne Komets, Indy Fuel, Kalamazoo Wings

Pacific Division
Alaska Aces, Bakersfield Condors, Idaho Steelheads, Ontario Reign, Stockton Thunder, Utah Grizzlies

Format determined for 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs

The top four teams in each division during the regular season will qualify for the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs. All four rounds of the playoffs will be played in a best-of-seven format.

The first two rounds of the playoffs will be played entirely within the division with the division winner meeting the fourth-place finisher and the second-place finisher meeting the team that finished in third place in the Division Semifinals. The Division Finals will pit the winner of each series against each other. The winner of the North Division Finals will meet the winner of the South Division Finals in the Eastern Conference Finals while the winner of the Midwest Division will meet the winner of the Pacific Division Finals in the Western Conference Finals. The 2015 Kelly Cup Finals will see the Eastern Conference champion take on the Western Conference champion.

The Board of Governors determined that this would create a more equitable opportunity for all teams to qualify for a playoff position.

Approval of hybrid icing

Following the lead of the National Hockey League, the Board of Governors has approved the implementation of hybrid icing for the 2014-15 season.

The hybrid-icing system allows the linesman to blow the play dead and call an automatic icing if he determines that the puck will cross the goal line and the defending player is not behind in the race to the end-zone faceoff dots in his defensive zone. The faceoff would go to the far end of the ice as it did with icings called in the no-touch icing used by the ECHL in the past.

If the attacking player is leading the race, the linesman is supposed to allow the play to continue.

Change to overtime format for regular season

Teams will start overtime of all regular-season games in the opposite end they started the game.

Gwinnett’s Chapman re-elected Chairman of the Board

Steve Chapman, president of the Gwinnett Gladiators, was re-elected to serve a ninth term as Chairman of the Board of Governors. Chapman was voted ECHL Executive of the Year in 2005 and 2006 becoming the first person in league history to win the award twice.

Bakersfield’s Riley receives Executive of the Year award

Matthew Riley, president of the Bakersfield Condors, was presented with the ECHL Executive of the Year award for the 2013-14 season. The award is determined in a vote of the ECHL Board of Governors.

Riley, who also won the award in 2006-07, joins Chapman, as the only two-time winners of the Executive of the Year award since it was introduced in 1995.

Riley was named president of the Condors in 2001 and has been with the organization since 1997 and he also serves on the ECHL’s Executive Committee. Prior to joining the Condors, Riley worked in minor league baseball serving as executive director of the Mobile BayBears, general manager of the Mobile Bay Sharks, and assistant general manager of the Chattanooga Lookouts. He began his career in professional sports as an intern with the St. Louis Cardinals. A native of Keokuk, Iowa, Riley received his communications degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University and his master’s degree in sports management from the United States Sports Academy. Riley and his wife, Teri, reside in Bakersfield with their son, Landon.