ECHL announces revised South Division Playoff format
October 17, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL on Monday announced a revision in the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs format for the South Division which was approved in a vote of the Board of Governors.
The league was forced to revise the playoff format in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita which forced two members of the South Division, the Mississippi Sea Wolves and Texas Wildcatters, to suspend operations for 2005-06. The Sea Wolves and Wildcatters have both announced their plans to return for the 2006-07 season.
In the new format for the South Division, the top six teams based on regular-season point totals will advance to the postseason. In the best-of-three Division Quarterfinals, the third-place team will meet the sixth-place team and the fourth-place team will meet the fifth-place team with the winners reseeded according to regular-season point totals for the Division Semifinals. In the best-of-five Division Semifinals, the first-place team will meet the fourth-seeded team and the second-place team will meet the third-seeded team. In the best-of-five Division Finals, the winners will be reseeded according to regular-season points. The winner of the South Division Finals will advance to face the winner of the North Division in the best-of-seven American Conference Finals for the right to advance to the best-of-seven Kelly Cup Finals.
The conference and division alignments are:
American Conference (14 teams)
North Division (6 teams) - Dayton, Johnstown, Reading, Toledo, Trenton and Wheeling
South Division (8 teams) - Augusta, Charlotte, Columbia, Florida, Greenville, Gwinnett, Pensacola and South Carolina
National Conference (11 teams)
West Division (6 teams) - Alaska, Idaho, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Utah and Victoria
Pacific Division (5 teams) - Bakersfield, Fresno, Long Beach, San Diego and Stockton
The format for the North Division, the West Division and the Pacific Division remain the same as approved by the Board at its annual meeting in June.
In the North Division, the fourth-place and fifth-place finishers will meet in a best-of-three Division Quarterfinal, the winner advancing to the Division Semifinals against the division winner. The other Division Semifinal match-up will be between the second-place and third-place finishers. The Division Finals will be a best-of-five with the North Division winner advancing to meet the winner of the South Division in the best-of-seven American Conference Finals for the right to advance to the Kelly Cup Finals.
The playoff qualifiers in the National Conference will be the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the Pacific Division and the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the West Division. The Division Semifinals will be best-of-seven series with the first-place finishers meeting the fourth-place finishers and the second-place finishers meeting the third-place finishers. The winners of the Division Semifinals advance to the division finals which are also best-of-seven series. The Division Finals winners will meet in the best-of-seven National Conference Finals to advance to the Kelly Cup Finals.
• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...
ECHL Stories from October 17, 2005
- Titans hold off Royals 5-3 - Trenton Devils
- RoadRunners Add J.F Soucy From Tampa Bay - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Salmon Kings Training Camp Roster Reduced by Two - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Ice Dogs Trim Roster - Long Beach Ice Dogs
- Inaugural "Blue-White" Game Set For Wednesday - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Parrish, Campbell Agree to Terms With Thunder - Stockton Thunder
- Community Update - Bakersfield Condors
- Wranglers start season with two game in Florida this weekend - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Toledo's Roster Changes With A Bevy Of Moves - Toledo Walleye
- Omaha sends Pardy to Wranglers - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Falcons Make Roster Cuts - Fresno Falcons
- Aces trim roster - Alaska Aces
- McLeod Assigned From Lowell; Roster Trimmed To 21 - San Diego Gulls
- Team Captains Announced - San Diego Gulls
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- ECHL Opens Its 18th Season With 25 Games - ECHL
- ECHL This Week - South Division - ECHL
- ECHL This Week - Pacific Division - ECHL
- ECHL This Week - North Division - ECHL
- ECHL This Week - West Division - ECHL
- Lynx week in review - Augusta Lynx
- Stanford named president of arena and Steelheads - Idaho Steelheads
- Ferguson, Ftorek to appear on Comcast Connect Live - Augusta Lynx
- Titans launch Once in a Lifetime auction - Trenton Devils
- ECHL announces revised South Division Playoff format - Atlanta Gladiators
- Ice Dogs tickets now on sale - Long Beach Ice Dogs
- Berkhoel becomes 263rd former ECHL player to play In NHL - ECHL
- Ice Dogs finish undefeated in preseason - Long Beach Ice Dogs
- Emerson becomes a Star - Mississippi Sea Wolves
- Meet Your Nailers Night at TJ's Sports Garden - Wheeling Nailers
- Nailers Week In Review - Wheeling Nailers
- Sting Rays finish preseason 2-0 - South Carolina Stingrays
- Gwinnett Gladiators weekly updates - Atlanta Gladiators
- Everblades shuffle roster - Florida Everblades
- Lynx host a meet and greet for season ticket holders - Augusta Lynx
- Lynx sign Corbeil, cut four - Augusta Lynx
- Inferno, Sticky Fingers team up to aid hurricane relief efforts - Columbia Inferno
- Condors hold off San Diego 5-4 in preseason finale - Bakersfield Condors
- Falcons complete preseason Trifecta - Fresno Falcons
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.