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

Kelly Cup Playoffs

Northern Conference

Bracket

8TeamBracket | RD1= Division Semfinals
(Best of 5)
RD2=Division Finals
(Best of 5)
RD3=Conference Finals
(Best of 5)
group1=Northeast Division
group2=Northwest Division

score-width=
team-width=

RD1-seed1=NE.1
RD1-team1=Trenton
RD1-score1=3
RD1-seed2=NE.4
RD1-team2=Roanoke
RD1-score2=1

RD1-seed3=NE.2
RD1-team3=Charlotte
RD1-score3=2
RD1-seed4=NE.3
RD1-team4=Atlantic City
RD1-score4=3

RD1-seed5=NW.1
RD1-team5=Dayton
RD1-score5=3
RD1-seed6=NW.4
RD1-team6=Cincinnati
RD1-score6=0

RD1-seed7=NW.2
RD1-team7=Peoria
RD1-score7=2
RD1-seed8=NW.3
RD1-team8=Johnstown
RD1-score8=3

RD2-seed1=NE.1
RD2-team1=Trenton
RD2-score1=0
RD2-seed2=NE.3
RD2-team2=Atlantic City
RD2-score2=3

RD2-seed3=NW.1
RD2-team3=Dayton
RD2-score3=3
RD2-seed4=NW.3
RD2-team4=Johnstown
RD2-score4=0

RD3-seed1=NE.3
RD3-team1=Atlantic City
RD3-score1=1
RD3-seed2=NW.1
RD3-team2=Dayton
RD3-score2=3

Division Semfinals

ee also

* ECHL
* ECHL All-Star Game
* Kelly Cup
* List of ECHL seasons