Chicago Express

The Chicago Express were a professional ice hockey team located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, serving the Chicago market. The Express were a member of the North Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference.[1] The team played its home games at the Sears Centre.[2]

For other uses, see Chicago Express (disambiguation).
Chicago Express
CityHoffman Estates, Illinois
LeagueECHL
ConferenceEastern
DivisionNorth
Operated2011–2012
Home arenaSears Centre
ColorsNavy, Gray, Sky Blue
     
Owner(s)Craig Drecktrah
Head coachSteve Martinson
AffiliateColumbus Blue Jackets (NHL) Springfield Falcons (AHL)
Franchise history
2011–2012Chicago Express

The Express were owned by Craig Drecktrah, who formerly owned the United Hockey League's Chicago Hounds and Rockford IceHogs.

It was announced on July 13, 2011 that the Express would be affiliated with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and the AHL's Springfield Falcons.[3]

On April 6, 2012, it was announced that the Chicago Express would cease operations due to poor attendance numbers and lack of support.[4] The Express finished last in the league for average attendance with 2,508.[5] On some nights, the Express, which also had AHL and NHL competition in the same market, was struggling to get 1,000 spectators at its games.

Team history
Express mascot Traxx the horse (left)

Inception

The team formed out of talks between owner Craig Drecktrah and officials at the Sears Centre. On the heels of the Chicago Hounds folding in 2009 after only playing one season (2006–07) at the Sears Centre, Drecktrah worked with arena and Hoffman Estates village officials to bring in an ECHL franchise.[2] The league approved the franchise's application at the ECHL's annual Board of Governors Meeting in June 2010.[6]

Team name
Express center ice logo during their first and only ECHL season in 2011-12

To name the new franchise, the team held a special name the team contest that eventually received over a thousand unique name suggestions. On July 22, the four finalists for the team name were unveiled. They were the Chicago Blizzard, Hoffman Estates Hammers, Chicago Knights and Chicago Express. Voting for the team's name closed on August 4, with Express announced as the winner on September 21. The final four portion of the contest received a total of 20,000 votes.[7]

2011-2012 season

Under the direction of Steve Martinson, the Express finished with a record of 34-26-8-4, good enough for 80 points and second place in the North Division, four points behind the division leading Kalamazoo Wings. However, this was only good enough for ninth in Eastern Conference. They were actually tied with the eighth place Reading Royals points wise, however they missed out on the playoffs because the Royals had more wins.

The Express fold

At the end of the season, the Express folded outright. There were a myriad of reason for this. Firstly, the Express could not hope to compete with the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) and the Chicago Wolves (AHL). The team had no radio and television deals, and were not promoted on those mediums. The team also had a hard time drawing fans to Hoffman Estates from the heart of the city.[8]

Mascot

The mascot for the Chicago Express was "Traxx" the Horse.

Players
Chaz Johnson finished as Chicago's all-time leader in goals scored with 20.
Tyler Donati led the Express with 47 assists and 61 points.
Devin DiDiomete was the Express' all-time leader in penalty minutes.
Allen York played for both the Express and the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2011–12 season.
Nathan Lutz was the captain of the Express.
Skaters
Player # Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Drew Akins20F1610113
Josh Burrows4D43381125
Darcy Campbell6D618293787
Joe Cucci14C1414511
Steven Delisle5D3813420
Devin DiDiomete27LW41111627277
Tyler Donati19RW4614476129
Taylor Ellington4D17561114
Mike Embach16F6013132641
Pierre-Luc Faubert72RW7219254470
Matt Gingera26F61012
Ryley Grantham71F19651175
Maxime Gratchev93F278202838
Dan Henningson12D2712310
Chaz Johnson98RW64201535132
Tyler Johnson18C203368
Scott Lehman7D110227
Nathan Lutz44D726713121
Anthony Maiani7F394141810
Aaron Marvin17C6511273849
Kyler Moje15F20000
Brett Motherwell42D2508820
Kyle Ostrow9F5911203123
Chad Painchaud27LW2711112229
Trent Palm5D40000
Danick Paquette20F13741127
Drew Paris2D2236910
Blair Riley22LW1579168
Bobby Robins25F287815123
Tony Romano15C30000
Johan Ryd26F30000
Tim Spencer21F801142
Evan Stephens24D483161922
Mike Thomas7F20004
Yannick Tifu10C17381119
Matt Tomassoni24D30000
Scott Wietecha3D5414132769
Jonathan Zion8D4010152529
Goaltenders
Player # GP MIN W L OTL GAA SV% SO
Paul Dainton31187946323.25.8961
Rob Madore31127228312.41.9261
Peter Mannino3122133410823.15.8991
Rob Nolan47168446812.99.8960
Brooks Ostergard471650014.65.8440
Allen York30116044413.28.8920

All player statistics taken from the ECHL.com.[9]

Team captain
  • Nathan Lutz, 2011–12

References
  1. "Annual ECHL Board of Governors Meeting concludes". ECHL. August 1, 2011. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  2. Selvam, Ashok (June 19, 2010). "Sears Centre to house new hockey team". Daily Herald. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  3. "Columbus Blue Jackets Announce ECHL Affiliation Agreement Chicago Express for 2011-12". Columbus Blue Jackets. July 13, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  4. "CHICAGO EXPRESS CEASE OPERATIONS". ECHL. April 6, 2012. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  5. "2011-12 Attendance Report". ECHL. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  6. "Expansion membership approved for Chicago". ECHL. June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  7. Selvam, Ashok (September 21, 2010). "Sears Centre welcomes new hockey team to town". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. "BREAKING NEWS: CHICAGO EXPRESS FOLDS AFTER JUST ONE SEASON - Q101 Alternative". Q101 Alternative. April 7, 2012. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  9. "2011–12 Season Statistics - Chicago Express". ECHL. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
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