Originally published on Jan. 18, 2019
By Zane Miller
Short-Lived is a series
that discusses sports teams and leagues that lasted for two seasons or less.
The Chicago Express were a
minor league ice hockey team which only played in the 2011-12 season. They were
based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, about 33 miles outside of Chicago and
played their home games at the Sears Centre, a relatively new facility that
opened in 2006 and could hold up to 9,400 people for hockey games. The Chicago
area is also home to two other pro hockey teams, the Chicago Blackhawks of the
National Hockey League and the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.
This was not the first
time that the Sears Centre had hosted a hockey team, as it was also the home
ice for the Chicago Hounds of the independent United Hockey League in the
2006-07 season, however they folded up at the conclusion of the season, with
team owner Craig Drecktrah citing arena management wanting the team to play
their home games on primarily weekdays, as well as the arena planning on
tripling the cost of the team’s lease.
Despite the shaky start, three
years later Drecktrah decided to give the arena another go, this time with a
team affiliated with the East Coast Hockey League, a farm league with most
teams being affiliated with NHL franchises. On June 24th, 2010, it was
announced that there would be a new ECHL team in Hoffman Estates, set to begin
play in the 2011-12 season.
Originally, there was no
team name announced along with the initial release, as the team decided to put
the naming decision up to an online fan vote. With roughly 1,000 different team
names received, the team picked four finalists, which were the Chicago
Blizzard, Chicago Knights, Hoffman Estates Hammers, and the ultimate victor in
the Chicago Express. The name, which was submitted by a local firefighter named
Marc Johnson, was announced on September 21st, 2010. The team’s logo was also
revealed, as they used a combination of a train and skate blade with part of
the Chicago skyline in the background, with light blue, dark blue and gray used
as the primary colors, as seen below:
"We chose navy, gray
and the sky blue because they are very nice, inviting and warm colors," Drecktrah
said. "And also because we feel that the visiting teams will end up gray
and blue by the time we're done."
Drecktrah also stated
that the team would need to have an average attendance of 3,000-4,200 per game
in order to be successful financially.
The Express were put in
the North Division of the Eastern Conference, along with the Kalamazoo Wings,
Cincinnati Cyclones and Toledo Walleye. The Express also gained affiliations
with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL and the Springfield Falcons of the AHL
on July 13th, 2011. Former NHL and AHL player Steve Martinson was selected as
the head coach.
The team’s first game
came on Friday, October 7th, 2011, in a preseason matchup on the road against
the Florida Everblades. Rob Nolan, making his first appearance in the ECHL,
started in goal for the Express, and led the team to a 4-1 victory, with forward
Yannick Tifu scoring two goals in the team’s unofficial debut. The teams played
again the following day, with fellow Express goaltender Marc-Antoine Gelinas starting,
however the Everblades would claim the second and final preseason contest 5-2, letting
the Express finish with a record of 1-1.
With preseason out of the
way, the Express faced their first regular season challenge on Saturday, October
15th, 2011 against division rival Toledo Walleye, again on the road. However,
the Express were unfazed by their third straight road game and won it 5-1, with
Nolan earning the victory.
One week later, the
Express looked to kick off a five-game homestand, starting with a matchup
against the Kalamazoo Wings on October 22nd. The Express knocked off the Wings
4-2 in the first home game for the Express, however the team ran into some
trouble as they were defeated by the South Carolina Stingrays the following day
3-2, but also with reported attendance dropping sharply from 5,472 on opening
night to 1,280 in the Sunday afternoon contest. Despite the third game of the
homestand being on Friday night, attendance only rose slightly up to 1,821
people, as the Wings returned and defeated the Express 3-1.
However, the Express
would turn things around as they took down the Walleye 2-0 the following night
and the Cincinnati Cyclones 4-3 in a shootout victory to close out the
homestand. However, the reported attendance was 1,255 and 2,350 respectively,
still short of the 3,000-4,200 goal set forth for the team before the season
started.
The team continued to
deliver on the ice in their next road trip, taking two of the three games, before
heading back home and defeating the Cyclones 5-3. Despite taking a loss in a
one-off road game against the Wings, the Express continued to put up solid
performances as they again took two of three in their next homestand. The team
finished up November with a six-game road trip, however they went 3-3 (with one
of the losses coming in overtime).
Early in December, the
Express faced another challenge as Nolan was traded to the Walleye, and as a
result the team picked up goaltender Allen York, who had played with the Blue
Jackets earlier in the season, primarily in a backup role.
York led the team to a
pair of wins in his debut with the team, both at home against the Wings, but the
Wings took the final game of the series as they travelled back to Kalamazoo and
picked up a 4-3 win in overtime. The Express headed back home and picked up a
two-game homestand sweep with a 4-3 win over the Walleye and a 5-3 win against
the Elmira Jackals, before going back on the road and losing all four games of their
next road trip. The team took down the Wings 4-3 in overtime once again as they
headed back home, but fell to the Greenville Road Warriors 3-2 in overtime to
finish out 2011 with a 15-11-5 record.
The team started out 2012
with a 4-2 loss against the Road Warriors on January 1st, then closed out their
five-game homestand with a split series against the Reading Royals with the
Royals winning 9-2 on January 6th before the Express turned around
with a 5-2 victory on January 7th. After that, the team headed back
to Florida with a three-game set against the Everblades, which the Everblades swept.
The Express then travelled to Cincinnati to face the Cyclones, as the Express
claimed the first game 4-3 but the Cyclones came back with a 4-1 win. Back at
home, the team faced the Cyclones yet again but luck would not be on their side
as the Cyclones claimed it 3-2 in overtime. The Express then travelled back to
Ohio to play against the Walleye, a game which they also lost 3-2. However, the
team closed January on a high note back at home, defeating the Cyclones 3-0 on
January 28th and 3-2 in a shootout on January 29th.
January also saw the
emergence of another primary starting goaltender in Peter Mannino, who took
over for York after being called up to the AHL. Fellow goaltender Paul Dainton
assumed backup duties.
In February, the Express
started off with a two game road sweep of the Trenton Titans, with a 5-4 win on
February 1st and a 6-3 victory on February 2nd. February 4th saw the win streak
continue with a 2-1 victory over the Elmira Jackals on the road, but the team
would not have as much good fortune in the second half of the road trip, losing
to the Stingrays 3-2, the Gwinnett Gladiators 3-1 and the Road Warriors 7-6 in
overtime on February 10th-12th. Back at home, the team continued to fall behind
the Wings in the standings with losses to the Gladiators and Cyclones, but
scored two big wins in Kalamazoo, beating the Wings 4-3 in two consecutive
games.
After a split series against
the Everblades which the Everblades won the first game of 5-4 in a shootout but
the Express got the second game 6-2, the Express finished out February with a
3-2 home victory over the Walleye. In March, the team started out with a 4-2
loss to the Cyclones, then faced four straight losses before breaking the
streak on March 14th against the Wheeling Nailers. The Wednesday night game was
also the lowest reported attendance for the Express, with 1,134 people.
After that, the Express locked
up another home win against the Walleye 5-2, but were swept by the Titans 4-1
and 5-4 in overtime respectively. After falling to the Cyclones 4-1 on the
road, the team picked up key wins against the Wings, sweeping them in a
home-and-home series, then followed it up with wins against the Walleye and
Cyclones as they made a late charge at the playoffs, but it wouldn’t be enough.
The Wings were able to lock up a playoff spot, thus eliminating the Express. They
would defeat the Wings again on March 30th, their final home game of the
season, before heading back to Cincinnati in the Express’ final game in team
history on Saturday, March 31st, 2012. The Express fell 3-2 to the Cyclones in
overtime, wrapping up the team’s season.
Shortly after the season’s end, it was announced that the team would be folding, due to the team being unable to complete with the fanbases of the Blackhawks and Wolves, as well as the distance from the heart of Chicago to Hoffman Estates making it difficult for fans to attend games. In all, the team only broke their 3,000 fans goal nine times in 36 home games, and only had more than 4,200 fans for home games five times.
Links to stats database:
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/team_results.php?tid=6459&sid=2012
Other sources:
http://prev.dailyherald.com/story/?id=409663
https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120406/sports/704069836/
https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/columbus-blue-jackets-announce-echl-affiliation-agreement-chicago-express-for-2011-12/c-569268
http://www.toledowalleye.com/fish-tales/walleye-acquire-goaltender-rob-nolan-from-chicago
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