A Century‑Long Connection
The American Hockey League’s 2026 Calder Cup was not just a victory for the Toronto Marlies; it was another chapter in a 35‑year streak of ECHL representation on the league’s championship roster. Across the last two decades, 164 former ECHL skaters have lifted the Calder Cup, underscoring a pipeline that stretches back a quarter‑century when the ECHL began affiliating with more than twenty AHL clubs.
This season, the Marlies leaned on seven alumni — Marc Johnstone, Dakota Mermis, Cedric Pare, Michael Pezzetta, Chas Sharpe, Logan Shaw and Landon Sim — who combined for key contributions, while goaltending coach Hannu Toivonen, who logged 51 ECHL appearances with Orlando, Toledo and Maine, brought a unique perspective between the pipes.
Beyond the Ice
The influence extends beyond players. Six members of the runner‑up Chicago Wolves also wore ECHL jerseys, and Chicago head coach Spiros Anastas, a former Brampton and South Carolina bench boss, illustrates the league’s coaching reach. In fact, twelve of the AHL’s 32 coaches in 2025‑26 previously patrolled ECHL sidelines, and a roll call of former ECHL coaches has claimed the AHL Coach of the Year award nineteen times.
The ripple effect reaches the officials as well; forty‑eight of the 83 AHL referees and 85 of the 154 linespeople in 2025‑26 hail from the ECHL, while former ECHL broadcasters also found a home in the AHL’s broadcast booths.