Affiliates

Founded in 1993, the South Carolina Stingrays are the longest tenured team in the ECHL to remain in its founding city. The Stingrays play their home games at the North Charleston Coliseum and are a part of the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. With Kelly Cup championships in 1997, 2001 and 2009, the Stingrays are tied with the Hampton Roads Admirals and the Alaska Aces for most league championships. The South Carolina Stingrays are a proud affiliate of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) maintaining an affiliation from 2004-2012 and 2014-present, and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), maintaining an affiliation from 2005-2012 and 2014-present.

The Washington Capitals, founded in 1974, have been one of the NHL’s most successful and innovative franchises on and off the ice. The Capitals captured the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship in 2018 and have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 32 of their 49 completed seasons, including 32 times in the previous 39 seasons. Since their inception, the Capitals have also won three Presidents’ Trophies (2009-10, 2015-16, 2016-17) for the League’s best record, two Prince of Wales Trophies (1997-98, 2017-18) as Eastern Conference champions and 13 division titles. The Capitals, who have served as Hershey’s NHL affiliate since 2005 and also from 1977 to 1984, have been partnered for five of the Bears’ AHL-record 12 Calder Cup Championships (1980, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2023).