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.

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Links to stats database: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/team_results.php?tid=6459&sid=2012

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