The ECHL is quite often the punch line of jokes amongst hockey fans. You’ll often hear or read “so-and-so sucks so bad he should be in the ECHL” or “he couldn’t defend if he played in the ECHL” or “he’s an all-star calibre player… in the ECHL.”
That’s not nice, you guys. Be nice to the ECHL.
All jokes aside, the ECHL is actually more important to an NHL organization’s success than you might think which is why the Flames’ ownership went out bought an actual franchise with real money and management has continued to take steps to utilize their ECHL affiliate more and more.