Brabham Cup


The Henry Brabham Cup is the trophy awarded annually by the ECHL to the team which finishes with the most points in the league during the regular season. The Brabham Cup has been awarded 30 times to 16 different franchises since its debut in 1989.

History

Unlike the playoff championship, which was originally awarded with the Riley Cup and now the Kelly Cup, the trophy was introduced during the league's inaugural season in 1988 by the league's board of governors and was named after in recognition of Henry Brabham, who co-founded the ECHL in 1988–89 with five teams in four states. Brabham, who was the first inductee into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2008, owned three of the original five teams. The Virginia businessman was crucial to the league surviving its earliest seasons.
Only five Brabham Cup winners have gone on to win the ECHL Kelly Cup playoff championship, with the Alaska Aces doing so three times, despite the guaranteed home-ice advantage in all rounds of the playoffs.
Seven franchises — the Alaska Aces, Cincinnati Cyclones, Florida Everblades, Knoxville Cherokees franchise, Louisiana IceGators, Toledo Storm franchise, and the Thunderbirds/Nailers franchise have won the Brabham Cup on multiple occasions, with the Aces winning five times, the Storm/Walleye winning four, and the former Cherokees/Pride, Everblades, and Thunderbirds/Nailers franchises having won three each, while the others have two.

Winners

Defunct franchises are listed in italics.