ECHL Announces Partnership With Marvel

Red Bank, NJ (Oct 5th) - The ECHL announced on Wednesday that the 2017-18 Season will feature Marvel Super Hero themed games throughout the League's 27 Teams including specialty jerseys, character appearances, co-branded ECHL/Marvel merchandise and other in-game promotions during the designated events. The Thunder will host their event on Thursday, November 25th with a special guest appearance by Thor. The team will don a special Avengers-themed jersey during the game.

At a press conference broadcast from the famed comic book store Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash, representatives from the ECHL, Marvel, MeiGray Group and the AMC series Comic Book Men discussed the relationship and the excitement for the upcoming games.

"Marvel is thrilled to work with the ECHL to provide all of their fans and ours with a one-of-a-kind in-game experience by bringing together the power of the Marvel brand with the energy and excitement of professional hockey," said Marvel Vice President, Digital Media & Marketing Solutions, Jonathan Parkhideh.

Over the course of the Season, each ECHL Team will adorn a special Marvel Super Hero theme jersey featuring one of several characters including Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, or collectively as the Avengers, with the ECHL Team's own logo intertwined. Several ECHL Marvel Super Hero Nights will feature these characters against each other with both teams wearing a specialty themed jersey.

"The ECHL is proud to partner with Marvel, one of Disney's most popular brands, in their first ever North American league-wide partnership," said Brian McKenna, Commissioner of the ECHL. "We would also like to thank Barry Meisel and the MeiGray Group for their participation to bring these Super Heroes to the ice by way of the specialty jerseys. The ECHL takes great pride in providing new and creative ideas to entertain our fans and expand our audience and Marvel is the ideal partner to continue this trend."

As part of this first-of-its-kind league-wide program, all ECHL-Marvel themed jerseys will be auctioned off to the public through The MeiGray Group at MeiGray.com. For complete details on the ECHL-Marvel Super Hero Night in the ECHL market nearest you, please see the schedule below or contact your ECHL Team directly.

About the ECHLBegan in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 27 teams in 21 states and one Canadian province for its 30th season in 2017-18. There have been 623 players who have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including 24 who made their debut in the 2016-17 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 27 of the 30 NHL teams in 2017-18, marking the 21st consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

About Marvel EntertainmentMarvel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy-five years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing.

For more information visit marvel.com.

© 2017 MARVEL

About MeiGrayThe MeiGray Group was formed by Barry Meisel and Bob Gray, two sports memorabilia collectors from New Jersey, who met in January 1997 trading game-worn hockey jerseys. We began selling game-worn jerseys to the sports-collecting public in August 1997.

-Thunder-