The Brabham Cup regular season champions were the San Diego Gulls and the Kelly Cup playoff champions were the Idaho Steelheads.
This season brought a major change in the ECHL as the Board of Governors approved membership applications from the Anchorage Aces, the Bakersfield Condors, the Fresno Falcons, the Idaho Steelheads, the Las Vegas Wranglers, the Long Beach Ice Dogs and the San Diego Gulls from the recently defunct West Coast Hockey League.
During the 2003 off-season, the Richmond Renegades, Arkansas RiverBlades, Jackson Bandits, Baton Rouge Kingfish, and Lexington Men O' War all ceased operations.
In addition to the former WCHL teams, the league also added two reactivated franchises in the Gwinnett Gladiators (formerly the Mobile Mysticks) and Texas Wildcatters (formerly the Huntington Blizzard).
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L= Losses; OTL = Overtime or Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = PointsGreen shade = Clinched playoff spot; Blue shade = Clinched division; (z) = Clinched home-ice advantage[1][2] Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals allowed; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average