[4] A handful of National Hockey League players and draft picks joined the ranks, most notably Pierre Dagenais and Billy Tibbetts.
[6] During the 2010–11 season, the Broome County Barons relocated to Cape Cod due to lack of fan support,[7][8] and Rome Frenzy suspended operations mid-season.
By June, the FHL had been unable to establish a team in Vermont and included the Niagara Falls Nationals with the Dashers and Outlaws in an expansion draft.
But by July 2011, the Nationals were gone and the Green Mountain Rock Crushers (which later changed its name to the Vermont Wild in September) were re-added to the schedule.
[16] The Dayton Demonz won the first series over the Watertown Privateers, two games to one, to play top seeded Danbury in the finals.
Mike Brown, a Boston Bruins draft pick from the early 2000s, was injured and Kevin Hoy took over in net for Danbury.
With a 4–0 Danville lead and less than 10 minutes to go, Jesse Felten and Matt Puntureri squared off at center ice, and as punches would have been thrown, both players hugged it out instead.
Next, Puntureri pulled a can of beer from his pads, opened it, and in each other's embrace, the two skated around center ice toasting the crowd to mixed reactions.
Puntureri later stated that he believed he would be banned for life, which turned out to be correct; as he never played another professional game in North America.
[22] However, after playing one game in which they lost 10–2 to the Berkshire Battalion, the Magic's membership in the league was revoked due to financial problems.
[26] During the previous season, a group of local investors worked to purchase the Watertown Privateers, owned by Don Kirnan.
[32] On April 17, 2015, the Steel City Warriors announced that it had suspended operations, stating that the team was unable to find a suitable home arena, but had hopes to return for the 2016–17 season.
A year prior, the River Drivers were slated to join the FHL in 2014–15 before the league reassessed their options and expanded into North Adams, MA instead.
[41] On June 26, 2015, the owner of the Berkshire Battalion, Williams Dadds, announced that he intends to relocate the team from North Adams, Massachusetts, before the 2015–16 season after lease negotiations for the ice rink fell through.
[44] On July 15, during the team's inaugural booster club meeting, Danbury Titans ownership confirmed that the league had re-organized and they will own the new Brewster team (formerly announced as the Stateline Whalers); Barry Soskin will continue to own the Danville Dashers and Port Huron Prowlers, but no longer be involved in Brewster.
On December 28, the Demolition then announced that its new home arena would be South Metro Sports, a recreation center with a seating capacity of approximately 200, in nearby Centerville, Ohio.
[57] The new team replaces the recently folded Cornwall River Kings and is led by Mitch Gagne and Rodney Rivette.
At one point, the league website listed teams called the Baldwinsville Bandits, Elmira Express, Newark Diamonds, Palmyra Battalion, Syracuse Crush, and Watertown Whalers.
However, on June 26, the IDHL then announced it would not play and instead purchased the Watertown Wolves when the team's local ownership group, said to be exhausted from the emotional investment in running a professional sports franchise, backed out.
[77] The Enforcers heavily contested the call, with team-leading scorer Ahmed Mahfouz verbally confronting the officials and leading to a physical altercation between head coach Brent Clarke and a linesman.
[89] The postseason was announced as the Ignite Cup, a five-game series between the top two teams that had played at least 16 regular season games.
[90] By March, Danbury had opted out of the season and Danville had lost their home arena when it was replaced by a Southern Professional Hockey League expansion team.
The league announced two new expansion teams with Elmira returning with new ownership, Mississippi, and the Motor City Rockers coming out of hiatus.
As for the Empire Division, Danbury did the same, losing in Game 1 on the road and then winning the next two at home, a carbon copy of a year prior, as the Hat Tricks moved on to the franchise's first championship series.
[100] Following the 2022–23 season, the Chemung County, New York IDA evicted Mammoth Sports and Entertainment after it was found that they had not paid $250,000 in utility bills.
[103] On February 28, 2024, it was announced that the David S. Palmer Arena board had accepted the lease from Barry Soskin and Diane Short to bring the Danville Dashers back for the 2024–25 season.
[104] On March 28, 2024, the FPHL announced that an expansion franchise would be awarded to Athens Pro Hockey, who are set to play at the new Classic Center Arena.
[110] On June 12, 2024, it was announced that the league would be holding four neutral site games at the Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka, Kansas.
[111] Although on January 2, 2025, it was announced that the Venom would be playing their remaining home games at the McCann Ice Rink inside the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.
[112] As of the 2024–25 season, the league has teams based in Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina and Virginia.