Red Wing's Stanley Cup victory, Jason went on to a long minor league career in both the US and Europe before retiring following the 2006–07 season. 1994–1999 While lasting for thirteen seasons, the NSW Superleague struggled to gain stability and could not continue. The league was reborn in 1994, as the East Coast Super League (ECSL). It continued with the same number of teams but was still largely based in the NSW area. Canberra's maiden ECSL championship came in 1998 when they won the premiership for the first time ever. The East Coast Super League has since been reformed as a junior (under 23) competition which serves as a bridge between local league hockey and the national level. 2000–2007 The Canberra Knights, along with the Sydney Bears and Adelaide Avalanche, founded the AIHL as a three-team competition following the disbanding of the ECSL in 2000. 2002 saw the introduction of the Melbourne Ice, the Newcastle Northstars and the West Sydney Ice Dogs, increasing the number of teams in the league to 6. The team finished just above the Melbourne Ice in fifth place, ending the season with 12 points and a fourth placed goaltender, Brad Hunt. In 2003 David Lewis, and import Saku Martakainen were both top scorers, but the Knights did not perform very well, ending the season in last place, not winning a single game. Since a playoff format was introduced to the AIHL in 2003 (prior to this, minor premiers were champions), the Knights have not made the postseason. In 2005, with new imports, such as Canadian goaltender Dylan Smart, the Knights were able to enter the 5th AIHL season stronger than ever, and nearly made the play-offs. With two new teams joining the league, the Brisbane Blue Tongues and Central Coast Rhinos, the Knights were one of the stronger and more stable teams of the league, winning 11 of 24 games and finishing in fifth place with 35 points. Coached by former player Laing Harrow, 2005 has been the strongest Canberra Knights AIHL season ever. In 2006 the Knights acquired Finnish player/coach Tommi Suutari, and they began the season relatively strong, winning a few games, but failed to continue this streak and ended up losing 25 out of 28 regular season games, one of the wins being a miraculous triumph over the Sydney Bears later in the season, finishing them off in a shoot-out at their