The Elmira Jackals are an ice hockey team that play in the ECHL. Their home games are played in First Arena in Elmira, New York (the smallest arena in the ECHL) and they refer to themselves as "the beasts of the east". Their mascot is named Blade, and they were originally part of the United Hockey League.

Old Elmira Jackals logo

The Jackals were born as a member of the United Hockey League before the 2000-2001 season, as an affiliate of the National Hockey League's Columbus Blue Jackets. Eventually, they severed ties with the Blue Jackets and became an independent operation for the rest of their years in the league. During their tenure in the UHL, their average attendance was 3,308 per game, which included 31 sellouts. The largest crowd was a standing-room-only of 4,126 on October 13, 2006.

The team made a splash in their first season by immediately making the playoffs. Improving dramatically in the off-season, the Jackals won the Eastern Conference for the first time, in just their second season. They even got as far as playing the Muskegon Fury in the Colonial Cup finals, but lost in a hard fought 6 game series. They returned to the playoffs in 2003, but didn't get the chance to play for The Cup again until the 2004 season when they again faced the Muskegon Fury. After being swept in the 2004 Colonial Cup series, they never returned to the playoffs in the UHL.

Mike Radja (born March 7, 1985) is an American professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League. Previously, he played for the Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Radja was raised in Yorkville, Illinois and graduated from Yorkville High School in 2003. Radja played two seasons of junior hockey for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL. While at Waterloo Radja played with his future University of New Hampshire teammate Kevin Regan. Radja scored a key goal in the game which clinched the Black Hawks' victory in the 2004 Clark Cup.

He attended the University of New Hampshire from 2004 to 2008. In December 2006 he suffered a knee injury which caused him to miss a month of play. He made a quick recovery, however. In 2008 he was suspended for two games after an incident in which he was briefly detained by police while visiting T. J. Oshie after a game against North Dakota. That season proved to be a successful one for Radja, he was selected for the Hockey East All Star team and was the National College Hockey Player of the month in February 2008.