The Chicago Express were a one and done for several reasons. The major reason is the absolutely horrendous management of the Sears Center Arena. You simply cannot charge NHL prices for ECHL entertainment. $10 to park. $7 for a beer or a nasty slice of frozen pizza. $4.50 for a fountain RC cola. Yes, these were the prices 10 years ago! Ushers and arena staff that were clueless and rude. The entertainment value for the money just wasn't there. On dollar hot dog and beer nights, they were horribly understaffed. Lines were 30 people deep and served cold hot dogs. Unless you were a true hockey fan and were there for the hockey, it was an incredibly cold and expensive experience.
Marketing and branding of the team was heavily mis-targeted as well. You were putting a Chicago name in a Suburb 30 miles out of the city. This team was in an arena that was smack dab in the middle of heavily populated suburbs, 5 miles from the 3rd largest city in Illinois, the city of Elgin. This was a smack in the face to the locals. A huge marketing and branding mis-step. There was ZERO local flavor to latch on to. Team should have been named the Fox Valley Eagles or the Elgin Watchmen . The whole point of a suburban team is to have something away from the City of Chicago. A prime example of a complete success is the minor league baseball Kane Co Cougars.
The Sears Center has been a death bed for every Professional Team that has played there. The Chicago Hounds(UHL) , The Chicago Express(ECHL) Chicago Shamrox(MILL) Chicago Storm/Soul/Mustangs(indoor soccer), Chicago Slaughter( whatever indoor football league), Chicago Bliss(LFL). The Windy City Bulls, a NBA G league basketball team, is hanging by a thread.