ORLANDO, FLA – Beginning Wednesday night, the ECHL will embark on the 2016 version of what hockey fans refer to as “the most wonderful time of the year”: the Kelly Cup playoffs. In the Eastern conference, the eight teams set to battle it out were not completely known until the final day of the regular season nor were the series matchups.
Now that everything is decided, we can take a look at the pairings for the quarterfinal round…
(1) Toledo Walleye vs. (8) Reading Royals
The Walleye (47-20-5) and the Royals (36-26-10) head into the series at opposite ends of the spectrum. Toledo is and has been the beast of the east for quite a while; the Royala had a chance to be much higher in the seedings but fell to the bottom in the late going.
The teams met twice during the season. The Walleye went on the road and downed the host Royals on back-to-back nights in a pair of two goal games. Shane Berschbach led Toledo that weekend with three goals and two assists while Adam Comrie paced Reading with a goal and two assists.
Head Coach Derek Lalonde (97-35-12 regular season record, 11-10 playoff record) brings a potent offense with him into the post season. Led by Berschbach (24 goals, 43 assists for 67 points, 8 power play goals), the Walleye have 16 players with at least 20 points this season. Tyler Sikura (16-32, 48 points), A.J. Jenks (22-23, 45 points, 8 PPG) and Josh Shalla (20-22, 42 points, 4 PPG) all contributed to a power play that connected 19.7 percent of the time.
Ralfs Freibergs (2-27, 29 points, plus 22 rating) and Joel Chouinard (7-31, 28 points, 4 PPG) anchored the defense which was a major key in the Walleye killing penalties at a rate of 82.6 percent.
Goalie Jeff Lerg was one of the ECHL’s best, compiling a 28-11-1-2 record with a 2.17 goals against average and a .925 save percentage and three shutouts.
Reading, led by Head Coach Larry Courville (305-187-50, 35-28), is just as capable as Toledo is when it comes to putting up points as no less than 13 Riyala hit the 20-point mark. Reading was successful on 18.6 percent of its power play chances and killed penalties at a success rate of 83.5 percent.
Justin Crandall led the Royals on offense with 17 goals and 38 assists for 55 points with a plus-5 rating and a team high seven power play goals. Cam Reid (18-30, 48 points, plus-6, 3 PPG), Yannick Tifu (18-25, 43 points, plus-4, 6 PPG) and Mike Pereira (19-25, 43 points, plus-14) all played a big role in getting the Royals to the post-season.
Defenseman Comrie (15-19, 34 points, plus-8) and Kevin Young (7-25, 32 points, plus-14) were the top producers on the blueline for Reading.
The Royals goaltending tandem was in flux for most of the season with callups to AHL Lehigh Valley coming on almost a weekly basis. Martin Ouellette (17-10-3-0, 2.10 GAA, .922 save percentage, 4 shutouts) and Adam Morrison (7-4-3-3, 2.29 GAA, .926 save percentage, 3 shutouts) are both worthy options and could help Reading make a run.
(2) Sourh Carolina Stingrays vs. (7) Kalamazoo Wings
Two of the hottest teams coming down the stretch, South Carolina (44-18-10) and Kalamazoo (38-28-6) bring stingy defenses and solid goaltending to this matchup.
The defending Eastern conference champion Stingrays were tied for fewest goals allowed per game at 2.25. It translated into the best penalty killing percentage in the ECHL (87.5 percent). At the same time, South Carolina boasts 18 players who put up at least 20 points during the regular season, a reason why its power play hit on 19.6 percent of its chances.
Forward David Pacan led the scoring parade with 20 goals and 42 assists for 62 points and a plus-27 rating. He was a special teams star, netting four power play goals and two more short-handed. Stephan Vigier (24-26, 50 points, plus-11, 8 PPG) had a breakout year while Brett Cameron (20-28, 48 points, 5 PPG) and Joe Devin (18-23, 41 points, plus-21, 8 PPG) were steady throughout.
Bobby Shea (5-24, 29 points, plus-29) and Brendan Ellis (6-19, 25 points, plus-3) were the big point getters from the blueline while Joey Leach led the entire league with a plus-40 rating to go with 17 points.
South Carolina’s strength is between the pipes. Goalie Vitek Vanecek posted a record of 18-7-5-1 with a 2.03 goals against average, a .917 save percentage and four shutouts. His partner Mark Dekanich was just as good, going 20-9-2-2 with a 2.16 GAA, a .925 save percentage and two shutouts.
Kalamazoo had to work hard to get into the playoffs, posting a sizzling 11-1-1 record over the final few weeks to earn its sixth invite to the post-season. Its power play was successful 15.2 percent of the time while its penalty killing was successful on 84.4 percent of its attempts.
Ludwig Blomstrand led 15 Wings players with 20 or more points, scoring 29 goals (7 on the power play) and adding 34 assists for 63 points as well as putting a team-high 211 shots on net. Alex Mallet (23-34, 57 points, plus-7, 5 PPG) and Dane Fox (26-24, 50 points, 6 PPG) joined Blomstrand in the over-50 club while Justin Taylor (26-19, 45 points) was not far behind.
Cory Pritz (3-29, 32 points) and Evan McEneny (1-24, 25 points, plus-17) led the defensive corps that allowed the third fewest goals against in the league (3.24).
Joel Martin was the iron man in net for the Wings, going 36-21-5-1 with a 2.94 goals against average, .918 save percentage and three shutouts. In his 64 appearances, Martin stopped a whopping 2,084 shots.
(3) Manchester Monarchs vs. (6) Adirondack Thunder
Two of the three teams that transitioned from the AHL to the ECHL made up one of the best rivalries in the league and get to continue it when it matters most.
The teams met 15 times during the regular season with Manchester winning eight of the contests. The series featured seven games decided by one goal including four that went to either overtime or a shootout before a winner emerged.
Manchester’s offense was led by Maxim Kitsyn who tallied 26 goals and 29 assists for 55 points while posting a plus-37 rating and putting 220 shots on net. He led the Monarchs against the Thunder with four goals and six assists. Joe Diamond (20-29, 49 points, plus-4), Matt Leitner (12-37, 49 points, plus-13) and Gasper Kopitar (9-24, 33 points, plus-12) all contributed to Manchester’s success including a 19.5 percent success rate on the power play.
Manchester’s defense, which helped to kill penalties at an 80.5 success rate, is led by Michael Boivin (10-23, 33 points, plus-6, 6 PPG) and Yann Sauve (7-22, 29 points, plus-2, 5 PPG) who spent a lot of time with Ontario in the AHL.
In net, the Monarchs feature two goalies who are solid. Doug Carr went 10-8-0-5 with a 2.77 goals against average, a.915 save percentage and one shutout. Colin Stevens posted a record of 15-9-2-0 with a 2.77 GAA, a .908 save percentage and two shutouts.
Adirondack started the season off hot before coming back to earth. Its power play clicked at a success rate of 17.5 percent while its penalty killing did the job 84.8 percent of the time.
Rookie Michael Kirkpatrick led the Thunder in scoring with 29 goals and 31 assists for 60 points. He netted eight power play scores and put an astounding 250 shots on opposition nets. Greg Wolfe (16-24, 40 points, plus-10), Peter MacArthur (8-28, 36 points, 4 PPG) and Ryan Lomberg (18-17, 35 points, plus-15) helped to balance out the scoring attack.
Defensively, the big point getters were Mathieu Brodeur (8-21, 30 points, 3 PPG) and Patch Alber who picked up 30 assists in 64 games with the Thunder.
Ken Appleby was solid in net for Adirondack, posting a 16-9-1-1 record to go with a 2.24 goals against average, a .924 save percentage and three shutouts. His teammate Drew Fielding, who came over from Brampton mid-season, went 11-11-0-2 with a 2.68 GAA, .914 save percentage and two shutouts.
(4) Florida Everblades vs. (5) Wheeling Nailers
This could be the most intriguing matchup of the quarterfinals. The teams met for a three-game set in Estero back in November with the Nailers winning twice before the Everblades went on a tear to rocket to the top of the standings.
Head Coach David Gove, who took over in December when Clark Donatelli was promoted to the AHL, has a solid squad that boasts 15 players with at least 20 points. The Nailers power play connected 17.8 percent of the time while the penalty killing units were successful 83.6 percent of the time.
Leading the way offensively is Riley Brace who put up 26 goals and 41 assists for 67 points and a plus-6 rating. Cody Wydo (23-27, 50 points, plus-6, 4 PPG), Jarrett Burton (15-23, 38 points, 4 PPG) and John McCarron (14-17, 31 points, 3 PPG) give Wheeling good balance up front.
Back on the blueline, Mathew Maione put up 7 goals and 37 assists after being traded to Wheeling by Brampton. He led the Nailers back end corps with 194 shots on net. Brett Stern was the ironman on the team, playing all 72 games and putting up 24 points and a plus-5 rating.
Franky Palazzese was by far the best goalie for the Nailers, putting up a 20-15-2-1 record with a 2.86 goals against average, a .906 save percentage and four shutouts.
Under long time head coach Greg Poss, the Everblades were the best in the a South division before a late dip allowed South Carolina to come in and take command. Florida’s power play was good 17.1 percent of the time while the penalty killing units succeeded on 86 percent of their chances.
ECHL Rookie of the Year Matt Willows led the scoring attack with 23 goals and 43 assists for 66 points, a plus-14 rating, 5 power play goals and 236 shots on net. Kevin Lynch (22-36, 58 points, plus-16, 3 PPG), captain Matt Marquardt (15-30, 45 points, 5 PPG) and Brendan O’Donnell (17-20, 37 points, 6 PPG) were part of a very potent attack. O’Donnell finished the season on a nine-game goal scoring streak.
The defense is also solid, led by Corey Syvret (7-21, 28 points, plus-5, 3 PPG) and Mark Nemec (4-21, 25 points, plus-25).
The Everblades also boast a goalie tandem that is among the best in the league. Anthony Peters saw most of the work, going 27-15-1-1 with a 2.20 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and three shutouts. Rasmus Tirronen posted a 9-4-0-1 record with a 2.90 goals against in a backup role.
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