The Kansas City Mavericks captured the Bruce Taylor Trophy as ECHL Western Conference champions on Monday with a 7-1 win over the Toledo Walleye in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.
Kansas City wins the series 4 games to 2, and advances to the 2024 Kelly Cup Finals, where it will meet the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals. Florida leads Adirondack in that series 3 games to 2, with Game 6 set for Tuesday at Adirondack.
Jeremy McKenna notched a hat trick and had an assist in Game 6 while Jack LaFontaine stopped 31 Toledo shots to record the win in goal.
McKenna led the Mavericks in the series with four goals and nine points, while LaFontaine went 3-0, allowing three goals in his three appearances. Riley Sawchuk paced Toledo with three goals and six points.
This is the first time in club history that Kansas City has reached the Kelly Cup Finals. The Mavericks won the Brabham Cup as ECHL regular-season champions, and are seeking to become the first team since Alaska in 2014 to win both the regular-season and playoff titles.
The trophy is named in recognition of Bruce Taylor, who was the founding father of the West Coast Hockey League. In the early 1990s, Taylor purchased teams in Fresno, Reno and Bakersfield and in 1995 joined them with teams in Anchorage, Fairbanks and San Diego to form the West Coast Hockey League. The Taylor Cup was presented to the playoff champion in the WCHL from the league’s inaugural season in 1995-96 until the league ceased operations following the 2002-03 season. Taylor’s ownership in hockey began in 1983 with the purchase of the Burnaby Bluehawks of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League and continued with the purchase of the Richmond Sockeyes in the BCJHL and the New Westminster Royals in the BCJHL.
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