The first-place Toledo Walleye rolled through the first half of the ECHL season with a potent offense and confidence built through consistent winning.
At the midpoint of the 72-game ECHL season, the Walleye (24-6-5) are on top of the overall league standings with 53 points.
The team has made a seamless transition under new coach Pat Mikesch with a style similar to successful Walleye teams of the past. The franchise has not missed the playoffs since the 2013-14 season, and has reached the Kelly Cup Finals twice in the past three postseasons.
This Toledo team has scored tons of goals, tallying 4.43 per contest — second most in the ECHL.
The Walleye have had a season-high six-game winning streak and two five-game winning streaks.
Of the team's 35 games, 34 have come against Central Division foes. The Walleye are 23-6-5 against division foes and are in first place, 14 points in front of Fort Wayne.
Star forward Brandon Hawkins has been on a torrid pace, leading the ECHL in scoring with 49 points in 35 games.
The team's special teams units have indeed been special, ranking at or near the top in power-play percentage and penalty-kill percentage.
The Walleye open the second half on Friday at Cincinnati.
“It's only gonna get faster, I think,” Mikesch said. “The pace and energy level and everything like that. We've got a big [road] in front of us.”
The Walleye stumbled a bit going into the break, losing two of their last three games, including a 4-1 loss at Kalamazoo last Friday.
“I think the little kick in the teeth we took wasn't a bad thing,” Mikesch said. “We better be good against these teams that are committed to defending.”
Defense and goaltending win championships. The team must shore up both areas. Toledo has given up 115 goals (3.29 per game).
“Our goals-against is going to be fine,” Mikesch said. “We haven't had one of those six-goal games [against] in a while. We had three of those early in the year. We've closed that gap a little bit.”
Mikesch pointed to the fact that his team ranks second in the ECHL in shots allowed at just 27 per game.
“We're playing pretty good defense,” he said. “We could manage giving up the big opportunity better. Early in the year, there were breakaways we were giving up. It's a little bit of puck management. For the most part, we've been a better-structured team defensively.”
Slow starts have been frequently overcome with strong finishes, particularly at home where the Walleye are 10-4-4. Consistent 60-minute efforts with chemistry must replace the occasional lapses and lackluster shifts.
After starting the second half with three road games, Toledo is home for 14 of 17 games. The Walleye play six straight at home from Jan. 27 to Feb. 9.
Here are three key areas of focus for the Walleye to continue their upward trajectory.
Continued success against Central foes
A total of 28 of the team's final 37 games are against Central Division foes.
The Walleye have enjoyed great success against rivals and frequent postseason foes Fort Wayne (7-1-0) and Cincinnati (5-0-1). Toledo also has winning records against Indy (4-0-0) and Iowa (4-0-1). The team has played even against Wheeling (1-1-1), and has a losing record against Kalamazoo (2-4-1).
The top priority is to make the playoffs, and this team has given itself some wiggle room after a tremendous start. Continued success against the Central would improve the team’s seeding for the playoffs, and generate even more confidence for head-to-head matchups in the first two rounds of the playoffs against division opponents.
Better goaltending and tighter team defense
The recent track record is there for goaltender John Lethemon, who put up stellar numbers in the second half of last season leading a turnaround for a struggling Toledo team before being named the ECHL goalie of the year. Lethemon finished second in the ECHL with a 1.99 goals-against average. He also tied for second in the league with four shutouts and in save percentage (.930).
Lethemon got hot after the break with a 14-game winning streak — the third-longest streak in ECHL history.
The rotation of Lethemon and rookie Jan Bednar has been fairly steady if not spectacular. Defensive lapses by the D-men and lack of back-checking from the forwards have sometimes led to breakaways and left the duo out to dry.
Lethemon and Bednar are AHL/NHL contracted goalies whom the Detroit Red Wings believe in. They are tied for the EHCL lead with 12 wins apiece, but their save percentages — .888 for Bednar and .876 for Lethemon — must improve.
The Walleye will need both goalies to start “stealing” some games where they do not necessarily deserve to win. The platoon could prove effective if the Walleye make another deep playoff run.
Added size to the back end and additional physicality
The proven stumbling block in the playoffs for many Walleye teams of the past has been an over-reliance on speed, skill, and offense. Too many times, the smaller and shiftier Toledo teams have been pushed around by bigger and more physical teams. (See Idaho last season, Florida in 2022, and Colorado in 2017.)
The Walleye lack the big, stay-at-home defenseman and a protector of the smaller, skilled guys. Grant Gabriele (6-2, 171), Jake Willets, and Matt Anderson have been steady on the back end.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Mikesch bring in some bigger bodies along the blue line either via trade or by signing college players when the NCAA season is over in March — or perhaps out of the junior hockey ranks.
First Published January 17, 2024, 10:42 p.m.