The top two teams in the ECHL during the regular season are set to meet in a long-awaited playoff showdown.
Kansas City, which claimed the Brabham Cup with the top points total during the regular season, takes on Toledo, the No. 2 team in the Brabham Cup race, in the Western Conference finals. The best-of-7 series starts Friday at the Huntington Center, with the Walleye hosting the first three games before pivoting to the Mavericks’ home ice in Independence, Mo., for up to four more games.
Here are five things to know about the Kansas City Mavericks:
1. Unchartered territory: The conference finals appearance will be the first for the Mavericks since joining the ECHL in 2014 following the collapse of the Central Hockey League.
Prior to this season, the Mavericks finished higher than third in their division just once, when they won the Central Division in 2015-16. They also made their only second-round playoff appearance prior to this season in 2015-16, falling to Allen in six games after beating Quad Cities 4-0 in the first round.
Kansas City affiliated with the Seattle Kraken in 2022. Its AHL affiliate is the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
2. A potent scorer: For the second time in three playoff series, the Walleye will face one of the league’s top three scorers. Forward Patrick Curry, who spent five games with the Walleye during the 2021-22 season, recorded 87 points on 39 goals and 48 assists during the regular season.
Curry had six goals and six assists in the first round of the playoffs. He finished tied for second in the league during the regular season with Kalamazoo’s Erik Bradford, whom Toledo faced in the first round. The Walleye held Bradford to no goals and two assists in a four-game sweep.
The leading scorer in the ECHL this season? The Walleye’s Brandon Hawkins with 93 points (40 G, 53 A). Hawkins also led the league in goals scored with 40, with Curry second at 39.
3. Scoring depth: Kansas City has three more forwards who finished in the top 10 in scoring in the ECHL.
Cade Borchardt, who played his first full ECHL season with the Mavericks this year after joining the team late last season, finished seventh in the league in scoring with 77 points (24 G, 53 A).
Jacob Hayhurst was eighth with 76 points (37 G, 39 A). Max Andreev was 10th with 73 points (19 G, 54 A).
4. Solid backstops: Like Toledo, Kansas City has a two-goaltender rotation that has been effective.
Cale Morris had 21 victories in 32 appearances during the regular season with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. Jack LaFontaine, who had 16 victories in 23 appearances, had a 2.77 GAA and a .911 save percentage.
By comparison, Toledo’s John Lethemon had 26 wins in 37 appearances with a 2.90 GAA and a 0.892 save percentage, while Jan Bednar had 22 wins in 36 appearances with a 2.66 GAA and a .901 save percentage.
5. Keeping things clean: Kansas City was the second-least penalized team in the ECHL during the regular season, with the Mavericks’ 688 penalty minutes second only to Jacksonville’s 635.
Toledo was the sixth-least penalized team with 809 penalty minutes.
First Published May 12, 2024, 10:16 p.m.
