The rolling Toledo Walleye will encounter a dangerous doppelganger as they continue their run in the Kelly Cup playoffs.
The Walleye, winners of 22 straight games, will face the regular-season champion Kansas City Mavericks in the Western Conference finals. The teams are near mirror images of each other. Both are led by high-octane offenses, solid defensemen, and stingy goaltender rotations.
The cream has risen to the top in the ECHL playoffs.
Toledo, which is 8-0 in the playoffs, will take on top-seeded Kansas City in Game 1 on Friday night at the Huntington Center. The Mavericks have gone 8-1 in the postseason.
Kansas City posted the best record (54-12-6) and earned the most points (114) during the regular season. Toledo finished second in the overall standings with a 48-14-9 record for 105 points.
Walleye coach Pat Mikesch has kept tabs on Kansas City since the midpoint of the regular season.
“They're two very similar teams,” Mikesch said of Toledo and Kansas City. “Both are feeling very good about the way they're playing right now. They skate well; they transition as well as anybody we've seen. They have great goaltending and a D-core that plays hard in the critical areas.”
The best-of-7 series starts with the first three games in Toledo before shifting to Kansas City for the final four games.
Kansas City defeated Tulsa (4-0) in the opening round and Idaho (4-1) to win the Mountain Division. Toledo swept Kalamazoo in the first round and Wheeling in four games to win the Central Division.
During the regular season, Kansas City led the league in scoring with 4.24 goals per game. Toledo ranked third (4.07 goals per game). The Walleye lead the ECHL in scoring this postseason with 4.38 goals per game, while KC is third (3.78).
“Any time I had the chance, I made sure I got my eyes on them, because you knew they're a great team,” Mikesch said. “…They're a little smaller like we are, and they love to skate. They love to transition. It's gonna be about our five-man principles.”
Kansas City had the fourth most points in ECHL history.
“We know we can't take them lightly by any means,” Walleye forward Trenton Bliss said. “We haven't seen them and they haven't seen us, so it's going to be who can impose their will and impose their style of play early on, and that's something that we've done a good job of, especially at home.”
The teams did not meet in the regular season. Their last meeting was a 5-1 Walleye win last season at the Huntington Center.
Watch the highlights of that game here:
Toledo has three forwards, Riley Sawchuk, Sam Craggs, and Brandon Hawkins, who are tied for the fourth most points in the ECHL playoffs with 11 apiece in eight games.
Kansas City is led offensively by former Walleye forward Patrick Curry, who has 12 points in nine games.
Hawkins earned the ECHL MVP honor after leading the league in goals (40) and points (93). Curry, who finished second in the MVP voting, ranked second in goals (39) and points (87).
Curry played alongside Hawkins for Toledo during the 2021-22 playoffs. Hawkins led the team with 33 points in 21 games, while Curry had 12 points in 21 games as the Walleye reached the Kelly Cup finals.
Toledo goaltenders John Lethemon and rookie Jan Bednar each have 4-0 records in the postseason. Lethemon has a 1.90 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. Bednar has a 2.20 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
Kansas City counters with a goalie rotation of Jack LaFontaine (3-1 with a 2.16 goals-against average and .944 save percentage) and Cale Morris (5-0 with a 2.60 goals-against average and .923 save percentage).
“If you want to go all the way to the end at the end of the day, you have to beat the best teams, so it's gonna be a great challenge for us,” Bednar said. “It's gonna be a tough series, but I think we're more than ready for it and we're very excited.”
Forward Conlan Keenan, who has played in 199 regular season games over three seasons with Toledo, has been a part of three deep playoff runs. He believes this group has become tight and confident in each other.
“Everyone wants to do it for each other,” Keenan said of a team that is just one win shy of tying the longest ECHL winning streak during the regular season (23, set by the South Carolina Stingrays in 2015).
“There's no one who is selfish in that room and everyone does whatever it takes to get the job done.”
KC's other top scorers are forwards Nolan Walker (9 points), Jeremy McKenna (8 points), and Jake Jaremko (8 points).
The difference could come down to which team does all the little things well.
“They have really good skill and some top-notch players,” Bliss said. “It's going to be how do we handle them defensively. It's going to come down to working in groups of five to shut them down. We've gotten really good goaltending when we've needed to be bailed out. Now it's the Western Conference finals, you've got to limit your mistakes, and you got to capitalize on the mistakes that they make.”
The Walleye will look to defend well and counterattack quickly.
“They don't need much time and space and the depth of their offense matches ours,” Mikesch said.
The Mavericks, who play at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Mo. just outside of Kansas City, are entering their 15th season and joined the ECHL in 2014-15. Kansas City also won the Brabham Cup in 2015-16. The franchise was previously known as the Missouri Mavericks and played in the Central Hockey League.
Both teams excel in transition with skilled forwards and good defensive groups.
“It's gonna be a great test,” Keenan said. “But if we have that belief in our room if we stick to the process and keep things simple, trusting each other and the coaching staff, and everyone who's in that room to get the job done.”
First Published May 15, 2024, 3:37 p.m.
