Blades begin bid for Cup
The Florida Everblades didn’t get everything they wanted out of the regular season. Just maybe they got enough for a decent shot at the Kelly Cup.
The ECHL South Division lead the Blades (46-26) held most of the season slipped away in the final month. Still, the regular-season performance was good enough to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs.
After all, it wasn’t a case of the Everblades faltering down the stretch. Instead, South Carolina went 23-2-5 from Feb. 1 on to pass Florida and capture the division title by a mere three points.
The Everblades begin a best-of-seven series with the Wheeling Nailers with games at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday at Germain Arena.
At first glance, the series might seem weighted in Florida’s favor. The Everblades had the third-best point total in the Eastern Conference (95), but were seeded fourth because division champions automatically earn the top three spots. Wheeling, the fifth seed, finished 12 points back (83) of Florida.
Fortunately for the Blades, they were equally successful this season both on home ice and away from Germain Arena. They finished the season with identical 23-13 records at home and on the road.
Many times the playoffs don’t work out the way they look on paper.
The Nailers took two of three games from the Everblades in November in a series at Germain Arena. Whether that means much five months later is questionable with the many changes both teams have undergone in that stretch of time.
“That was a different coach and half a team ago,” said Everblades general manager Craig Brush. “All I know is they had a great record in the last month.”
Since then, Wheeling coach Clark Donatelli was promoted to the AHL, with assistant Dave Gove taking over the Nailers. Wheeling, 13th in the Eastern Conference in January, rode a late-season surge all the way to the fifth seed in the East.
The Nailers jumped from seventh to fifth in the season’s final weekend, winning twice at Reading to climb past both Reading and Adirondack. The two losses dropped Reading from sixth to eighth in the East.
“That’s a team we have not played in the playoffs, at least in my tenure,” Florida coach Greg Poss said.
Or before Poss’s tenure as the two teams have never met in the postseason.
Wheeling features All-ECHL first team defenseman Mathew Maione, who piled up 54 points including 43 assists; and second-team All-ECHL Riley Brace, who tied for sixth in the league in points (26 goals, 41 assists). Brace scored three times against the Blades back in November. Franky Palazzese is the top goaltender for the Nailers with 20 wins in net.
Florida at times starts slowly, which could be trouble against Wheeling. The Nailers are 24-7-2 when scoring first. Wheeling isn’t just a front-running team, however, overcoming a 3-0 deficit in one game against Reading last weekend and scoring three times in the third period to win the other.
The Everblades got some reinforcements from the AHL. Center Ryan Martindale was returned by Syracuse, while Fort Myers’ Logan Roe, a defenseman, came back from Springfield.
Still with AHL teams but listed as playoff eligible are goalie Daniel Altshuller, forward Ethan Werek, and defensemen Mike Cornell and Tyler Ganly.
Matt Willows, named this week as the ECHL Rookie of the Year, leads the Everblades with 66 points (23 goals, 43 assists), good for sixth in the league in scoring. Goaltender Anthony Peters came in fifth in Rookie of the Year voting after compiling 27 wins (fifth in the ECHL) with a 2.20 goals-against average (seventh).
Two recent signees out of college, forward Greg Gibson and defenseman Chase Golightly, made the postseason roster. Ralph Cuddemi, who scored twice in Florida’s regular-season finale, is listed as in reserve as the playoffs begin.
The ECHL uses a 2-3-2 system in the playoffs, with the higher-seeded getting the first two and last two games (if needed) in the best-of-seven series. As a result, the Everblades are home Friday and Saturday, with the series then moving to Wheeling for games April 20 and 22. A fifth game would be April 23, if necessary.
Should the sixth and seventh games be necessary, they would be held at Germain Arena on April 25 and 27.
The conference semifinal series winner moves on to face the winner between Eastern Conference top seed Toledo and eighth seed Reading.
Other first-round Eastern Conference matchups pit second seed South Carolina against Kalamazoo and No. 3 seed Manchester against Adirondack.