The 2021 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL began on June 7 following the conclusion of the 2020–21 ECHL regular season, and ended on July 2 with the Fort Wayne Komets winning their first Kelly Cup over the South Carolina Stingrays in four games.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 7 – July 2, 2021 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Fort Wayne Komets |
| Runner-up | South Carolina Stingrays |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Scoring leader(s) | Anthony Nellis (Fort Wayne) (13 points) |
| MVP | Stephen Harper |
Playoff format
editThe qualification and with the top four teams from each conference at the end of the regular season.[2] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 14 of the 26 member teams participated in the season, the playoff field was cut from 16 teams to eight, and there were no divisions. As the start of the season was delayed and extended to later in the year than normal, each playoff series is a best-of-five tournament, down from the previous 2019 playoffs and planned 2020 playoffs that consisted of best-of-seven series.
Due to the postseason being pushed later into the year than typical, both the South Carolina Stingrays and Wichita Thunder were forced to play home games out of their practice rinks over scheduling conflicts with their normal home arenas.[3][4]
Playoff seeds
editAfter the regular season, eight teams qualify for the playoffs. The Wichita Thunder were the first team to qualify during the regular season on May 16.[5] Due to the imbalanced scheduling during the pandemic, teams were seeded by points percentage.[6]
Final seeds and points percentages:[7]
Eastern Conference
edit- Florida Everblades – Brabham Cup winners, conference champions, .667 pts%
- Greenville Swamp Rabbits – .632 pts%
- Indy Fuel – .594 pts%
- South Carolina Stingrays – .579 pts%
Western Conference
edit- Allen Americans – Conference champions, .653 pts%
- Wichita Thunder – .634 pts%
- Fort Wayne Komets – .618 pts%
- Utah Grizzlies – .563 pts%
Playoff bracket
editFinal results.[8]
| Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | Kelly Cup Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Florida Everblades | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | South Carolina Stingrays | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | South Carolina Stingrays | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Indy Fuel | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | South Carolina Stingrays | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Fort Wayne Komets | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Allen Americans | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Utah Grizzlies | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Allen Americans | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W3 | Fort Wayne Komets | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Wichita Thunder | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Fort Wayne Komets | 3 | ||||||||||||
Conference semifinals
editEastern Conference
edit(1) Florida Everblades vs. (4) South Carolina Stingrays
edit| June 7 | Florida Everblades | 2–3 | OT | South Carolina Stingrays | Carolina Ice Palace | Recap |
| June 9 | Florida Everblades | 5–4 | South Carolina Stingrays | Carolina Ice Palace | Recap |
| June 12 | South Carolina Stingrays | 1–5 | Florida Everblades | Hertz Arena | Recap |
| June 13 | South Carolina Stingrays | 4–2 | Florida Everblades | Hertz Arena | Recap |
| June 14 | South Carolina Stingrays | 3–2 | Florida Everblades | Hertz Arena | Recap |
| South Carolina won series 3–2 | |
(2) Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. (3) Indy Fuel
edit| June 8 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | 2–0 | Indy Fuel | Indiana Farmers Coliseum | Recap |
| June 10 | Indy Fuel | 1–3 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | Bon Secours Wellness Arena | Recap |
| June 11 | Indy Fuel | 3–2 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | Bon Secours Wellness Arena | Recap |
| June 12 | Indy Fuel | 2–3 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | Bon Secours Wellness Arena | Recap |
| Greenville won series 3–1 | |
Western Conference
edit(1) Allen Americans vs. (4) Utah Grizzlies
edit| June 8 | Utah Grizzlies | 1–3 | Allen Americans | Allen Event Center | Recap |
| June 9 | Utah Grizzlies | 2–4 | Allen Americans | Allen Event Center | Recap |
| June 11 | Allen Americans | 4–3 | 2OT | Utah Grizzlies | Maverik Center | Recap |
| Allen won series 3–0 | |
(2) Wichita Thunder vs. (3) Fort Wayne Komets
edit| June 8 | Fort Wayne Komets | 3–2 | Wichita Thunder | Wichita Ice Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anthony Nellis (1) – 17:30 | Second period | 9:05 – Gordie Green (1) | ||||||
| Randy Gazzola (1) – 10:22 Anthony Nellis (2) – 19:35 |
Third period | 7:15 – Ryan White (1) | ||||||
| Dylan Ferguson 36 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Evan Buitenhuis 29 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| June 9 | Fort Wayne Komets | 2–5 | Wichita Thunder | Wichita Ice Center | Recap |
| June 11 | Wichita Thunder | 0–3 | Fort Wayne Komets | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| June 12 | Wichita Thunder | 4–2 | Fort Wayne Komets | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| June 14 | Wichita Thunder | 3–4 | OT | Fort Wayne Komets | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| Fort Wayne won series 3–2 | |
Conference finals
editEastern Conference
edit(2) Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. (4) South Carolina Stingrays
edit| June 16 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | 1–5 | South Carolina Stingrays | Carolina Ice Palace | Recap |
| June 18 | South Carolina Stingrays | 2–5 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | Bon Secours Wellness Arena | Recap |
| June 19 | South Carolina Stingrays | 3–2 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | Bon Secours Wellness Arena | Recap |
| June 21 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | 1–2 | South Carolina Stingrays | Carolina Ice Palace | Recap |
| South Carolina won series 3–1 | |
Western Conference
edit(1) Allen Americans vs. (3) Fort Wayne Komets
edit| June 18 | Fort Wayne Komets | 2–5 | Allen Americans | Allen Event Center | Recap |
| June 19 | Fort Wayne Komets | 5–4 | OT | Allen Americans | Allen Event Center | Recap |
| June 21 | Allen Americans | 3–4 | Fort Wayne Komets | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| June 22 | Allen Americans | 2–3 | OT | Fort Wayne Komets | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| Fort Wayne won series 3–1 | |
Kelly Cup finals
editNote: Italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
(W3) Fort Wayne Komets vs. (E4) South Carolina Stingrays
edit| June 25 | Fort Wayne Komets | 7–2 | South Carolina Stingrays | Carolina Ice Palace | Recap |
| June 27 | Fort Wayne Komets | 2–4 | South Carolina Stingrays | Carolina Ice Palace | Recap |
| June 30 | South Carolina Stingrays | 4–6 | Fort Wayne Komets | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| July 2 | South Carolina Stingrays | 1–2 | Fort Wayne Komets | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| Fort Wayne won series 3–1 | |
Statistical leaders
editSkaters
editThese are the top ten skaters based on points.[9]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Nellis | Fort Wayne Komets | 13 | 8 | 5 | 13 | +3 | 8 |
| Stephen Harper | Fort Wayne Komets | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | +3 | 0 |
| Cole Ully | South Carolina Stingrays | 13 | 4 | 8 | 12 | +2 | 0 |
| Matthew Weis | South Carolina Stingrays | 13 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −4 | 6 |
| Brandon Hawkins | Fort Wayne Komets | 13 | 6 | 5 | 11 | +2 | 6 |
| Alan Lyszczarczyk | Fort Wayne Komets | 11 | 3 | 8 | 11 | +6 | 0 |
| Shawn Szydlowski | Fort Wayne Komets | 9 | 2 | 9 | 11 | +5 | 4 |
| Dan Desalvo | South Carolina Stingrays | 13 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +1 | 6 |
| A. J. Jenks | Fort Wayne Komets | 13 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +3 | 18 |
| Max Novak | South Carolina Stingrays | 13 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 6 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Goaltending
editThis is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 240 minutes played as of June 30. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[10]
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Bednard | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 154 | 11 | 2.44 | 0.929 | 1 | 271 |
| C. J. Motte | Allen Americans | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 119 | 11 | 2.74 | 0.908 | 0 | 241 |
| Evan Buitenhuis | Wichita Thunder | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 152 | 14 | 2.79 | 0.908 | 0 | 301 |
| Dylan Ferguson | Fort Wayne Komets | 13 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 399 | 37 | 2.93 | 0.907 | 1 | 757 |
| Jake Hildebrand | Florida Everblades | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 131 | 15 | 3.28 | 0.885 | 0 | 274 |
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Up with the Cup! Komets clinch first-ever Kelly Cup with game four victory!". WANE 15. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ "FORMAT ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS". ECHL. February 4, 2021.
- ^ "S.C. Stingrays earn playoff berth, but can't play at North Charleston Coliseum". The Post and Courier. June 6, 2021.
- ^ "Postseason hockey returns for the Wichita Thunder". KSN.com. June 7, 2021.
- ^ "Thunder clinch playoff spot for final stretch of the season". KSNW. May 19, 2021.
- ^ "ECHL Announces Schedule Through April 4". OurSports Central. January 15, 2021.
- ^ "2020–21 Conference Standings". ECHL. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ "2021 playoff schedule". ECHL. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
- ^ "Skater Statistics". ECHL. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ "Goaltender Statistics". ECHL. Retrieved July 4, 2021.