Kansas City Mavericks level the odds at 1-1 against the Florida Everblades in Kelly Cup Finals

Cable Dahmer Arena on Saturday night. // Photo by Zach Gunter

The KC Mavericks hosted the team’s first Kelly Cup Finals game on Friday night at Cable Dahmer Arena, remaining as the only team standing between the Florida Everblades and their third-straight championship win.

Celebrating 15 seasons of hockey play this past year—split between the Central Hockey League (CHL, 2009-14) and the ECHL (Formerly known as the Eastern Coastal Hockey League, 2015-present)—the Mavericks are playing in their first-ever league championship series.

Meanwhile, the Everblades turned 26 this season. In that quarter-decade, the team has only missed the playoffs once, and has made the playoffs nine straight seasons. Florida has won the Kelly Cup Finals three times, with the most recent being in 2022 and 2023.

Game one was an absolute beatdown in every sense of the word. The first six minutes of the game were incredibly exciting, with Florida scoring three minutes into the first period, followed by a quick strike by Mavericks forward Jeremy McKenna off of an assist by defenseman Nate Knoepke, marking McKenna’s ninth goal and Knoepke’s fifth point of the postseason.

After that, the Mavericks could not find the back of the net for the next two periods. Though, it makes sense. Regardless of Kansas City’s top-of-the-league offense, Florida goalie Cam Johnson entered the game as the best playoff goalie. 

Johnson boasted a 1.69 Goals Allowed Average (GAA), and has saved over 94% of shots faced in the 2024 ECHL playoffs.

However, the Everblades found no issue scoring on the Mavericks. The team’s goaltender on Friday night, Cale Morris, spent the first two periods being picked on by the Florida offense. After giving up the sixth goal to the Everblades–a shorthanded goal–chants of “LaFontaine,” the name of the other Mavericks star goalie, began raining down from the crowd. And as the teams skated out to begin the third period, the fans’ wishes were granted.

The previously mentioned shorthanded goal scored by the Everblades was likely the goal that sealed the game. Kansas City had come back from large deficits earlier in the season, however, five goals was too big of a hill to climb. And that was enough for star forward Max Andreev to let down his veil of tranquility and let the frustration loose.

After that failed powerplay, he skated back to the bench and slammed his stick over the bench wall until it snapped. 

The final score of 8-1 was the largest margin of defeat the Mavericks had suffered all season. The shots on goal ended 35-36 in favor of Florida. So even, yet so devastating.

“One of the big things we talked about was having a short memory,” Mavericks head coach and general manager Tad O’Had says. “And one of the things you cannot do is take a power play and carry that negativity into the five-on-five play.”

But things would look different on Saturday night. The arena was completely sold out. Fans were cheering as goalie Jack LaFontaine skated into the net. It was deafeningly loud. The excitement was electric up until the Everblades struck first, only a minute and a half into the first period.

At first glance, it seemed like maybe the game would just be a repeat of the night before. The Mavericks got nearly back-to-back power plays but did not capitalize on the first. For most of the second power play, the Mavericks couldn’t get time in their offensive zone, until McKenna found the back of the net again to even the score. Assisted by forwards Cade Borchardt and birthday boy Cole Coskey, McKenna buried a laser.

Fans celebrate after Jeremy McKenna goal. // Photo by Zach Gunter

Another power play was secured by the Mavericks with just over a minute remaining in the first period. Once the game clock began to tick under ten seconds, the team was content to take the carryover time into the second period. That decision would result in the game-winning goal.

Only 18 seconds into the second period Max Andreev got around goalie Cam Johnson to score. Assisted by forwards David Cotton and team captain Jake Jaremko, the Mavericks took the team’s first lead of the series.

From there, the team never looked back. Another second-period power play resulted in a goal by forward Jacob Hayhurst. Then, with 3:11 left in the game, down 3-1, the Everblades pulled Cam Johnson. Forward Cole Coskey got a birthday goal on an empty net, followed by Max Andreev knocking in his second of the game, also on an empty net. 

The Mavericks—especially Andreev—took their frustration from game one and turned it into a 5-1 victory. 

“LaFontaine was excellent,” coach O’Had says. “But I’m going to be honest with you. We’ve had exceptional goaltending all year long. I’m very proud of our goaltenders.”

Next, the team heads to Estero, Florida for games three, four, and five of the Kelly Cup Finals, landing on June 5, 7, and 8.

“We’re a great team on the road,” O’Had says. “Honestly, our play doesn’t change. We need to stick to our structure and stick to our game. Resilience and grit are something we need to bring home.”

If neither team sweeps those three games, the series heads back to Kansas City for games six and seven if needed. Those games would be held on June 10 and 12.