The 2017 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL began on April 12, 2017, following the conclusion of the 2016–17 ECHL regular season.
Playoff format At the end of the regular season the top four teams in each division qualify for the playoffs and are seeded one through four based on highest point total earned in the season. The first two rounds of the playoffs are held within the division with the first seed facing the fourth seed and the second seed facing the third. The division champions then play each other in a conference championship. The Kelly Cup finals pits the Eastern Conference champion against the Western Conference champion. All four rounds are a best-of-seven format.
Playoff seeds After the regular season, 16 teams qualify for the playoffs. On March 4, the Toledo Walleye were the first team to qualify during the regular season and on April 8 they clinched the Brabham Cup with the best record in the ECHL.
Eastern Conference North Division Adirondack Thunder – North Division champions, 93 pts Reading Royals – 88 pts Brampton Beast – 88 pts Manchester Monarchs – 85 pts
South Division Florida Everblades – South Division champions, 97 pts Greenville Swamp Rabbits – 86 pts South Carolina Stingrays – 84 pts Orlando Solar Bears – 82 pts
Western Conference Central Division Toledo Walleye – Central Division champions, Brabham Cup winners, 106 pts Fort Wayne Komets – 98 pts Quad City Mallards – 84 pts Kalamazoo Wings – 80 pts
Mountain Division Allen Americans – Mountain Division champions, 104 pts Colorado Eagles – 99 pts Idaho Steelheads – 91 pts Utah Grizzlies– 79 pts
Playoff brackets
Division semifinals Home team is listed first.
North Division (1) Adirondack Thunder vs. (4) Manchester Monarchs Because of the unavailability of the SNHU Arena during most of the first round, Adirondack were scheduled to host five of the seven games; this resulted in a 2–5 schedule where the lower seeded team hosted the first two games.
(2) Reading Royals vs. (3) Brampton Beast
South Division (1) Florida Everblades vs. (4) Orlando Solar Bears
(2) Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. (3) South Carolina Stingrays The two teams and the ECHL agreed on a 2-2-1-1-1 schedule due to the close proximity.
Central Division (1) Toledo Walleye vs. (4) Kalamazoo Wings The two teams and the ECHL agreed on a 2-2-1-1-1 schedule due to the close proximity.
(2) Fort Wayne Komets vs. (3) Quad City Mallards
Mountain Division (1) Allen American vs. (4) Utah Grizzlies
(2) Colorado Eagles vs. (3) Idaho Steelheads
Division finals Home team is listed first.
North Division (3) Brampton Beast vs. (4) Manchester Monarchs
South Division (1) Florida Everblades vs. (3) South Carolina Stingrays
Central Division
(1) Toledo Walleye vs. (2) Fort Wayne Komets
Mountain Division
(1) Allen Americans vs. (2) Colorado Eagles
Conference finals Home team is listed first.
Eastern Conference
(N4) Manchester Monarchs vs. (S3) South Carolina Stingrays
Western Conference
(C1) Toledo Walleye vs. (M2) Colorado Eagles
Kelly Cup finals Home team is listed first.
(Mountain #2) Colorado Eagles vs. (South #3) South Carolina Stingrays
Statistical leaders
Skaters These are the top ten skaters based on points. Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIMAlex Belzile Colorado Eagles 18 14 12 26 +12 38Matt Register Colorado Eagles 20 8 16 23 +9 18Rob Flick South Carolina Stingrays 22 11 11 22 +5 51Matt Leitner Manchester Monarchs 19 8 14 22 +13 12Kyle Bonis Toledo Walleye 17 10 8 18 -2 2Tyson Spink Toledo Walleye 17 7 11 18 0 12Domenic Monardo South Carolina Stingrays 22 6 12 18 +7 41Jake Marto Colorado Eagles 20 5 13 18 +7 6Olivier Archambault South Carolina Stingrays 22 7 10 17 +2 28Kelly Zajac South Carolina Stingrays 22 6 11 17 0 2 GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Goaltending
This 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. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded. Player Team GP W L OTL SA GA GAA SV% SO TOIMark Dekanich Reading Royals 6 2 2 2 239 11 1.62 0.954 0 406Alex Nedeljkovic Florida Everblades 7 1 4 1 186 13 1.92 0.930 0 406Zachary Fucale Brampton Beast 11 6 5 0 365 25 2.13 0.932 0 704Ryan Massa Orlando Solar Bears 4 3 0 1 153 9 2.14 0.941 0 252Parker Milner South Carolina Stingrays 22 12 8 2 665 54 2.30 0.919 3 1409Sam Brittain Manchester Monarchs 19 11 7 1 584 44 2.33 0.925 1 1132 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 2016–17 ECHL season List of ECHL seasons
References
External links ECHL website