The Pride Of The ECHL

There's nothing quite like the exhilaration of winning a championship after a long season and a gruelling postseason, and the ECHL's Kelly Cup will now call Trois-Rivières home for at least a season after they defeated the Toledo Walleye by a 4-1 score, winning the ECHL's top prize in five games. The standing-room only crowd of 4777 fans at Colisée Vidéotron cheered loudly as the time ticked down to 0:00 in the third period, and this pride of Lions certainly made them, the Montreal Canadiens, and the city of Quebec proud of their efforts! Congratulations to the Lions!

It's pretty amazing to think that, after dropping Game One by a 3-1 score, that the Lions would roar back and only allow four goals over the next four games. Luke Cavallin, who was named as the Kelly Cup Playoffs MVP, stopped 135 of 139 shots he faced over those four wins as he went into denial mode on a number of Toledo chances. The 24 year-old had himself a spectacular playoffs, posting a 15-5 record and a 1.53 goals-against average while allowing two goals or less in 17 of his 20 outings. Those aren't just good numbers. They are magnifique!

The Lions had certainly put the Walleye on notice as they had played more physical in this final series than perhaps the Walleye expected. At every turn, the Lions finished checks and kept gaps between themselves and Toledo players small so that the Walleye couldn't get their lethal attack moving north-south down the ice. While Toledo tried to match the Lions' physical play, there were more power-plays for the Lions. It was on the third power-play of the opening frame where Anthony Bearegard opened the scoring for the Lions at 11:29.

That 1-0 score remained intact for nearly 34 minutes as the next goal wouldn't be scored until the third period, but the Walleye tied the game when Matt Anderson finally broke through the Lions' defence and the wall known as Luke Cavallin to make it 1-1 at the 5:17 mark. The tied game would last all of 3:41 when Chris Jandric found room past Jan Bednar at 8:58, and the Lions were back up 2-1 with a lead they would not relinquish. Wyatt McLeod and Alex Beaucage buried empty-netters 1:02 apart in the final two minutes of the game, and that was more than enough for the Lions to claim victory!

Trois-Rivieres Lions head coach Ron Choules joked after the game about how the Lions went from almost folding to standing atop the mountain, saying, "How's that for a 30 for 30, eh?" which reflected just how close the team was to not existing last season. However, new ownership and the Montreal Canadiens got the Lions back on track this season by posting the league's fifth-best record at 45-19-8, one point behind Toledo, while sweeping the Reading Royals, eliminating them Norfork Admirals in six games, stopping the three-time defending champion Florida Everblades in six games, and posting a five-game victory over the Toledo Walleye in capturing the Kelly Cup. Not a bad bounce-back from bankruptcy at all!

"Honestly, it feels like it's been a long time coming," netminder Luke Cavallin said of winning the Kelly Cup. "Just really proud of the group we have here. It's been a long season, a long couple of years here. I'm so glad we did this tonight and we did it at home."

For a team that averaged around 2500 fans per game this season, seeing a standing-room only crowd in the rink for Game Five was awesome and my hope is that this bolsters the fanbase for the Lions moving forward. For those who may scoff at going to catch a game or two at the ECHL level, it's good, fun hockey for fans of all ages.

Yes, I realize it's not NHL hockey, but that's the whole point with it being affordable and entertaining. I get that the Canadiens will always rule over Quebec when it comes to fans, but Quebec now has a second professional championship team. If you're able, get down to Colisée Vidéotron next season and catch the Lions in action!

For just the second time in ECHL history, a Canadian team will have the title of "defending champions" when the season starts in October. The Lions battled their way through 20 games to earn that title, and they'll look to follow in Florida's footsteps as they aim to repeat as the 2025-26 ECHL Kelly Cup champions. There's a long summer of basking in the glow of the Kelly Cup, though, so here's to a big summer for the Lions' staff, management, ownership, and players being called "champions"!

Félicitations aux Lions de Trois-Rivières, les champions de l'ECHL!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!