The New State Of Hockey?

When one thinks of Florida, there are some images that come to mind: sunshine, beaches, and Disney World. Of course, those aren't the only things that Florida is known for, and it seems they're making "winning professional hockey chmapionships" into a Florida thing. We know that the Florida Panthers won back-to-back Stanley Cups before missing the playoffs this season, but there's another team that has made winning into an annual event in the state. If you're unaware of the Florida Everblades and their winning ways, now would be a good time to get to know the ECHL team who will one again be the Eastern Conference representative in the 2026 Kelly Cup championship series!

The Florida Everblades have won four Kelly Cups in franchise history, but three of those four championships have been won since 2022. This year will mark the fourth time in the last five years that the Everblades will play for the Kelly Cup, and the team is 4-2 all-time in Kelly Cup championship series with a 19-11 all-time record in those games. Florida lost back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005 to the Idaho Steelheads and Trenton Titans, respectfully, but won their next four championship series appearances by a 16-3 record.

This year's appearance saw them sweep the Savannah Ghost Pirates in the opening round of the playoffs, defeat the South Carolina Stingrays by a 4-1 series count in Round Two, and they imposed their will on the Wheeling Nailers by winning that series by 4-1 count as well. With just two losses in 14 games, they now await the winner of the ECHL Western Conference Final between the Fort Wayne Komets and the Kansas City Mavericks. Kansas City leads 3-1 in that series with Game Five scheduled for tomorrow in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

If Kansas City were to advance, it would set up the second meeting between these two teams in the Kelly Cup Championship. In 2024, Florida downed Kansas City by a 4-1 series count that saw Florida win three of the four games by three-or-more goals. Fort Wayne and Florida have never met for a Kelly Cup Championship in either side's histories, so we could be in for a new chapter of ECHL history if the Komets can rally against the Mavericks. We'll know more tomorrow.

In 2022, the Everblades qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs as the third-best team in the ECHL by points percentage at .653 thanks to the imbalanced schedule that was used this season. Florida then went 16-4 against Greenville, Jacksonville, Newfoundland, and Toledo that saw the Everblades go 7-0 in overtime games over those four series! That's a simply incredible overtime record by any team in any league!

2023 saw the Florida Everblades struggle through the regular season to a fourth-place finish in the ECHL's South Division, and the eleventh-best playoff team as they entered the Kelly Cup Playoffs. However, once the Kelly Cup Playoffs started, the Everblades switched into invincibility mode, going 16-6 while never holding home-ice advantage in any series. Florida went 5-2 in overtime games in this season, but they swept the ECHL's top regular season team in the Brabham Cup-winning Idaho Steelheads in the championship final! For notation purposes, Idaho finished 34 points better than Florida!

The 2024 ECHL season saw Florida finish in third-place in the South Division, four points back of Greenville and two points behind Jacksonville, as the ninth-best team that qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Florida and Jacksonville would battle through a seven-game series that saw the Everblades rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the series before they eliminated Orlando in five games and Adirondack in six games. That set up a championship series against the Kansas City Mavericks who were the Brabham Cup winners. Five games later, Florida celebrated a Kelly Cup win in beating the ECHL's best regular-season team despite finishing 25 points back of the Mavericks!

After a bit of a surprise upset last season in the Eastern Conference Final by the Trois-Rivières Lions, the Everblades are back after downing Wheeling tonight, and they look every bit as hungry as they did in winning three-straight championships. Clearly, the Everblades have created a bit of a dynasty in a league where player movement is a regular occurrence which says a lot about the team's management and culture when it comes to building a roster. In knowing that, going to the Kelly Cup Finals in four of five years is an impressive feat!

They still need to win one more series to cement their dynasty status, but the Everblades are giving fans every reason to believe that Florida is the new state of hockey. They sit just four wins from setting new ECHL records with a record fifth Kelly Cup, but they're already the most successful pro hockey team in the panhandle state!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!