Start Calling It "Evertime"

Overtime in hockey is the one place where it doesn't matter how the previous sixty minutes were played. Sure, they have "sudden death" in the NFL, but hockey has the drama of being one shot away from victory. Playoff hockey bakes the drama in even more with wins and losses in overtime often affecting the outcomes of series. Ask the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 when they won ten-straight overtime games en route to winning the Stanley Cup. But there's another team that has an outstanding overtime record in the playoffs as well.

If you haven't been following the ECHL's Kelly Cup Final, the Kansas City Mavericks ran roughshod over the Florida Everbaldes in Games One and Two by scores of 6-0 and 5-2. It looked like the magic that the Everblades had in the playoffs leading up to this series had disappeared, but the ECHL's unique 2-3-2 set of games meant there was still a chance that Florida could get back into the series with at least two home wins in three games. Would that happen?

Including tonight's final, the Everblades are right back in the thick of things as they made it a best-of-three series by winning Games Three and Four on home ice! The Everblades won Game Three by a 2-1 overtime final, and they scored a 3-2 overtime win tonight thanks to Hudson Elynuik scoring at the 10:36 mark, tying the series at 2-2. Game Five goes tonight in Estero, Florida, and Kansas City may want to avoid going to overtime because the Everblades have made it clear that any period played after the third period ends is "Evertime".

People will look at the statistics and say, "Teebz, Florida is 2-1 in overtime in these playoffs" which is entirely correct. However, since 2022 when the Everblades began their championship dynasty, they have dominated overtimes to the tune of a 20-5 record in extra time! That's an incredible run of winning in sudden death, and it seems they're finding ways to keep that incredible record going this season!

In 2022, the Everblades were 6-1 in overtime as they won every game that ended in the fourth period, but lost the only game that went to a fifth period. For those wondering, that loss came to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits when Nikita Pavlychev scored at 8:51 of double-overtime in the first round to make it a 3-2 series, but Florida would finish off Greenville in Game Six en route winning the Kelly Cup.

2023 would see Florida win their second consecutive Kelly Cup, and they went 5-2 in overtime in that season. The key here is that they were 2-0 on double-overtime games in 2023, improving their record to 2-1 in five-period contests. The Jacksonville Icemen beat Florida in Game Four of their second-round series while the Newfoundland Growlers beat them in overtime in the conference final. It should be noted that both double-overtime wins came against Newfoundland as well as the Everblades won that series in six games and 23 periods.

2024 saw the Florida Everblades become the first ECHL team to three-peat as they captured the Kelly Cup again. They only played four overtime games in those playoffs, going 3-1 in those games. Two of those games came against the Jacksonville Icemen who lost Game Two by a 2-1 overtime score before hanging a loss around Florida's neck in Game Three with a 4-3 overtime win. Florida would eliminate the Orlando Solar Bears in Round Two with a Game Five 2-1 overtime win, and they'd win the Kelly Cup with a Game Five 4-3 overtime win over Kansas City! Matt Wedman was the hero in that game!

2025 saw the Trois-Rivières Lions end the dream of a fourth-straight Kelly Cup for the Everblades, but they still did something incredible when it came to overtime. The Everblades met the Jacksonville Icemen for a fourth-straight year and second-straight first-round series, and the Everblades swept the Icemen out of the playoffs by winning four-straight overtime games! This marked the fourth-straight year that Florida also eliminated the Icemen, moving them to 5-0 in playoff series versus Jacksonville with a 27-7 record versus the Icemen all-time! Before falling to Trois-Rivières in the conference final, Florida had won 14 consecutive Kelly Cup playoff series!

The setback of losing that series last season seems to have pushed Florida to new heights this season as they're back in the Kelly Cup Final and are tied with the ECHL's top regular-season team. Their overtime record took a hit in the Eastern Conference Final this season as Wheeling beat them 3-2 in overtime in Game Four, but that was the only setback Florida suffered in that series and in overtime so far in these playoffs. Combined with the two wins on Wednesday and tonight in overtime, they're 2-1 this season in the extra frame!

Since 2022, Florida is now 62-26 in playoff games including being 20-5 in overtime games and 2-1 in double-overtime games. They have won 32.3% of their playoff games beyond sixty minutes en route to three-straight Kelly Cups and four Final appearances in the last five seasons. What might be even scarier is that of those 25 overtime games played, the Everbaldes are 10-2 at home and 10-3 on the road. It doesn't matter where they play overtime - they simply just win!

Game Five goes tonight at 7pm ET, and it would be in Kansas City's best interest to find and hold a lead. If Game Five goes to overtime, there's a better-than-good chance the Florida Everblades will win, and they'd have two shots to capture their fourth Kelly Cup in five years heading back to Independence, Missouri on Monday.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!