2009 Kelly Cup playoffs

The 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL began on April 9, 2009. The 16 teams that qualified, eight from each conference, will play a best-of-7 series for division semifinals, finals and conference finals. The conference champions will play a best-of-7 series for the Kelly Cup.

Three league records were set during the first round of the playoffs. Game One of the North Division semifinals became the longest game in ECHL history, as the Elmira Jackals defeated the Trenton Devils 5 – 4 in a game that lasted 126:10. Elmira's Josh Aspenlind scored the game-winning goal at 6:10 of the fourth overtime.[1] Previously, the longest game was the Greenville Grrrowl's 3 – 2 four overtime victory against the Louisiana IceGators in Game Two of the 2000 Southern Conference Finals, which lasted 121:24. The game saw another league record fall, as Elmira and Trenton combined for 145 shots on goal (75 for Trenton, 70 for Elmira), besting the 139 combined shots on goal by Louisiana (82) and the Jackson Bandits (57) in Jackson's 5 – 4 triple overtime victory in Game Two of the 2002 Southwest Division Semifinals. Elmira's goaltender, Michael Teslak made the third most saves in a single game in ECHL history with 71.[2]

April 22 also went down in the ECHL history books as for the first time in the league's 21-year history, two Game 7s were played on the same day as the Stockton Thunder defeated the Ontario Reign 5 – 4 and the Las Vegas Wranglers defeated the Bakersfield Condors 5 – 1, both games were Pacific Division Semifinals matchups.[3]

The Division finals saw the defending Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones and the Alaska Aces cruise to easy Conference finals berths, under competely different circumstances. Cincinnati swept Elmira after both teams went the full seven games in their opening series, while Alaska defeated the Victoria Salmon Kings four games to one with both teams having an extended rest, with Victoria sweeping their opening series and Alaska winning their series in five games. The South Carolina Stingrays required a little more effort to oust the Florida Everblades, who sat atop the league's regular season standings, defeating them in six games to advance to play the Cyclones in the conference finals.

Three (Alaska, Cincinnati and South Carolina) of the four teams in the Conference Finals were former Kelly Cup Champions. The American Conference finals was a rematch of the 2008 edition with Cincinnati taking on South Carolina and Las Vegas made their second consecutive trip to the National Conference finals, taking on their most heated rival the Alaska Aces.

The South Carolina Stingrays led the Alaska Aces, 3-1, headed to Game 5 before blowing the lead, and having to face a Game 7, where the Stingrays clinched their third Kelly Cup with a 4-2 win, winning the series, 4-3. The Stingrays tied the ECHL record for most ECHL championships, with three. South Carolina would get their revenge on Cincinnati for defeating the Stingrays in the 2008 American Conference finals by sweeping the Cyclones in four games. The National Conference finals had the same results with Alaska sweeping Las Vegas in four games.

Playoff seeds

After the 2008–09 ECHL regular season, 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. The Florida Everblades were the American Conference regular season champions as well as the Brabham Cup winners with the best overall regular season record. The Alaska Aces were the National Conference regular season champions. South Carolina goaltender James Reimer was named the Kelly Cup Finals MVP.

American Conference

North Division

  1. Cincinnati Cyclones - 87 points
  2. Trenton Devils - 87 points
  3. Elmira Jackals - 85 points
  4. Wheeling Nailers - 80 points

South Division

  1. Florida Everblades - American Conference regular season champions, Brabham Cup winners, 103 points
  2. South Carolina Stingrays - 90 points
  3. Charlotte Checkers - 76 points
  4. Gwinnett Gladiators - 68 points

National Conference

Pacific Division

  1. Ontario Reign - 82 points
  2. Las Vegas Wranglers - 76 points
  3. Bakersfield Condors - 74 points
  4. Stockton Thunder - 71 points

West Division

  1. Alaska Aces - National Conference regular season champions, 93 points
  2. Idaho Steelheads - 92 points
  3. Victoria Salmon Kings - 83 points
  4. Utah Grizzlies - 72 points

Bracket

Division Semifinals Division Finals Conference Finals Kelly Cup Finals
            
N1 Cincinnati 4
N4 Wheeling 3
N1 Cincinnati 4
North Division
N3 Elmira 0
N2 Trenton 3
N3 Elmira 4
N1 Cincinnati 0
American Conference
S2 South Carolina 4
S1 Florida 4
S4 Gwinnett 1
S1 Florida 2
South Division
S2 South Carolina 4
S2 South Carolina 4
S3 Charlotte 2
S2 South Carolina 4
W1 Alaska 3
P1 Ontario 3
P4 Stockton 4
P4 Stockton 3
Pacific Division
P2 Las Vegas 4
P2 Las Vegas 4
P3 Bakersfield 3
P2 Las Vegas 0
National Conference
W1 Alaska 4
W1 Alaska 4
W4 Utah 1
W1 Alaska 4
West Division
W3 Victoria 1
W2 Idaho 0
W3 Victoria 4

Statistical leaders

Skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points.[4]

Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Josh Soares Alaska Aces 20 10 17 27 +12 19
Colin Hemingway Alaska Aces 20 9 15 24 +12 14
Trent Campbell South Carolina Stingrays 22 5 18 23 +2 13
Travis Morin South Carolina Stingrays 18 4 17 21 +11 12
Cam Keith Alaska Aces 19 3 17 20 +10 19
Alexandre Imbeault Alaska Aces 19 7 12 19 0 10
Jeff Corey South Carolina Stingrays 22 11 7 18 +3 12
Nikita Kashirsky South Carolina Stingrays 21 6 12 18 +13 18
Maxime Lacroix South Carolina Stingrays 22 12 5 17 +6 37
Pierre-Luc O'Brien South Carolina Stingrays 22 5 12 17 0 16

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; Yellow shade = team still in playoffs

All statistics as of: 08:00, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Goaltending

These are the top five goaltenders based on both goals against average and save percentage with at least one game played (Note: list is sorted by goals against average).[5]

Player Team GP W L SA GA GAA SV% SO Min
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux Alaska Aces 20 15 5 598 38 1.89 .936 4 1205
Josh Johnson Gwinnett Gladiators 3 0 2 124 7 2.10 .944 0 200
James Reimer South Carolina Stingrays 7 3 3 224 16 2.20 .929 1 437
Jeff Frazee Trenton Devils 4 2 2 116 10 2.22 .914 0 271
Curtis Darling Wheeling Nailers 7 3 4 274 16 2.23 .942 1 430

GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); Yellow shade = team still in playoffs

All statistics as of: 08:00, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Division Semifinals

Note 1: All times are local.
Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
Note 3: Home team is listed first.

American Conference

North Division

(N1) Cincinnati Cyclones vs. (N4) Wheeling Nailers
Cincinnati wins series 4–3
(N2) Trenton Devils vs. (N3) Elmira Jackals
Elmira wins series 4–3

South Division

(S1) Florida Everblades vs. (S4) Gwinnett Gladiators
Florida wins series 4–1
(S2) South Carolina Stingrays vs. (S3) Charlotte Checkers
South Carolina wins series 4–2

NOTE: Neither team's home arena was available in the first week of the ECHL playoffs; Time Warner Cable Arena was unavailable for this round (final week of NBA games by the Charlotte Bobcats, and the North Charleston Coliseum had rehearsals for a concert tour. The ECHL arranged the playoff series in the following order: two games at the Extreme Ice Center, three games at the North Charleston Coliseum, and then one game at the Extreme Ice Center. Had a seventh game been necessary, it would have been played at the North Charleston Coliseum.

National Conference

Pacific Division

(P1) Ontario Reign vs. (P4) Stockton Thunder
Stockton wins series 4–3
(P2) Las Vegas Wranglers vs. (P3) Bakersfield Condors
Las Vegas wins series 4–3

West Division

(W1) Alaska Aces vs. (W4) Utah Grizzlies
Alaska wins series 4–1
(W2) Idaho Steelheads vs. (W3) Victoria Salmon Kings
Victoria wins series 4–0

Division Finals

American Conference

North Division

(N1) Cincinnati Cyclones vs. (N3) Elmira Jackas
Cincinnati wins series 4–0

South Division

(S1) Florida Everblades vs. (S2) South Carolina Stingrays
South Carolina wins series 4–2

National Conference

Pacific Division

(P2) Las Vegas Wranglers vs. (P4) Stockton Thunder
Las Vegas wins series 4–3

NOTE: Arena conflicts led to the ECHL shifting the first games of the playoff series.

West Division

(W1) Alaska Aces vs. (W3) Victoria Salmon Kings
Alaska wins series 4–1

Conference finals

American Conference

(S2) South Carolina Stingrays vs. (N1) Cincinnati Cyclones

South Carolina wins series 4–0

National Conference

(W1) Alaska Aces vs. (P2) Las Vegas Wranglers

Alaska wins series 4–0

Kelly Cup Finals

(W1) Alaska Aces vs. (S2) South Carolina Stingrays

South Carolina wins Kelly Cup 4–3.

References

  1. ↑ Chakler, Rob (April 11, 2009). "T-Devils fall in longest game in ECHL history". The Trentonian. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Elmira Beats Trenton In Longest Game In ECHL History". ECHL. April 11, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  3. ↑ "ECHL Has Record Two Game 7s Wednesday". ECHL. April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Top Scorers - 2009 Playoffs - All Players". ECHL. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  5. ↑ "Top Goalies - 2009 Playoffs - Goals Against Average". ECHL. Retrieved 2009-04-23.

See also

Preceded by
2008 Kelly Cup playoffs		 Kelly Cup Playoffs
2009 		Succeeded by
2010 Kelly Cup playoffs
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