Kansas
Kansas City Mavericks Oust Toledo Walleye, Punch Ticket To Kelly Cup Finals – FloHockey
For the first time in franchise history, the Kansas City Mavericks will be playing for the Kelly Cup. The Mavericks ousted the Toledo Walleye in six games to advance to their first championship series. The club celebrated its first Western Conference title thanks to a convincing 7-1 win on home ice to close out the Walleye, a perennial contender that is still searching for a Kelly Cup of its own.
To see the Mavericks claim the Bruce Taylor Cup as Western Conference champs shouldn’t be much of a surprise, given that they had the best record in the ECHL by far this season. Their 114 points in the standings were nine points ahead of the next closest team – Toledo – and the Mavs had six more wins than any other team during the regular season.
🚨 THE KANSAS CITY MAVERICKS ARE THE KINGS OF THE WESTERN CONFERENCE AND ARE OFF TO THEIR FIRST KELLY CUP FINAL IN FRANCHISE HISTORY! 🚨
Congrats to the ECHL Western Conference Champion @kc_mavericks!@ECHL #ECHL #KellyCup pic.twitter.com/Ux9qSMI7Gq
— FloHockey (@FloHockey) May 27, 2024
Kansas City’s hockey history is long and disjointed, but the Mavericks have been the city’s hockey team since 2009-10, then playing in the now defunct Central Hockey League. In all those years, the furthest the Mavericks had made it was to the Western Conference Final.
Since joining the ECHL in 2014-15 when the league picked up a number of CHL clubs after that circuit dissolved, Kansas City has reached the playoffs just four times, including this season. Over the last two seasons, the organization has shown tremendous growth and has benefited from a strong affiliation partnership with the NHL’s and AHL’s newest franchises, the Seattle Kraken and Coachella Valley Firebirds.
This season has been on another level, however.
In their Memorial Day showdown with Toledo, it was the Jeremy McKenna show. McKenna, who appeared in 11 games with Coachella Valley in the AHL earlier this season, registered a hat trick in the clinching game, scoring goals one, two and four.
🚨 Jeremy McKenna gets the @kc_mavericks on the board first with this beauty 🤩
📺: https://t.co/CKaXgbzAxQ@ECHL#ECHL #KellyCup pic.twitter.com/fefaS0JzWK
— FloHockey (@FloHockey) May 27, 2024
McKenna got the scoring started with a breakaway goal off of his backhand on Toledo goalie John Lethemon at the 16:20 mark of the first period.
The game looked like it would stay close until McKenna struck again at 8:12 of the second period. Cole Coskey added another goal just over two minutes later to start putting some distance between the Mavericks and Toledo.
McKenna looked like he stuck a fork in the Walleye just 1:28 into the third period when his quick one-time shot on the rush slipped through Lethemon to make it 4-0 to complete the hat trick.
TOSS THOSE HATS 👒🧢🎩
JEREMY MCKENNA COMPLETES THE HAT TRICK!The @kc_mavericks have a 4-0 lead early in the third period of the @ECHL Western Conference Finals!
Make sure you’re tuned in for the end of this one!
📺: https://t.co/CKaXgbzAxQ#ECHL #KellyCup pic.twitter.com/IodLb2LwDh— FloHockey (@FloHockey) May 27, 2024
Kansas City goalie Jack LaFontaine grabbed his sixth win in seven postseason appearances. He has been on an absolute roll through the postseason despite alternating starts with tandem mate Cale Morris. The former University of Minnesota standout has a stunning .954 save percentage in these Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Toledo kept the fight going with a goal from Matt Anderson in the third period. That led Toledo coach Pat Mikesch to pull his goalie early in hopes of injecting more life into the game. Instead, Kansas City’s Theo Calvas found the empty net to make it 6-1, before Justin Nachbaur added insult to injury with another late goal to make it 7-1, completing a four-goal third period from the Mavs.
The Mavericks can now take some time off as they await the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Florida Everblades currently hold a 3-2 lead over the Adirondack Thunder as the series goes back to Glens Falls, N.Y., for Game 6 on Tuesday night.
You can watch that game exclusively on FloHockey.
Regardless of who wins, Kansas City has home ice advantage and is sure to see a packed Cable Dahmer Arena for the first ever championship series in a town that certainly knows a thing or two about winning teams.
While KC may be used to football and baseball teams winning championships, the last time a Kansas City hockey team won a championship was the Kansas City Blades, which won the International Hockey League’s Turner Cup in 1992.
Western Conference Finals Results
Kansas City Mavericks (54-12-6) Vs. Toledo Walleye (48-14-9)
Game 1 – Kansas City 3, Toledo 2
Game 2 – Kansas City 5, Toledo 1
Game 3 – Toledo 4, Kansas City 3
Game 4 – Kansas City 2, Toledo 1 (OT)
Game 5 – Toledo 3, Kansas City 1
Game 6 – Kansas City 7, Toledo 1
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Linn County, Kansas, man died in a single-vehicle crash early Thursday morning.
The Kansas Highway Patrol says just after midnight Thursday, a 41-year-old Centerville, Kansas, man was driving south on Mills Road about 6.5 miles southwest of La Cygne when he lost control of a 2012 Hyundai Elantra.
The vehicle left the roadway and struck an embankment, causing the Hyundai to overturn before coming to rest on its top.
The driver and sole occupant of the car, Edward Schultz, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
—
If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which
enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time.
For any issues, contact news@kake.com or call 316-943-4221.
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – A new mural under the Kansas Avenue Memorial Bridge will be unveiled Thursday afternoon in North Topeka.
A ceremony celebrating the mural will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, July 2 under the bridge near Veterans Park, 131 N.E. Laurent St.
The finished mural, titled “Reflections of North Topeka,” is the culmination of a project that brought together artists, students, volunteers, local leaders and community members to create a lasting tribute to the history and spirit of North Topeka.
“Over the past several months, the bridge has been transformed into a vibrant outdoor gallery that tells the story of our community,” organizers said in a news release. “From the area’s Indigenous roots and the Kaw Nation to the development of Eugene, the growth of North Topeka, and the revitalization of today’s NOTO Arts & Entertainment District, the mural celebrates the people, places, and events that shaped our community.
“What makes this mural truly special is the community behind it. More than 90 volunteers helped paint this project, proving that when people come together with a shared vision, incredible things can happen.”
The celebration will include:
- The official unveiling of the completed mural
- A brief program with remarks from the mural team
- A ceremonial ribbon cutting
- An opportunity to meet the artists and learn about the stories behind the artwork
- Complimentary refreshments
Led by Project Manager and NOTO Arts Administrator Staci Schnacker, lead artist Zandra Sneed-Dawkins, and supporting artists DeAna Morrison, Jordan E. Brooks, and Pradeep K. Bangalore, “this mural is more than public art,” organizers said — “it’s a celebration of the people, places, and history that make North Topeka unique.
This project was supported in part through the National Endowment for the Arts, ArtsConnect Topeka, the City of Topeka, Shawnee County Parks + Recreation, and many other community partners, businesses, artists, and volunteers.
Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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