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Kansas City Mavericks Oust Toledo Walleye, Punch Ticket To Kelly Cup Finals – FloHockey

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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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

Storm causes power outages in Kansas City metro

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1 hour ago

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March 7, 2026

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Storm causes power outages in Kansas City metro


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Residents are without power after a storm swept through the Kansas City metro late Friday night into Saturday morning.

According to Evergy’s power outage map, as of 12:22 a.m., 76 active outages are causing 1,628 customers to be without power.

Over 1,000 customers are without power in the Kansas City area.(KCTV5)

WEATHER UPDATES: First Warn Weather Day: The final round of storms on the way. Here’s what to expect

This is an active situation. KCTV5 will make updates to this story as they’re made available.

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Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.



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Chiefs President: New team facilities in Olathe will connect with schools, city

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13 hours ago

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March 6, 2026

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Chiefs President: New team facilities in Olathe will connect with schools, city


KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. She’s reported on the Chiefs’ decision to move its team facility to Olathe since the team made the announcement in December. That coverage has included amplifying the voices of residents who have different perspectives on the project, which has ranged from excitement to scrutiny. Share your story idea with Elyse.

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Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan said Friday the team is drawing inspiration from recent team headquarters projects with the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys as they develop plans for their own new headquarters in Olathe.

In December, the club reached an agreement with Kansas officials to move across the state line. The agreement called for a $3 billion, domed stadium in western Kansas City, Kansas, and a new team headquarters and practice facility near Kansas Highway 10 and Ridgeview Road in Olathe.

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Donovan’s remarks on Friday came during the Olathe Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center.

Elyse Schoenig/KSHB

The Olathe Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting on Friday, March 6, 2026, at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center.

The chamber’s theme for 2026, “Olathe Rising,” appears well-timed as the Chiefs work to build out their team headquarters vision.

Donovan said the team and its partners have been busy behind the scenes and hope to have updates on the project in the near future.

He said the club will look to work with the Olathe School District and the Olathe City Council in their plans.

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The club is exploring a unique component to the facility by incorporating flag football into the project.

Flag football has been a priority of the club and the National Football League. The sport will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

In April, the Kansas State High School Athletics Association is set to vote on whether to sanction girls’ flag football as a high school varsity sport.

Funding for the club’s Olathe project will come in part from the sale of bonds paid for by certain sales tax revenues.

In February, the Olathe City Council approved participation in a STAR bonds district to build the team’s new headquarters and training facility at College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road.

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Elsewhere on Friday, Kansas legislators introduced the Kansas Sports Authority Act. The act would create a nine-member board to oversee all aspects of sports facility construction.

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Elyse Schoenig





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Former Kansas high school wrestling coach charged with producing child pornography

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2 days ago

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March 5, 2026

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Former Kansas high school wrestling coach charged with producing child pornography


WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – A former Kansas wrestling coach was charged with creating child sexual abuse materials by secretly recording minors showering during an athletic competition.

According to court documents, 37-year-old Ryan Brungardt of Salina is charged with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography.

Brungardt is a former employee at Lakewood Middle School and former wrestling coach for Salina Central High School.

Brungardt is accused of using a cellphone to record three minors while they showered in a locker room during the Tournament of Champions, a wrestling tournament was held at Newton High in January 2024.

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Brungardt made his initial court appearance for the criminal complaint on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooks G. Severson.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday

Investigators are in the process of reviewing additional seized cellphone videos in this case that are suspected to have been recorded at wrestling meets in Newton, Hays, Garden City and Salina during the 2023-2024 wrestling season.

Anyone who believes they witnessed crimes or any suspicious activity at these events is asked to contact the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (785) 600-8790 or report at www.kbi.ks.gov/sar.

Copyright 2026 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com

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