Connect with us

Kansas

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

Published

2 years ago

on

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.

Advertisement

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

Watch ECHL, USHL And More On FloHockey

FloHockey is the streaming home to some of the best hockey leagues in North America, including the ECHL and more. Check out the broadcast schedule to watch more hockey.

Advertisement

Join The Hockey Conversation On FloHockey Social





Source link

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Kansas

Kansas State adds linebacker Colton McComb

Published

1 hour ago

on

April 4, 2026

By

Kansas State adds linebacker Colton McComb


It is safe to say Kansas State has it rolling a bit on the recruiting trail in the 2027 recruiting class. K-State has landed Edmond, Oklahoma linebacker Colton McComb.

The announcement from McComb comes while on an unofficial visit to Kansas State. It was the first time the linebacker had visited Manhattan and he was blown away by the Wildcats on his visit leading to his commitment.

McComb was a newer target of Kansas State when Collin Klein was announced as the new head coach. His recruitment was much more of the sprint variety. The Oklahoma native was offered by K-State January 16 by area recruiter Brian Lepak.

Shortly after his offer from the Wildcats, McComb was visited by Kansas State defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson who conducted an in-home visit with the junior. After the in-home visit, he scheduled a visit to Manhattan for this weekend where he pulled the trigger. The K-State defensive coordinator deserves a lot of credit for getting this commitment done for the Wildcats.

Advertisement

The junior held offers from Baylor, Boston College, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Memphis and Tulane along with the offer from the Wildcats. McComb had official visits scheduled to Baylor and Kansas for the summer, but will no longer take those. Both Sooner State schools also wanted the junior linebacker, so he was a very wanted prospect on the recruiting trail. He is also the older brother of David McComb who began his college career at Kansas.

Overall, McComb is commitment No. 5 for Kansas State. At this point last year, K-State still had not received its first commitment yet. He joins the Wildcat class of defensive lineman Dawayne Jones, safety Julian Elzey, cornerback Nazir Pitchford and offensive lineman Canaan Smith. McComb is also the second Oklahoma native to join the class joining Jones.



Source link

Continue Reading

Kansas

Where to watch Milwaukee Brewers vs Kansas City Royals: TV channel, start time, streaming for Apr. 4

Published

14 hours ago

on

April 4, 2026

By

Where to watch Milwaukee Brewers vs Kansas City Royals: TV channel, start time, streaming for Apr. 4


play

Baseball is back and finding what channel your favorite team is playing on has become a little bit more confusing since MLB announced plans to produce and distribute broadcasts for nearly a third of the league.

We’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know Saturday as the Milwaukee Brewers visit the Kansas City Royals.

Advertisement

See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.

What time is Milwaukee Brewers vs Kansas City Royals?

First pitch between the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, Apr. 4.

How to watch Milwaukee Brewers vs Kansas City Royals on Saturday

All times Eastern and accurate as of Friday, April 3, 2026, at 11:26 a.m.

  • Matchup: MIL at KC
  • Date: Saturday, Apr. 4
  • Time: 4:10 p.m. (ET)
  • Venue: Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium
  • Location: Kansas City, Missouri
  • TV: FOX Sports 1, Royals.TV and Brewers.TV
  • Streaming: MLB.TV on Fubo

Watch MLB all season long with Fubo

MLB regional blackout restrictions apply

MLB scores, results

MLB scores for Apr. 4 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:

Advertisement

See scores, results for all of today’s games.



Source link

Continue Reading

Kansas

KU Hospital to close pediatric intensive care unit in Kansas City, Kansas, cites ‘chronically low’ use

Published

1 day ago

on

April 3, 2026

By

KU Hospital to close pediatric intensive care unit in Kansas City, Kansas, cites ‘chronically low’ use


KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. Share your story idea with Isabella.

—

The University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas, is shutting down its pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) services.

The major hospital in Kansas City confirmed to KSHB 41 News on Friday that PICU services will be ending, though a date is not confirmed yet.

Advertisement

Pediatric services that are not considered “intensive care” are not affected.

According to a spokesperson with the hospital, “chronically low census” in the PICU led The University of Kansas Health System to make the decision.

The health system only has six PICU beds out of the 1,621 beds in the entire hospital. Out of the 542,429 patients who used services at the health system last year, only 150 patients were in the PICU.

“That is well below one quarter of one half a percent,” a spokesperson wrote. “The majority of the time, the PICU is used for overflow from the NICU or neonatal patient care. The health system needs space to meet higher demands for care,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Pediatric patients needing services will still receive emergency, hospital and triage care at The University of Kansas Health System. If more intensive care is needed, the hospital will work with other KC metro health systems to provide that care.

Advertisement

“We will still offer pediatric inpatient services for peds who need hospitalization, but not pediatric intensive care,” a spokesperson wrote. “We also have a large outpatient footprint, as most pediatric issues are treated in outpatient settings.”

Staff currently working in the PICU will continue working with The University of Kansas Health System in either the pediatric or infant units.

“It is common for adult academic teaching hospitals to not provide ongoing pediatric intensive care services when there is a children’s hospital in the same city,” a spokesperson wrote. “This is not an unusual business model. In our case, there’s a children’s hospital less than 3 miles away.”

A date for the PICU closure is not confirmed yet, though a spokesperson said multiple dates are being looked at that coincide with the health system’s fiscal year budget.

—

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending