WICHITA, Kan. – Welcome to our daily breakdown of the race to the 2020 Kelly Cup Playoffs! Each game day for the remainder of the ECHL season, we will have an analysis of how the races stack up.
For those new to hockey, a team clinches a playoff spot when their points total surpasses the possible points total (or equals it if they have already clinched the ROW tiebreaker) of the team with the highest possible total outside the playoff picture.
Today’s four-game ECHL schedule is North-loaded, so let’s get started.
North Division
- Newfoundland and Reading have clinched playoff berths
- Newfoundland has a five-point lead on Reading for the North Division lead
- Brampton enters the night third in the division and with a three-point lead on Maine for the final playoff spot. The Beast’s magic number for clinching a playoff berth is six.
- Maine currently occupies the fourth playoff spot in the North Division. Their magic number for clinching their first-ever playoff berth is nine.
- Adirondack’s tragic number is at nine
- Worcester has been eliminated from playoff contention
South Division
- South Carolina and Florida have clinched playoff berths and are tied for the lead at the top of the division
- Greenville occupies the third-seed currently and has a one-point lead on Atlanta in the race for the final playoff spot.
- Atlanta has a four-point lead on Orlando for the final playoff spot.
- Jacksonville currently sits seven points out of fourth
- Norfolk has been eliminated from playoff contention
Central Division
- Cincinnati has clinched a playoff berth and has a seven-point lead on Toledo for the Central Division lead
- Toledo’s magic number for clinching a playoff berth is at two, thanks to a Wheeling loss at Reading this morning. The Walleye could clinch a berth with a win in regulation at Cincinnati tomorrow night
- Fort Wayne currently holds the third playoff spot and their magic number for clinching a berth is 11
- Indy holds the fourth playoff spot and has an eight-point lead on Kalamazoo in the race for fourth
- Kalamazoo’s tragic number for playoff elimination is 18
- Wheeling’s tragic number for playoff elimination is 17
Mountain Division
- Allen has clinched a playoff berth
- Idaho and Utah are deadlocked in the race for the two-seed in the division. The magic number for both the Steelheads and Grizzlies to clinch a playoff berth is at nine
- Tulsa has a two-point lead on Rapid City for the final playoff spot
- Rapid City has three games-in-hand on Tulsa and are two points behind the Oilers for the final playoff spot
- Wichita is 10 points behind Tulsa for the fourth playoff spot
- Kansas City’s tragic number is at nine
Here’s the ECHL’s breakdown of the standings at the start of the day:
Courtesy: ECHL
Here’s what the Kelly Cup Playoff bracket looks like at the start of play today:
Teams With Best Record in Last 10 Games:
Atlanta Gladiators: 8-0-1-1
Florida Everblades: 8-1-1-0
Cincinnati Cyclones: 8-2-0-0
Idaho Steelheads: 8-2-2-0
South Carolina Stingrays: 7-3-0-0
Toledo Walleye: 7-3-0-0
Fort Wayne Komets: 7-3-0-0
Does Clinching a Playoff Berth First Mean a Long Playoff Run?
South Carolina was the first ECHL team to clinch a playoff berth on February 23, thanks to a 6-5 win in Worcester. As we have seen in the last several years, clinching first does not equate to a deep playoff run, with only two teams making it to the Kelly Cup Finals:
| YEAR | TEAM | RESULT |
| 2008 | Texas Wildcatters | Lost in South Div. Finals |
| 2009 | Florida Everblades | Lost in South Div. Finals |
| 2010 | Idaho Steelheads | Lost in Kelly Cup Finals |
| 2011 | Las Vegas Wranglers | Lost in West Conf QF |
| 2012 | Alaska Aces | Lost in West Conf Finals |
| 2013 | Ontario Reign | Lost in West Conf Semis |
| 2014 | Reading Royals | Lost in East Conf QF |
| 2015 | Toledo Walleye Fort Wayne Komets |
TOL lost in East Conf Finals FW lost in North Div Finals |
| 2016 | Missouri Mavericks | Lost in Central Div Finals |
| 2017 | Toledo Walleye | Lost in Western Conf Finals |
| 2018 | Florida Everblades | Lost in Kelly Cup Finals |
| 2019 | Cincinnati Cyclones | Lost in Central Div Finals |
| 2020 | South Carolina Stingrays | ??? |
Race for the Brabham Cup
The race for the Brabham Cup, and home-ice throughout the 2020 Kelly Cup Playoffs, is a three-horse race between the South Carolina Stingrays, Florida Everblades, and Allen Americans, who are separated by four points in the standings (South Carolina and Florida 92 pts each, Allen 88).
If you’re handicapping this race, South Carolina has a game-in-hand on both the Everblades and Americans.
Looking back to 2006-07, the winners of the Brabham Cup have gone on to win the Kelly Cup three times.
| YEAR | TEAM | PLAYOFF RESULT |
| 2006-07 | Las Vegas Wranglers | Lost in Conference Semis to Idaho |
| 2007-08 | Cincinnati Cyclones | WON KELLY CUP |
| 2008-09 | Florida Everblades | Lost in South Division Finals to SC |
| 2009-10 | Idaho Steelheads | Lost in Kelly Cup Finals to Cincinnati |
| 2010-11 | Alaska Aces | WON KELLY CUP |
| 2011-12 | Alaska Aces | Lost in Conference Finals to Las Vegas |
| 2012-13 | Alaska Aces | Lost in Conference Semis to Stockton |
| 2013-14 | Alaska Aces | WON KELLY CUP |
| 2014-15 | Toledo Walleye | Lost in Conference Finals to SC |
| 2015-16 | Missouri Mavericks | Lost in Conference Semis to Allen |
| 2016-17 | Toledo Walleye | Lost in Conference Finals to Colorado |
| 2017-18 | Florida Everblades | Lost in Kelly Cup Finals to Colorado |
| 2018-19 | Cincinnati Cyclones | Lost in Central Division Final to Toledo |
| 2019-20 | ??? | ??? |
Stay with The Sin Bin as we cover the race for the 2020 Kelly Cup Playoffs!
