2021 Kelly Cup playoffsTournament details |
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Dates | June 7 – July 2, 2021 |
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Teams | 8 |
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Final positions |
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Champions | Fort Wayne Komets |
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Runner-up | South Carolina Stingrays |
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Tournament statistics |
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Scoring leader(s) | Anthony Nellis (Fort Wayne) (13 points) |
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MVP | Stephen Harper |
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The 2021 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL began on June 7 following the conclusion of the 2020–21 ECHL regular season, and ended on July 2 with the Fort Wayne Komets winning their first Kelly Cup over the South Carolina Stingrays in four games.[1]
The qualification and with the top four teams from each conference at the end of the regular season.[2] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 14 of the 26 member teams participated in the season, the playoff field was cut from 16 teams to eight, and there were no divisions. As the start of the season was delayed and extended to later in the year than normal, each playoff series is a best-of-five tournament, down from the previous 2019 playoffs and planned 2020 playoffs that consisted of best-of-seven series.
Due to the postseason being pushed later into the year than typical, both the South Carolina Stingrays and Wichita Thunder were forced to play home games out of their practice rinks over scheduling conflicts with their normal home arenas.[3][4]
Playoff seeds
After the regular season, eight teams qualify for the playoffs. The Wichita Thunder were the first team to qualify during the regular season on May 16.[5] Due to the imbalanced scheduling during the pandemic, teams were seeded by points percentage.[6]
Final seeds and points percentages:[7]
Eastern Conference
- Florida Everblades – Brabham Cup winners, conference champions, .667 pts%
- Greenville Swamp Rabbits – .632 pts%
- Indy Fuel – .594 pts%
- South Carolina Stingrays – .579 pts%
Western Conference
- Allen Americans – Conference champions, .653 pts%
- Wichita Thunder – .634 pts%
- Fort Wayne Komets – .618 pts%
- Utah Grizzlies – .563 pts%
Playoff bracket
Final results.[8]
| Conference Semifinals | | | Conference Finals | | | Kelly Cup Finals | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E1 | Florida Everblades | 2 | | | |
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| E4 | South Carolina Stingrays | 3 | |
| | E4 | South Carolina Stingrays | 3 | |
| Eastern Conference | |
| | | E2 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | 1 | |
| E2 | Greenville Swamp Rabbits | 3 | |
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| E3 | Indy Fuel | 1 | |
| | E4 | South Carolina Stingrays | 1 | |
| | |
| | | W3 | Fort Wayne Komets | 3 | |
| W1 | Allen Americans | 3 | | |
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| W4 | Utah Grizzlies | 0 | |
| | W1 | Allen Americans | 1 | |
| Western Conference | |
| | | W3 | Fort Wayne Komets | 3 | |
| W2 | Wichita Thunder | 2 | |
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| W3 | Fort Wayne Komets | 3 | |
Conference semifinals
Eastern Conference
(1) Florida Everblades vs. (4) South Carolina Stingrays
South Carolina won series 3–2 | |
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(2) Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. (3) Indy Fuel
Greenville won series 3–1 | |
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Western Conference
(1) Allen Americans vs. (4) Utah Grizzlies
(2) Wichita Thunder vs. (3) Fort Wayne Komets
Fort Wayne won series 3–2 | |
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Conference finals
Eastern Conference
(2) Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. (4) South Carolina Stingrays
South Carolina won series 3–1 | |
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Western Conference
(1) Allen Americans vs. (3) Fort Wayne Komets
Fort Wayne won series 3–1 | |
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Kelly Cup finals
Note: Italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
(W3) Fort Wayne Komets vs. (E4) South Carolina Stingrays
Fort Wayne won series 3–1 | |
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Statistical leaders
Skaters
These are the top ten skaters based on points.[9]
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Goaltending
This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 240 minutes played as of June 30. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[10]
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes)
See also
References
- ^ "Up with the Cup! Komets clinch first-ever Kelly Cup with game four victory!". WANE 15. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ "FORMAT ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS". ECHL. February 4, 2021.
- ^ "S.C. Stingrays earn playoff berth, but can't play at North Charleston Coliseum". The Post and Courier. June 6, 2021.
- ^ "Postseason hockey returns for the Wichita Thunder". KSN.com. June 7, 2021.
- ^ "Thunder clinch playoff spot for final stretch of the season". KSNW. May 19, 2021.
- ^ "ECHL Announces Schedule Through April 4". OurSports Central. January 15, 2021.
- ^ "2020–21 Conference Standings". ECHL. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ "2021 playoff schedule". ECHL. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
- ^ "Skater Statistics". ECHL. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ "Goaltender Statistics". ECHL. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
External links
Preceded by | Kelly Cup Playoffs 2021 | Succeeded by |
Western Conference | Eastern Conference | | | North Division |
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| Maine Mariners | Norfolk Admirals | | | | | |
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