Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Alums in Hunt for ECHL’s Kelly Cup
22 schools have former players chasing league title in Allen-Wheeling series.
The ECHL’s Kelly Cup Final series drops the puck Saturday with at least a dozen NCAA alumni on both the Allen Americans and Wheeling Nailers.
Twenty-two schools have former players within four wins of the title, led by Denver and its three former teammates who will face off (Allen’s David Makowski and Wheeling’s Ty Loney and Matt Tabrum). Minnesota State (Allen’s J.P. LaFontaine and Wheeling’s Brett Stern) and Wisconsin (Allen’s Joel Rumpel and Wheeling’s Kevin Schulze) also have former teammates who have suited up for the two teams in the playoffs.
Both starting goaltenders – Allen’s Jake Hildebrand (Michigan State) and Wheeling’s Brian Foster (New Hampshire) – played college hockey. Hildebrand completed his Spartan career this season and took over the starting role in the conference final, stopping 44 of 48 shots in Allen’s series-clinching victory. The Americans’ other starter in the playoffs, Riley Gill (Western Michigan), led the team to the ECHL title last season.
Allen’s top three playoff scorers are former NCAA players, led by ECHL MVP Chad Costello (Northeastern). Costello leads all players in the playoffs with 24 points, while Makowski leads all defensemen in playoff scoring with 20 points.
Wheeling boasts the top two rookie scorers in the ECHL playoffs in John McCarron (Cornell) and Cody Wydo (Robert Morris).
The series opens Saturday at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas, and shifts to Wheeling, W.V., for Games 3, 4 and 5 beginning June 1.