Friday, May 26, 2017

Alums Battle for ECHL Title

Colorado, South Carolina meet for Kelly Cup featuring former players from 21 schools.


Alums Battle for ECHL Title
Colorado’s Matt Garbowsky had 26 goals and 54 points as a senior at RIT in 2014-15.

Twenty-two NCAA alumni have helped propel the Colorado Eagles and South Carolina Stingrays into the Kelly Cup Finals as the ECHL championship series begins Friday night in Loveland, Colo.

The former college players represent 21 schools – more than one-third of all Division I programs – as Northern Michigan is the only program with multiple alumni in the finals. Andrew Cherniwchan and Wade Epp are Stingrays teammates representing the Wildcats.

ECHL.com

South Carolina has featured 16 former college players in its lineup during the playoffs, while Colorado has countered with six.

Six of the Stingrays’ top eight scorers in the playoffs have been former college players, led by Dominic Monardo (Lake Superior State) and Kelly Zajac (Union). Parker Milner, a two-time NCAA champion at Boston College, has played every game in goal for South Carolina.

Although fewer in number, the NCAA alums on Colorado have played large roles in the Eagles’ success. Jake Marto (North Dakota) ranks third on the team in playoff scoring as a defenseman and carries a five-game point streak in the final. The team’s top two goal scorers in the regular season were Matt Garbowsky (RIT) and Luke Salazar (Denver).

Lukas Hafner (Western Michigan) has a 10-2 playoff record in goal for the Eagles.

The Kelly Cup Finals begin Friday and Sunday in Colorado before shifting to South Carolina for Games 3-5 on June 4, 5 and 7 (if necessary). Games 6 and 7, if necessary, would move back to Colorado on June 9 and 10, respectively.

NCAA Alumni in the Kelly Cup Finals
Colorado Eagles (6)
Matt Garbowsky RIT
Lukas Hafner Western Michigan
Sam Jardine Ohio State
Jake Marto North Dakota
Luke Salazar Denver
Michael Sdao Princeton

South Carolina Stingrays (16)
Derek Arnold UMass Lowell
Adam Carlson Mercyhurst
Andrew Cherniwchan Northern Michigan
Joe Devin Cornell
Kevin Dufour Bowling Green
Wade Epp Northern Michigan
Danny Federico Quinnipiac
Patrick Gaul Notre Dame
Steven McParland Providence
Parker Milner Boston College
Domenic Monardo Lake Superior State
Max Nicastro Boston University
Mitch Nylen Sacred Heart
John Parker Bemidji State
Steve Weinstein Bentley
Kelly Zajac Union
Includes all players who have appeared in the ECHL playoffs