When the puck drops on the ECHL's Kelly Cup Final series Sunday in Allen, Texas, two teams rife with former NCAA stars will meet with the league championship on the line.
Between the Allen Americans and South Carolina Stingrays, 74% of the players to appear in the playoffs for the two finalists played U.S. college hockey. South Carolina features an almost exclusively NCAA lineup, with 19 of 21 Stingrays in the playoffs having developed in college.
In all, 32 alumni of 24 programs have appeared in the playoffs for the two teams. Northern Michigan (three players), Wisconsin (three) and Northeastern (two) have former players on both teams.
The two starting goaltenders - Allen's Riley Gill (Western Michigan) and South Carolina's Jeff Jakaitis (Lake Superior State) - are former CCHA foes, having faced off in the 2006-07 season. South Carolina's top five scorers are all former NCAA players, as are Allen's co-leading scorers.
Both backup goaltenders in the final finished their NCAA careers this season: Joel Rumpel (Wisconsin/Allen) and Clay Witt (Northeastern/South Carolina).
Finally, both coaching staffs have NCAA backgrounds. Allen head coach Steve Martinson (St. Cloud State) and assistant coach Erik Adams (Denver) both played in the WCHA. South Carolina head coach Spencer Carbery (St. Norbert) and assistant coach Ryan Warsofsky (Curry) both played in Division III.
Former NCAA Players in the ECHL Final
| Allen Americans | South Carolina Stingrays | |||
| Justin Baker | St. Lawrence | Rob Bellamy | Maine | |
| Chad Costello | Northeastern | R.J. Boyd | Michigan State | |
| Chris Crane | Ohio State | Derek DeBlois | Michigan | |
| Nolan Descoteaux | RIT | Joe Devin | Cornell | |
| Kyle Follmer | Northern Michigan | Sean Dolan | Wisconsin | |
| Aaron Gens | Alaska | Wade Epp | Northern Michigan | |
| Riley Gill | Western Michigan | Scott Ford | Brown | |
| Greger Hanson | Northern Michigan | Patrick Gaul | Notre Dame | |
| Trevor Ludwig | Providence | Caleb Herbert | Minnesota Duluth | |
| Tyler Ludwig | Western Michigan | Jeff Jakaitis | Lake Superior State | |
| Joel Rumpel | Wisconsin | Drew MacKenzie | Vermont | |
| Rylan Schwartz | Colorado College | Lee Moffie | Michigan | |
| Gary Steffes | Miami | Marcus Perrier | Bowling Green | |
| Steve Martinson (HC) | St. Cloud State | Rob Ricci | Merrimack | |
| Erik Adams (AC) | Denver | Andrew Rowe | Michigan State | |
| Frankie Simonelli | Wisconsin | |||
| Wayne Simpson | Union | |||
| Clay Witt | Northeastern | |||
| Brandon Wong | Quinnipiac | |||
| Spencer Carbery (HC) | St. Norbert | |||
| Ryan Warsofsky (AC) | Curry | |||
Includes all players who have appeared in the 2015 Kelly Cup playoffs