There is no question that coming into the Kelly Cup Playoffs, the Idaho Steelheads were the favorite as they ran away with the Brabham Trophy and won the Mountain Divison in a landslide with a record of 58-11-1-2 record. For those of you that don’t follow the ECHL, they were expected to be the ECHL version of the Boston Bruins; Idaho’s first-round opponent is the Utah Grizzlies. However, the Grizzlies beat the Steelheads three times in regulation during the regular season. In their last game of the regular season, the Steelheads gave up six goals, all of them allowed by Josh Boyko, who they picked in the middle of February; however, Boyko only made three starts for the Steelheads during the regular season as Remi Poirier has been up in the AHL since the beginning of March. Adam Scheel, who went 28-8 in the regular season, has gotten both starts for the Steelheads, giving up three goals in game one and two in game two. During the series’ first two games, the Steelhead’s killer instinct hasn’t been there, and they’ve had trouble connecting passes. They have some playoff experience up front. However, you’ve got Matt Register on the back end, who’s played in over 100 Kelly Cup Playoff games. You also have to remember that the Grizzlies fought up until the final weekend to clinch their spot, unlike the Steelheads, who had their spot clinched on March 11th. The
For the Ges, they came into the Kelly Cup Playoffs with a hot goaltender in Trent Miner, who had two consecutive shutouts before giving one up at the 16:54 mark of the opening period in Game 2. Utah has also gotten on the board first in both games, and for a team that only lost 14 total games last season, they aren’t accustomed to playing from behind. Idaho was one of the best teams on the PP during the regular season at 22% with the man advantage. In the series’ first two games, they went 0-8; however, their PP was better on the road than it was at home. Every team has one team that they can’t beat, and for the Steelheads, it’s the Grizzlies. The Steelheads will now have the tough task of going on the road for three games in Utah to try and get themselves back into this series.
