Idaho Steelheads Begin Playoffs Friday at Home
After taking three of four points in their final weekend of the season against the Allen Americans, the Steelheads will square off with the Americans again this weekend with the stakes much higher as the 2018 US Bank Kelly Cup Playoffs get underway.
The Steelheads finished second in the Mountain Division this season and will host the third-place Americans for Games 1 and 2 at CenturyLink Arena on Friday and Saturday. This will be the second time that the Steelheads and Americans have met in post-season play, with the Americans defeating the Steelheads in seven games in the first round of the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs en route to their second Kelly Cup championship. The Steelheads open the post-season with home-ice advantage for the first time since the 2015 playoffs.
The Steelheads won 44 games during the regular season and with their players' long list of impressive feats, the playoff action will be fun to watch!
What the Steelheads players have achieved so far:
- Goalie Tomas Sholl finished the regular season unbeaten in regulation in 19 ECHL appearances, going 14-0-3. He finished with four shutouts in just eleven starts for Idaho, one shy of matching the team’s single-season ECHL record..
- Forward Cole Ully finishes the season with nine goals and 12 points in seven games, and six 2-point games in the last seven.
- Forward Justin Parizek finished second in the ECHL rookie scoring race with 60 points, the most by a Steelheads rookie since Kael Mouillierat’s 63 points in 2010-11.
As for some team achievements:
- The Steelhead finished the season on a ten-game points streak, their longest since earning a 12-game streak on March 13, 2015.
- The Steelheads went 5-3-2 against Allen this season.
- Idaho finished sixth overall in the ECHL standings, their 96 points the fourth-best mark for the Steelheads in the ECHL era.
- The Steelheads finished third in the ECHL in shots per game (36.11) and shots-against per game (28.36), and fourth in goals-against per game (2.61)
- Idaho was 29-1-2 this season when leading after two periods, and 31-9-4 when scoring first.
- Eight Steelheads on ECHL contracts signed professional tryout agreements with AHL teams this year.
- The Steelheads sold out 18 games during the regular season, their most since the 1999-2000 season and double their total from last year