The Central Division produced two legitimate contenders for the Kelly Cup – the Cincinnati Cyclones and Toledo Walleye – with the Indy Fuel not too far off from being in that conversation.

Alas, only one of them can make it past the second round, which could produce high-level fireworks from some of the league’s top teams as they fight to get even that far.

No. 1 Cincinnati Cyclones (47-16-9) Vs. No. 4 Fort Wayne Komets (34-31-7)

Game 1 – Friday, April 21 at 7:35 p.m. ET at Cincinnati
Game 2 – Saturday, April 22 at 7:35 p.m. ET at Cincinnati
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 25 at 7:35 p.m. ET at Fort Wayne
Game 4 – Friday, April 28 at 8:05 p.m. ET at Fort Wayne
Game 5 – Sunday, April 30 at 6:05 p.m. ET at Fort Wayne (if necessary)
Game 6 – Tuesday, May 2 at 7:35 p.m. ET at Cincinnati (if necessary)
Game 7 – Wednesday, May 3 at 7:35 p.m. ET at Cincinnati (if necessary)

Quick Look: The Cyclones are the obvious favorite here, though the Komets are only two years removed from winning a Kelly Cup and shouldn’t at all be taken lightly.

Cincinnati bench boss Jason Payne has led his team to a season that would have been Brabham Cup-worthy, had Idaho not done what it did in the Mountain Division, but it still was plenty good enough for top seed in the top-heavy Central Division.

If Fort Wayne has any sort of rallying cry here, it’s the regular-season series between the two teams, where Cincinnati had a 5-4 edge.

Player to Watch: Zack Andrusiak, Cincinnati – The 24-year-old lit the lamp four times for the Cyclones in their shocking first-round exit last year and paced the team during the recent regular season with 73 points. He tied for the team lead with 32 goals.

Player to Watch: Ryan Fanti, Fort Wayne – Under contract to the Edmonton Oilers, Fanti has had a busy year, scoring an empty-net goal and scoring a decisive victory in a viral goalie fight in the second half of the season.

As he likely splits time in net with Rylan Parenteau, he’ll need to improve on a .894 regular-season save percentage, if the Komets will have any chance of toppling the mighty ‘Clones.

🚨 FANTI 🚨

GOALIE GOAL FOR @FANTI_29 #LETSGOKOMETS pic.twitter.com/hzOfwKGI7J

— Fort Wayne Komets (@FWKomets) March 26, 2023

No. 2 Toledo Walleye (45-19-8) Vs. No. 3 Indy Fuel (43-24-5)

Game 1 – Friday, April 21 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Toledo
Game 2 – Saturday, April 22 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Toledo
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 25 at 7:05 p.m. ET at Indy
Game 4 – Thursday, April 27 at 7:05 p.m. ET at Indy
Game 5 – Saturday, April 29 at 7:05 p.m. ET at Indy (if necessary)
Game 6 – Monday, May 1 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Toledo (if necessary)
Game 7 – Tuesday, May 2 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Toledo (if necessary)

Quick Look: The Indy-Toledo series has the potential to be the best first-round series in the ECHL, with two of the league’s top 7 teams in the overall points standings set to square off early.

Somehow, these two teams played just six times during the regular season, despite the roughly three-hour drive proximity to each other. The Walleye took five of those six matchups.

The window to win a Kelly Cup still is open for the Walleye, who fell in the Kelly Cup Final last year to the Florida Everblades.

1st pro game, 1st pro goal 🤝 pic.twitter.com/55tS2u0hNz

— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) March 18, 2023

Veteran forward Brandon Hawkins famously labeled this year a “revenge tour,” but Toledo will a face a difficult early task in a deep Indy team that saw 12 players pot 20-plus points.

Player to Watch: T.J. Hensick, Toledo – Much like John McCarron in Florida, Hensick sat out the majority of the regular season, making a somewhat surprising late-year comeback after indicating last year would be his last in professional hockey. 

The 37-year-old veteran of 112 NHL games got re-acclimated right away, posting eight points in nine games at the tail end of the year.

Player to Watch: Alex Wideman, Indy – After a four-season absence from the team, while playing elsewhere in the league and overseas, Wideman returned to Indy for a big year, leading the team in assists (50) and points (72). He’ll provide a Kelly Cup Playoff-experienced presence up front.