Only four teams remain in the ECHL Playoffs, as each fights for their chance to hoist the 2023 Kelly Cup.

ECHL writer Mike Ashmore previews the Western Conference Finals between the Idaho Steelheads and Toledo Walleye.

2023 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs Western Conference Finals

Idaho Steelheads vs. Toledo Walleye

Game 1 - Saturday, May 20 at 7:10 p.m. MT at Idaho
Game 2 - Sunday, May 21 at 4:10 p.m. MT at Idaho
Game 3 - Wednesday, May 24 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Toledo
Game 4 - Friday, May 26 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Toledo
Game 5 - Saturday, May 27 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Toledo (if necessary)
Game 6 - Tuesday, May 30 at 7:10 p.m. MT at Idaho (if necessary)
Game 7 - Wednesday, May 31 at 7:10 p.m. MT at Idaho (if necessary)

Quick Look

Two of the best teams all year finally get to face off.

Idaho and Toledo haven’t played each other since late last season, so there really isn’t anything to go off as to how the current rosters would compare in game action, but it should be nothing short of a display of the league at it’s very best.

It's the Brabham Cup-winning Steelheads going up against a hungry and loaded Walleye club that still feels like it has unfinished business from losing in the Kelly Cup Final last year.

Toledo pulled off a stunning four-game sweep of the Cyclones in the second round, outscoring the Central Division winners 22-7 in thoroughly dominating them after coming off sweeping Indy in the first round.  

After a bit of a first-round scare for the Steelheads, things came a bit more easily this time around, as they needed just five games to get past the Allen Americans to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2013.

Player To Watch, Idaho: Wade Murphy 

After a circuitous run in the ECHL with five teams over three seasons between 2016-2017 and 2018-2019, Murphy went over to Europe for what he called a something of a  “career reset."

He saw vast improvements to his skating from having to adapt to the larger ice surface.

Back in North America for the first time since then, he’s been a revelation for the Steelheads this season, leading all players with nine goals, and he is tied for the league lead with 14 points in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

“It’s been a great postseason for everyone,” Murphy told FloHockey. “I’d never been in the ECHL playoffs before, but last year I got to be in the Austrian playoffs, and that was the first time in a few years I was in a playoff situation. So, this year, I was a little extra hungry.

"The fans and the town are all behind us, and we have a lot of guys who have won in the past, so it’s a good combination there with everybody wanting to win.”

Player To Watch, Toledo: Gordie Green

Green is tied for the league lead in postseason points with Murphy and Reading’s Evan Barratt, with each having potted 14 thus far.  

Green, however, has accomplished the feat in only eight games, with Toledo having yet to suffer a loss in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

The 26-year-old Ann Arbor, Michigan, native has playoff experience in the ECHL, having been on the Newfoundland team that fell to the Florida Everblades in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. He also saw the playoffs the year before with the Wichita Thunder.  

But, he’s produced this season in a way he hadn’t in years past. He set new regular-season career highs in goals (27), assists (44) and points (71) with the Walleye this year.