We’re coming up on the ECHL’s Christmas break, which is something players love, of course, but not all coaches do. 

There will be no games Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, yet 12 teams will be back in action Dec. 27. 

Most coaches would love to have a little time to practice over the holiday, especially with several teams having to jump back in with four games in five nights, and only a Wednesday morning skate to prepare and get the legs back.

But hey, the ECHL just likes to get into the holiday spirit. And, so do I. 

With that in mind, let’s give out some metaphorical gifts to various teams and people throughout the ECHL.

Call me Santa Cohn, if you must.

To Kansas City Mavericks Coach Tad O’Had: An Apple For Being Teacher Of The Year

Kansas City is off to a superb 18-7-1 start, and it’s doing it led by rookies. 

Max Andreev is fourth among ECHL skaters with 31 points, including eight goals. Cade Borchardt is second behind him in rookie scoring with eight goals and 30 points. Kyle Jackson has eight goals and 21 points. 

The thing about rookies, though, is that they tend to wear down over the long ECHL season. 

Managing that will be something O’Had will have to do, but the Mavericks are a real power player this season in the Mountain Division.

To The Norfolk Admirals: A Long-Awaited Playoff Berth

Norfolk is a storied market for hockey, but you wouldn’t know if from watching the Admirals since they arrived in the ECHL in 2015. 

In their first seven years, they never had a team finish above .500, never finished better than sixth in their division (and that was in 2015-2016), never outscored the opposition over the course of a season and never made the playoffs. 

This season, though, has been totally different – so far. 

The Admirals are off to a 14-7-2 start and are arguably the North Division’s most formidable team. Here’s hoping they can keep it going.

To The Kalamazoo Wings: Hot Sauce

Since the now-infamous chicken nugget incident, the Wings have been on fire – winning five of their last six games. 

It started with a morning game for kids in Toledo, Ohio, on Dec. 6, when a fan threw a nugget onto the ice. The Walleye’s Kirill Tyutyayev shot it back into the stands and drew a 10-minute misconduct. (That was the correct call by referee Trevor Wohlford, even if people around North America derided it).

Kalamazoo must have taken the treatment of the boneless wing personally and scored six unanswered goals for a 6-2 victory, and they’ve only had one bad game since, a 7-0 loss at Cincinnati on Friday.

To The ECHL’s Social Media Manager: A Gold Star For A Job Well Done

I don’t mean to besmirch anyone formerly in the post, but there’s been a vast improvement with the ECHL’s social media accounts this season. 

They’re having fun, circulating content from outside media outlets and upping the conversations about the league. 

Even if kooky things go on – like the chicken nugget incident or the Wings wearing Walleye practice jerseys for a period Nov. 17 because they left theirs at home – the ECHL needs to lean into that stuff and has been since Amanda Arrowsmith took over the socials. 

It’s the minor leagues, and ridiculousness should be embraced, not ignored, at this level of sports.

To The Iowa Heartlanders: A Frenzy Of Fans

The lowest attendance in the ECHL belongs to the Heartlanders, who average 1,846 fans per game. But there’s new ownership there – Michael Devlin became the majority owner last summer – and coach Derek Damon has the Heartlanders playing the best hockey of their existence. 

They were 51-69-24 over their first two seasons, finishing in the Central Division cellar both times, but they’re off to a 10-10-5 start this season, including a respectable 6-3-2 at Xtream Arena. 

Too bad more people haven’t been there to see it. 

Hopefully, once this ownership group finds its footing, that will change, because the Heartlanders finally are a factor in the Central.

Focusing in on the task 🏒🏒 pic.twitter.com/z6dilgczNE

— Iowa Heartlanders (@GoHeartlanders) December 15, 2023

To The Florida Everblades: A Goal Scorer

The two-time defending champions are off to an OK start – they’re 10-8-4 – and the Everblades proved last season that they need only get into the postseason to make some noise. 

Their defense has been terrific, ranking second in the ECHL with 2.64 goals against per game, but the offense has been a bit worrisome with 2.73 goals per game, fewer than every ECHL team except Worcester. 

Bobo Carpenter has a team-best seven goals for Florida, but it seems as if the Everblades need to get themselves a sniper or two, or they’re going to run into trouble in the difficult South Division.

To Toledo Walleye Head Coach Pat Mikesch: A Letter Of Apology

A lot of pretty smart people around the ECHL – I was one of them, though maybe I’m not so smart – thought the hire of Mikesch was a strange one, since he had no experience coaching in the pros and didn’t exactly tear it up in the junior-level United States Hockey League. 

Of course, this is Toledo, which has never won a Kelly Cup, and he can’t truly be judged until we see what the Walleye do in the postseason. 

But Toledo arguably has been the ECHL’s best team so far with a 16-4-3 record, and seemingly no one knows how to slow down the small, fast lineup Mikesch is managing.

To The ECHL’s Broadcasters: Veto Power On Specialty Jerseys

I don’t know when specialty jerseys got out of control – somewhere around 2018 when the Indy Fuel famously wore Spongebob jerseys against the Cincinnati Cyclones’ Patrick jerseys – but it has. 

We’ve had Snoopy and Stranger Things and Whiteouts, and it’s getting to the point that you hardly recognize some teams’ normal uniforms. 

They’re usually for a good cause (auctioned for charity) and tend to generate conversation about the ECHL, which is why I’ve given them a pass, but we should acknowledge how challenging it can be for the broadcasters to read the jersey numbers on almost every one of these specialty uniforms. 

I suspect they’re getting as tired of them as I am, and maybe they should at least be asked if anyone more than 50 feet from the ice surface can read the numbers.    

To The Trois-Rivières Lions: Anger Management Classes

OK, I shouldn’t make light of anger issues, but the Lions have a problem staying out of the penalty box. 

They average 17.48 penalty minutes per game, second only to Norfolk’s 19.39. The difference is, Norfolk is excellent on the penalty kill, and Trois-Rivières is not – ranking 23rd at 74.8% efficiency. 

The Lions’ 136 minor penalties in 25 games have helped ruin their terrific 9-1-0 start; they’re 4-11-0 since.

To The Indy Fuel: A Couple Of Home Playoff Wins

I’m no particular fan of Indiana Farmers Coliseum, but it is a historic venue. 

Pro hockey there dates as far back as 1939, and it has been host to championship teams in the American, International, Central and United States Hockey Leagues. 

This is the Fuel’s 10th season in the ECHL and Indy has only made the playoffs three times, going 0-5 in postseason games at the Coliseum. 

With the team set to move to a new arena in Fishers, Indiana, next season, it would be nice to send the Fuel out of the Coliseum with a meaningful victory or two there. 

With a 9-10-3 record so far, though, the Fuel are going to have to improve just to quality for the postseason.

New home progress update 🚧 pic.twitter.com/M3egmriXHw

— Indy Fuel (@IndyFuel) December 13, 2023

To Wichita Thunder Forward Peter Bates: Defensive Help

Bates, in his second full ECHL season, has taken a quantum leap in his game. He has 15 goals and an ECHL-best 36 points in 26 games. 

Not to suggest it’s all about him, because the Thunder roster includes plenty of other offensive contributors, such as Jay Dickman, Michal Stinil and Brayden Watts, but the Thunder have been lax defensively. 

Wichita gives up 3.88 goals per game, worse than everyone except Allen (4.46), which is why Wichita is only 9-13-4.

To The Atlanta Gladiators’ Fans: Motion-Sickness Patches

The Gladiators’ fans must have thought they were in for a stellar season when the team started off an ECHL-best 8-0-0. Since then, they’ve lost 14 of 15 games. 

There’s a lot of talent there, such as Mitchell Fossier, Alex Whelan and Gustavs Grigals, and Derek Nesbitt is going to need some time to figure it all out in his first season as a head coach. 

But it’s tough to figure out exactly what the Gladiators are this season, and the fans’ heads must be spinning.

To The Jacksonville Icemen: Rally Caps

For the Icemen (13-9-2), especially at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, it’s all about how they start games. 

When leading at the first intermission at home, Jacksonville is 5-0-0. When trailing, it’s 0-6-2. When trailing after two periods at home, Jacksonville is 0-6-1. 

The Icemen have some players, such as Brendan Harris, Christopher Brown, Matheson Iacopelli and Michael Houser, and they average an ECHL-best 8,025 fans per game, so they need to find a way to be more resilient if they get down early on home ice.

To Joe Ernst, The ECHL’s Senior Vice President Of Hockey Operations, And Riley Yerkovich, The Manager Of Officiating: An Infusion Of Money From The NHL

While I lauded the officiating in the ECHL in a recent column, and took some flak for it, no one would dispute the ECHL needs to get to the two-referee system in 100% of the games, as is the case in the NHL and American Hockey League. 

The ECHL currently uses two referees in 25% of each team’s home games and every playoff game. 

To get to two referees all the time, the ECHL will need increased resources to find, teach and retain quality referees. That doesn’t happen without money, and the NHL should be contributing. If it wants the ECHL to be a true developmental league, it must think beyond just the players and coaches.

To The Allen Americans: A Home-Cooked Meal

There’s plenty of time for the Americans (8-15-1) to salvage this season, but they have to play better at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center, where they’re 1-6-0. 

There’s plenty of talent with the likes of Hank Crone, Colby McAuley, Kris Myllari and Easton Brodzinski, while William Provost has been a terrific pickup in a trade with Fort Wayne; he has four goals and eight points in 10 games for Allen. 

But this hasn’t looked like the offensively charged monster of last season. 

Taking advantage of home ice, where Allen averages 3,856 fans per game, is pivotal.

To The Utah Grizzlies: Travel Pillows

The Grizzlies have been good at the Maverick Center with an 8-5-0 record. That includes two victories over the Newfoundland Growlers and two over the Tulsa Oilers. 

Away from it? Woof. The Grizzlies are 0-10-0 on the road. 

It’s hard to explain other than the Grizzlies don’t look as comfortable away from West Valley City as they do within it. 

Maybe some comfy pillows would help, that’s all I got.