As the Stanley Cup finals are about to have game two of their series between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes, hockey’s minor leagues continue to crown their champions. The American Hockey League Calder Cup has yet to begin, with both conference finals series still ongoing. The ECHL’s Kelly Cup finals begin on Friday.
The last two teams standing in the ECHL this season are the Florida Everblades from the Eastern Conference and the Kansas City Mavericks from the Western Conference. The Mavericks are one of several hockey teams that have called the land of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce home over the years. Perhaps the most famous were the Kansas City Blues of the CHL and the Kansas City Blades of the IHL. The Mavericks are affiliated with both the Seattle Kraken of the NHL and the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL.
At one point in between the Blues and the Blades, Kansas City did have an NHL team. The Kansas City Scouts were an expansion team that spent two largely forgettable seasons in Kansas City from 1974 to 1976 before moving to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies. After the 1981-1982 season, they would move to New Jersey to become the New Jersey Devils.
Does this mean the spiritual successor to the Devils is playing for the ECHL’s top prize? The Devils have distanced themselves from their former identities over the years, although the color scheme of the Scouts and Rockies did appear in the second set of Reverse Retro jerseys. Even then, the ESPN article specifically mentioned they were the Rockies' colors. The best superstar from the Kansas City/Denver era was Wilf Paiment, and he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs before the franchise ever headed to the Garden State.
Although the rather short history section of the team website mentions the team started off in Kansas City, the Devils have all but left those memories behind. Stan Fischler wrote a lengthy piece on their history for NHL.com to celebrate the New Jersey Devils' 40th season in New Jersey. When it comes to their pre-Meadowlands days, the team acts more like the Utah Mammoth, which completely shed its former identity. In Utah’s defense, the NHL did take ownership of the former Arizona Coyotes trademarks as part of them being a “de-activated” franchise.
This year’s final is a rematch of two years ago, when the Mavericks lost to the Florida Everblades. The Everblades return to the finals after winning three straight Kelly Cups from 2022 to 2024. While the Mavericks have yet to win a championship, the city’s former team, the Blades, won the IHL’s Turner Cup in 1992. The Mavericks have home ice advantage for the series and are owned by Lamar Hunt Jr., whose family also owns the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.
