Walleye Win the West

The Toledo Walleye are Western Conference champions once again.

With a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Mavericks in Game 5 on Saturday night, the Walleye secured the Bruce Taylor Trophy and a spot in the 2025 Kelly Cup Finals. Toledo took the series 4-1 and now waits to face either Trois-Rivières or Florida for the league title.

Matt Anderson and Trenton Bliss each scored twice, and Brandon Hawkins led the way with three points. Jan Bednar stopped 23 shots in net to earn the win.

Toledo came out flying in the first period. Anderson opened the scoring just over a minute in, and Bliss made it 2-0 less than three minutes later. After a quick response from Kansas City, Bliss buried his second of the night to give the Walleye a 3-1 lead heading into the break.

Kansas City cut the deficit early in the third, but goals from Anderson and Hawkins sealed the deal.

This will be the Walleye’s third Finals appearance in the last five postseasons and fifth overall for a Toledo ECHL team. They’ll look to bring a championship back to the Glass City for the first time since the Toledo Storm won it all in the ’90s.