GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — The Adirondack Thunder’s record-setting season concluded Tuesday despite a torrid third-period comeback that fell short, 4-3, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
By winning, the two-time defending champion Florida Everblades advance to face the Kansas City Mavericks in the Kelly Cup Finals, beginning Friday.
Adirondack won the regular season’s Eastern Conference title for the first time, earned the most points in team history (97), and set a franchise attendance record (4,239 per game), most since the Adirondack Red Wings’ glory days, which included 16 sellout crowds this year.
“It’s pretty cool to be part of the history of the rink for real now; super special,” Coach Pete MacArthur said. “The message after the game was. We got so far because of the connection we have with the community and the connection these players have with each other. I’m super proud to be a part of it.”
Fewer than 24 months ago, MacArthur took over a team with the worst record in the East and hadn’t made the playoffs since 2019. Last year, during his rookie campaign as head coach, the Thunder earned a postseason berth with a dramatic win on the regular season’s final day.
Building on that momentum, they came within two wins of reaching the ECHL’s championship round this year.
MacArthur credited his players for making this season so special.
“They’ll probably never be forgotten in this rink,” he said. “That’s pretty neat with all the teams that have been here. We had 25 overtime games in the regular season. I’ll never forget that. It’s just the cohesiveness. No matter who came in, who came out, they found a way to bond and carried that bond through tough times.”
“That’s what it’s all about. If you care about the people you’re working with good things are going to happen for everybody. That makes us proud as a staff.”
Fans were still filing out of the building and MacArthur was already thinking about next year. “This never stops,” he said. “What we do here, if you want to be competitive you always have to be on your toes, thinking, talking, writing things down so nothing slips past you. We’re constantly working to stay on top.”
Adirondack got to the conference finals by defeating Maine in a grueling seven-game opening round. Next came the Norfolk Admirals, who won Games 1 and 2 of the North Division Finals on the Thunder’s home ice.
Yet Adirondack with its back to the wall, went on a tear by sweeping three straight games in Norfolk and clinching the series with an impressive 5-1, Game 6 victory back home in Glens Falls.
The Thunder and Everblades split a pair of games, at Adirondack, to start the conference finals. The series then shifted to Florida where the ‘Blades dominated Games 3 and 4 with back-to-back shutout victories.
Once again, the Thunder kept their hopes alive with a 4-2 victory in Game 5 that brought the series back to Glens Falls on Tuesday.
Florida led the entire way and built a seemingly insurmountable lead, 4-1, at 6:41 of the third period.
Refusing to quit, Adirondack cut the margin to one goal with a pair of quick tallies midway through the final frame. Filip Engaras, who scored Adirondack’s first goal during the second period, found the net again at 9:19 of the third stanza with helpers from Mac Welsher and Yushiroh Hirano that made it, 4-2.
Slightly under two minutes later, Timur Ibragimov took a pass from Zach Walker and beat Florida goaltender Cam Johnson to pull the Thunder within a goal, 4-3. Walker and T.J. Friedmann were awarded the assists on Ibragimov’s goal after a turnover.
Yet that’s all the offense Adirondack could muster before the final ticks ran off the clock.
MacArthur said he expects the Kelly Cup Finals to be an exciting matchup.
“It’s a really structured team (Florida) against a high-flying offensively powered group (Kansas City),” he said. “Florida’s a tough team. They play the right way. We haven’t played against Kansas City, but they have the league’s best offense.”
Led by Patrick Curry (39 goals, 87 points), the Mavericks scored a league-high 305 goals this year and three other players ranked among the Top 10 on the scoring chart.
However, Florida had the ECHL’s stingiest defense, allowing the fewest goals (186).
“It’s going to be a chess match,” MacArthur said.
