Mavericks: Still Struggling

It’s the start of a new year for the Flames’ ECHL affiliate in Kansas City! After missing the Kelly Cup playoffs in last year’s crazy shortened and re-aligned season, they’re now back at it to try again.

The Mavs kicked off the early stretch of the year by going .500 through their opening six match ups, and they haven’t managed to get ahead of the curve since. The whole month of December has been another .500 stretch, going exactly 5-5-0 in ten games played so far in the final month on the calendar. This included losing four of six in divisional games where they would’ve tried to make headway in the standings. KC currently sit four points back of the fourth and final playoff spot in the ECHL Mountain Division with a game in hand on Rapid City, but Wichita and Allen are hot on their heels.

GAME BY GAME:

DEC 3rd- KC Mavericks 3 vs Idaho Steelheads 2 –WIN (SHOOTOUT)

DEC 4th- KC Mavericks 0 vs Idaho Steelheads 5 –LOSS

DEC 8th- KC Mavericks 2 @ Rapid City Rush 1 –WIN

DEC 10th- KC Mavericks 3 @ Rapid City Rush 7 –LOSS

DEC 11th- KC Mavericks 2 @ Rapid City Rush 5 –LOSS

DEC 15th- KC Mavericks 5 @ Tulsa Oilers 3 –LOSS

DEC 17th- KC Mavericks 3 vs Iowa Heartlanders 1 –WIN

DEC 18th- KC Mavericks 2 vs Iowa Heartlanders 3 –LOSS

DEC 26th- KC Mavericks 6 @ Iowa Heartlanders 5 –WIN (OVERTIME)

DEC 27th- KC Mavericks 2 @ Iowa Heartlanders 3 –LOSS

THE SQUAD:

Darek Angeli has rocketed to the top of the team scoring race, leading Kansas City with 24 points so far. He has notched five goals in his last ten games, including the Boxing Day Overtime winner seen below:

The Mavs continue their march to the sin bin, leading the league in penalty minutes by a wide margin this season. They now sit at 619 PIMs on the year, almost doubling the number they had at last check-in and a whopping 140 penalty minute lead over anyone else in the ECHL. The dubious honour of contributing to the team’s PIM issues belong to forwards Mikael Robidoux’s 133 PIMs (9.5 per game and five fighting majors on the year) and Loren Ulett’s 77 PIMS (four fighting majors), who sit first and third league-wide, respectively.

UP NEXT:

The Mavs will ring in the New Year at home, hosting the Wichita Thunder at Cable Dahmer Arena on New Year’s Eve. The team will wear and auction special jerseys for the game, and invite fans onto the ice surface for a post-game skate. After the champagne and countdown clock, the team will stick around home to start 2022 for a stretch five of the next seven at Cable Dahmer Arena. Five of those contests will be against the Wichita Thunder, and the remaining two are also within the division. It’s a big opportunity for the team to put some distance between themselves and the Thunder, who are currently chasing down KC for fifth place.

Check back with Matchsticks & Gasoline to see how the thoroughbreds fare in January! Happy New Year!

by MilhouseFirehouse