"Way Too Early" ECHL Predictions and Storylines

WICHITA, Kan. – The day is finally here! Beginning tonight, 26 teams across the ECHL landscape will begin a collective 936 game, 179-day long march through the regular season to have a chance to play for a championship starting in mid-April. If a team is lucky enough to play into June, they will have played a maximum of 101 (exhibition, regular-season and playoffs) games and only one champion will be crowned.
But for just a minute, let’s fast-forward (as if time isn’t moving quick enough already) to six months from now when the dust from the regular-season has settled.
Here’s The Sin Bin’s 2019-20 “Way Too Early” ECHL Individual Awards and Playoff-Bound Staff Picks!

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

	Most Valuable Player	Most Outstanding Goalie	Most Outstanding Defenseman	Rookie of the Year	Coach of the Year
Matthew Harding	Dan DeSalvo, South Carolina	Pat Nagle, Toledo	Kyle Rhodes, Cincinnati	Justin Brazeau, Newfoundland	Kevin Kerr, Greenville
C.C. Hawkley	Josh Kestner, Toledo	Tomas Sholl, Idaho	Alex Breton, Allen	Karl El-Mir, Indy	John Snowden, Newfoundland
Dylan Schofield	Jesse Schultz, Cincinnati	Tomas Sholl, Idaho	Matt Register, Allen	Brandon Hawkins, Wheeling	Doug Christiansen, Indy
Chad Boerth	Adam Pleskach, Tulsa	Sean Bonar, Atlanta	Cody Donaghey, Orlando	Alex Tonge, Florida	John Snowden, Newfoundland
Rachel Gillett	Adam Pleskach, Tulsa	Tomas Sholl, Idaho	Keoni Texeira, Indy	Brandon Hawkins, Wheeling	Rob Murray, Tulsa
Travis Rogers	David Pacan, Brampton	Tomas Sholl, Idaho	Tom Parisi, South Carolina	Logan Thompson, South Carolina	Jeff Pyle, Atlanta
Evan Miller	Jesse Schultz, Cincinnati	Tomas Sholl, Idaho	Logan Roe, Florida	Brandon Hawkins, Wheeling	Brad Ralph, Florida

NORTH DIVISION PLAYOFF TEAMS

Harding	Hawkley	Schofield	Boerth	Gillett	Rogers	Miller
Adirondack	Adirondack	Adirondack	Adirondack	Adirondack	Brampton	Adirondack
Brampton	Brampton	Maine	Brampton	Maine	Maine	Newfoundland
Newfoundland	Maine	Newfoundland	Newfoundland	Newfoundland	Newfoundland	Reading
Reading	Newfoundland	Worcester	Reading		Reading	Worcester

SOUTH DIVISION PLAYOFF TEAMS

Harding	Hawkley	Schofield	Boerth	Gillett	Rogers	Miller
Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Atlanta	Atlanta	Florida
Greenville	Greenville	Norfolk	Jacksonville	Florida	Florida	Greenville
Orlando	Jacksonville	Orlando	Orlando	Jacksonville	Orlando	Orlando
South Carolina	Orlando	South Carolina	South Carolina	South Carolina	South Carolina	South Carolina

CENTRAL DIVISION PLAYOFF TEAMS

Harding	Hawkley	Schofield	Boerth	Gillett	Rogers	Miller
Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Cincinnati
Ft. Wayne	Ft. Wayne	Ft. Wayne	Ft. Wayne	Indy	Ft. Wayne	Ft. Wayne
Indy	Kalamazoo	Indy	Toledo	Kalamazoo	Indy	Indy
Toledo	Toledo	Toledo	Wheeling	Toledo	Toledo	Toledo

MOUNTAIN DIVISION PLAYOFF TEAMS

Harding	Hawkley	Schofield	Boerth	Gillett	Rogers	Miller
Allen	Allen	Idaho	Allen	Allen	Idaho	Idaho
Idaho	Idaho	Kansas City	Idaho	Idaho	Tulsa	Kansas City
Kansas City	Rapid City	Tulsa	Kansas City	Tulsa	Utah	Tulsa
Tulsa	Tulsa	Wichita	Tulsa	Utah	Wichita	Utah

KELLY CUP FINALISTS & CHAMPION

	Kelly Cup Finalists	Kelly Cup Champion
Matthew Harding	South Carolina vs. Tulsa	Tulsa Oilers
C.C. Hawkley	Newfoundland vs. Ft. Wayne	Newfoundland Growlers
Dylan Schofield	Indy vs. Orlando	Indy Fuel
Chad Boerth	Newfoundland vs. Ft. Wayne	Newfoundland Growlers
Rachel Gillett	Newfoundland vs. Tulsa	Tulsa Oilers
Travis Rogers	Newfoundland vs. Idaho	Idaho Steelheads
Evan Miller	Florida vs. Idaho	Idaho Steelheads

SEASON STORYLINES

Here are some of the storylines our team will be following as the season goes along:

1. The Response to Instant Replay: Glitches, Hiccups, and Successes with the Implementation
2. How will new fighting rules impact the role of fighting in the ECHL?
3. Can Newfoundland win back-to-back Kelly Cup Championships?
4. The parity across the ECHL
5. Does the Toronto model of flooding the ECHL affiliate work a second time and do more teams follow suit?
6. Does the shift of so many Manchester players and coach to Indy take them to the next level?
7. How will Greenville and Rapid City benefit from having affiliations this year?
8. How does Allen bounce back after a poor 2018-19 season?
9. Is this the year Toledo finally gets over the hump and wins a Kelly Cup title?
10. Will the league see a 40-goal scorer for the first time since the 2017-18 season?

Keep visiting The Sin Bin all season long for extensive AHL, ECHL, and SPHL coverage!