Familiar foe Everblades greet Icemen in opening round of Kelly Cup playoffs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Icemen are ready for the playoffs and a very familiar face.

Jacksonville finished its regular season in third place in the South division standings, trailing the South Carolina Stingrays and rival Florida Everblades.

And for the fourth consecutive season, the Icemen will have to try and find a way around the Everblades if they want to keep their season going. That hasn’t been something the Icemen have been able to do in the postseason.

The Icemen will visit Florida on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m.) for the first two games of the series. Games 3, 4 are in Jacksonville (April 23-24, 7 p.m.) and a potential Game 5 (April 27, 3 p.m.) would also be here. If needed, the final two games of the series would be back at the Everblades.

“A battle. You know what I mean? I don’t know how else to explain it other than that, you know,” said Icemen forward Garrett Van Wyhe. “Everybody’s going to be finishing checks. Everybody’s going to be playing on the right side of the puck. It’s going to be an absolute grind just to get to the net just to get to those scoring opportunities.”

Icemen vs. Everblades this year

Oct. 19: Everblades 3, Icemen 2

Dec. 5: Everblades 3, Icemen 2

Dec. 6: Icemen 4, Everblades 2

Dec. 7: Everblades 4, Icemen 1

Dec. 14: Icemen 3, Everblades 2

Jan. 3: Everblades 6, Icemen 2

March 26: Everblades 3, Icemen 2

Last year, Jacksonville was 7-2-2 against the Everblades in the regular season. They built a 3-1 series lead against Florida in the second round of the playoffs but saw the Everblades roar back for a win in seven games.

Icemen CEO and owner Andy Kauffman said that the team is ready for another go ‘round in the playoffs.

“Our eye has been on the Kelly Cup for seven straight years here. We’ve done everything we possibly can to position the team for a championship,” Kaufmann said. “We believe in the roster. We believe in the coaching staff. We believe this is our time and that you can count on serious intensity.”

The Icemen had another strong regular season, and it came amidst some turbulence. Head coach Brandon Mashinter and the Icemen abruptly parted ways Feb. 14, calling the decision a mutual separation. Mashinter was in his position for seven months when the team made the announcement. Jacksonville promoted assistant Sean Teakle to the interim head coaching position. Teakle has heard plenty about Jacksonville’s history with the Everblades and said that he isn’t concerned by it.

“It’s something we’ve talked about a lot. The past is the past and I’ve kind of said to some of the guys like, I don’t really want to hear about it, to be honest,” Teakle said. “We’re looking forward and we’re going to push forward. We’re going to do everything we can to win this series bring home a Kelly Cup to the best fans in the league.”