Overall Record: 21-8-2-3, 1st Central Division, Current Streak: 2 Losses 

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, January 16 at Iowa (4-3 W) 

Saturday, January 17 at Iowa (3-2 SOL) 

Sunday, January 18 at Bloomington (3-0 L) 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES (All Times Eastern)

Friday, January 23 vs. Kalamazoo (7:15 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN, FloSports) 

Saturday, January 24 at Kalamazoo (4:30 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, FloSports) 

Sunday, January 25 vs. Cincinnati (5:15 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN, FloSports) 

Walleye Notes

Picked Up Three of Six: The Toledo Walleye picked up three points on the weekend on the road and maintained a three-point lead over Fort Wayne in the Central Division at the week’s end. It started off with a win in Iowa as Brandon Hawkins picked up the game-winning goal with just over three minutes to go in regulation to defeat the Heartlanders 4-3. The two teams faced off again on Saturday and Toledo got off to an early 2-0 lead with goals from Jed Pietila and Hawkins but would fall 3-2 in a shootout. Matt Jurusik stopped 32 of 34 shots in the contest (.941 SV%). The team travelled to Bloomington to finish out the weekend against the Bison but could not hit their stride and dropped the contest 3-0, their first time being shut out this season. 

The Chase Continues: With three points this weekend, Brandon Hawkins has brought himself 18 points away from surpassing Shane Berschbach’s franchise points record, which currently stands at 393 points. With a power play goal in Saturday’s game (that was originally scored as even-strength), Hawkins overtook Berschbach’s record for points on the power play as a member of the Walleye, now standing at 141 power-play points. Hawkins has recorded a league-leading 49 points this season and is scoring on a 1.44 points-per-game pace, on pace for 104 points in a full 72-game season. Hawkins holds the current franchise record for points in a single season with 93 in the 2023-24 season and will top that by 11 on his current pace. 

Homes Away from Home: The Walleye brought a 6-game road winning streak into the weekend and extended it to 7 with Friday’s win. Saturday’s shootout loss signaled the end of the win streak but was the 8th consecutive game that the Walleye recorded at least a point. Entering Sunday’s games, the 8-game points streak was tied for the longest such streak in the ECHL this season with Kansas City and Fort Wayne (both streaks are still active). Throughout the span, which dated back to the December 12th contest in Iowa, the Walleye posted a 7-0-0-1 record and outscored their opponents 33-9 (+24). Brandon Hawkins recorded 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in the span to lead the charge. Denis Smirnov (5 G, 4 A) and Tanner Kelly (3 G, 6 A) each had nine points over the eight-game span. Riley McCourt led Walleye defensemen in that span with six points (all assists). Matt Jurusik and Carter Gylander each got two games of work, as Jurusik stopped 59 of the 61 shots he saw (.967 SV%) and Gylander made 56 saves on 59 shots (.949 SV%). 

Special Teams Records: The Walleye continue to hold the league’s best power play rate in the league at 30.3%, 8% higher than the next team in the leaderboard (Tahoe, 22.5%). Brandon Hawkins and Riley McCourt are the team’s top two producers on the power play, both tied for second in the league’s PP points leaderboard with 16 points each. The penalty kill was a perfect 6-for-6 this past weekend, bringing the season percentage to 83.2% of penalties killed. Will Hillman still holds the league lead in shorthanded points this season (8), needing one more point on the penalty kill to tie Alden Hirschfeld’s franchise career shorthanded points record (9), already owning the single-season mark (previously 5). Hillman and Nolan Moyle stand one goal away from passing the Walleye single-season SHG record (3), which currently stands in a 9-way tie. Jed Pietila and Chad Hillebrand each have two SHGs in Toledo this season, needing one more to tie the record.  

Showing Out: Walleye fans have packed the Huntington Center night-in and night-out as the team approaches 100 consecutive sellouts, bringing the team’s franchise-record sellout streak to 96 games with the team’s last homestand on January 9-10. The Walleye welcomed a total of 128,598 fans into the Huntington Center this season. Toledo’s average attendance ranks second in the ECHL, drawing around 8,037 fans per game (Jacksonville is the only team averaging higher, at 8,982 fans per game). The all-time ECHL record for consecutive sellouts currently stands at 140 games, reached by Colorado from 2011 to 2015. 

Walleye Player of the Week:

Brandon Hawkins (3 G, 1 A, 4 Pts) 

Walleye Goaltender of the Week:

Carter Gylander (W, 31 SV, .912 SV%)