Playoff Record: 2-0-0 Regular Season Record: 43-17-7-5, 2nd Central Division, Current Streak: 4 Win (2 RS + 2 KCP) 

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Thursday, April 23rd vs. Bloomington (4-1 Win) 

Saturday April 25th vs. Bloomington (4-3 Win) 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES (All Times Eastern)

Monday, April 27 at Bloomington (8 p.m. EDT, Fox Sports 1230, BCSN, FloSports) 

Wednesday, April 29 at Bloomington (8 p.m. EDT, 1370 WSPD, BCSN, FloSports) 

Thursday, April 30 at Bloomington (8 p.m. EDT, 1370 WSPD, BCSN, FloSports) (IF NECESSARY) 

Sunday, May 3 vs. Bloomington (5:15 p.m. EDT, 1370 WSPD, BCSN, FloSports) (IF NECESSARY) 

Walleye Notes

No Place Like Home: The Toledo Walleye opened 2026 Kelly Cup Playoff play with a pair of home games against the Bloomington Bison, and Toledo rode the energy from the pair of sellout crowds to two wins, putting the Walleye up 2-0 in the series entering Monday. Brandon Hawkins, Tanner Kelly and Michael Milne have all scored in each game of the series, while Sam Craggs landed the game-winner on Saturday and Dylan Moulton added a big insurance goal on Thursday. The Walleye are 23-9-2 at home in the first round, including winning each of their last eight home games in the Central Division Semifinals, as the last loss came in Game 2 against Cincinnati on 4/23/2022. On top of that, the Walleye have only had one other home first round loss since 2017, losing Game 6 against Fort Wayne on 4/20/2019, an outlandish 19-2-0 run over that span. 

What More Can We Say: Forward Brandon Hawkins has a long-running feature in these weekly releases, and for good reason. The Walleye Captain holds or has broken most franchise scoring records throughout the season, continues to be dominant by posting his fourth straight season of at least 75 points. Hawkins finished runner-up for both the Warrior Hockey ECHL MVP Award and the ECHL Sportsmanship Award this season, he made his first AHL appearance since the 2022-23 season, and became the all-time leading scorer in Walleye history. He closed his fourth consecutive All-ECHL First Team regular season on a seven-game point streak (5G, 7A), and has only added to it with another five points (2G, 3A) in his first two playoff games, giving him 17 points (7G, 10A) in his last nine games. He sits at 95 playoff points in his Walleye career. 

Young Star Shining Bright: Forward Tanner Kelly carved himself out a major role in the Walleye offense. The rookie wing out of Michigan St. finished second on the Walleye in goals (25) and had the most power-play goals (10) among all ECHL rookies, and tied for fifth-most overall. This has extended into postseason play, as the San Diego, California, native has lit the lamp on the power play in each of the first two postseason contests. He posted a strong 50-point (25G, 25A) campaign that drew the eyes of many around the league, posting the sixth-most points and goals among all rookies. 

Putting the Power in Power Play: The Toledo Walleye ran out a power play unit that was far and away the best in minor league hockey. In fact, the Toledo Walleye ran the second-best power-play unit across the ECHL, AHL and NHL. Only the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers (30.6%) had a better season with a man-advantage across the top three leagues in North American professional hockey. The 29.9% conversion rate blows the previous franchise record out of the water (25.2% in 2023-24) and was the best in the ECHL by more than 5%. This continued to be the key to success for the Fish, as they converted 3 of 8 man-advantages in the first two games against Bloomington. 

Gyr0: Goaltender Carter Gylander looks strong to begin postseason play, going 2-0-0 and saving 41 of 45 shots on goal. The former Colgate netminder has posted back-to-back 20-9-5 seasons in Toledo, as well as a 9-1-1 record in 11 AHL appearances over the last two seasons. He went 6-2-0 with a 2.88 GAA and a .895 SV% during the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs as a rookie, and he looks to build off of that, currently holding a 2.00 GAA and a .911 SV%. 

April Showers Bring May Hockey: The Toledo Walleye hit the road for the beginning of their road playoff slate against the Bloomington Bison with Game 3 tonight, and Game 4 on Wednesday, with a potential Game 5 on Thursday at Grossinger Motors Arena if necessary. By starting the series 2-0, Toledo has guaranteed to play hockey in May yet again, as at worst, a potential Game 6 would be May 3. 

Walleye Player of the Week: 

Brandon Hawkins (2G, 3A, +2) 

Walleye Goaltender of the Week: 

Carter Gylander (2-0-0, 4 GA, 41 SV)