The Jacksonville Icemen are coming off another great season as they made the playoffs for the fourth straight season. The Icemen are the Sabres’ East Coast Hockey League affiliate (ECHL), which is the team where most of their prospects start their young careers.
Although the Icemen found themselves fourth in the Eastern Conference with 40+ wins, it was only good for third in their division, as South Carolina and Florida finished with 100+ points each.
Jacksonville had the opportunity to take on Florida in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs. Florida has won the Kelly Cup three straight years, as they have won in 2022, 2023, and 2024, the only team to three-peat in league history. It is also the team that has knocked out Jacksonville the last two years as well.
History did repeat itself once again for the Icemen as Florida knocked them out in the first round of the playoffs this year with a 4-0 sweep. However, it was how the Icemen lost those games that helped them accomplish something that has only been done once in the league's 37-year history.
The Icemen lost all four games in overtime. The last time this was recorded was in 2014 when the Reading Royals lost 4-0 to, you guessed it, the Florida Everblades.
There is no record of this occurring in the AHL or NHL, which is what makes this an even crazier stat. The closest was the 1951 Stanley Cup Final, where Toronto defeated Montreal 4-1, and every game went to OT.
The Sabres became the Icemen's NHL affiliate in July of 2023. Buffalo's prospect pipeline was recently ranked #1 by the NHL Network heading into the 2023-24 season. This gives these top prospects a chance to start their career in a great city with an excellent coaching staff. And it’s shown so far as the Icemen have yet to miss the playoffs as the Sabres' affiliate.
Having Jacksonville as an affiliate is going to pay dividends moving forward, as the Sabres have two fantastic teams to build their minor league system around.