Even with a first-round scare against the Cincinnati Cyclones, Toledo getting this far in the ECHL postseason has seemed like an inevitability throughout 2022.

Had someone told you at the start of the season this would be the ECHL's Eastern Conference Final, nobody would have batted an eye.

There is no rest for the weary.

The ECHL announced on Thursday that the 2022-23 season will begin with eight games on Friday, Oct. 21, continues with 13 games on Saturday, Oct. 22 with Opening Weekend concluding with six games on Sunday, Oct. 23.

One day after the South Division Final is set to get underway, the North will follow suit. Reading and Newfoundland, the division’s top two seeds, will face each other in what should be a premium matchup between two of the league’s top three teams by points percentage in the regular season.

Between both the South Division Final and Central Division Final getting underway on Friday night, FloHockey viewers will have no shortage of high-quality playoff hockey to watch.

The second round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs is set to get underway on Friday night—exclusively broadcast on FloHockey—with Game 1 of the South Division Finals. The all-Florida matchup is between a motivated Everblades, a franchise that’s perpetually a preseason title favorite, against the Icemen, the only team to sweep their opening-round series.

Game.  Seven.

The Mountain Division was the tightest in the league this season, with the top and bottom spots separated by just 24 points in the standings. The top six teams were within 16 points of each other.

Eyes were on the Central Division this year, with the defending champs and the league’s top team playing plenty of entertaining hockey. Now, the playoffs are set to start, and both the Walleye and Komets could be on a collision course to meet in the second round.

After a long season of jockeying for playoff position, and a late battle to see who’d end up in the fourth and final postseason spot, the South Division semifinals are set. The Icemen and Gladiators series kicks off on Thursday night in Jacksonville, followed by the opener of the Florida-Greenville series one night later.

The Kelly Cup Playoffs are finally here, and we begin our division semifinals previews with a look at two intriguing matchups in the North Division.

Sometimes, the schedule makers just know.

FloHockey’s weekly ECHL playoff primer continues, keeping track of all the key races in each of the four divisions, and getting you ready for the games ahead this upcoming week as the race to get into the Kelly Cup Playoffs comes down to the wire.

Coast To Coast is FloHockey’s monthly, cohesive news on North American hockey and live-streaming partnerships.