2021 Kelly Cup playoffs

The 2021 Kelly Cup playoffs of the ECHL began on June 7, 2021, following the conclusion of the 2020–21 ECHL regular season, and ended on July 2, 2021 with the Fort Wayne Komets winning their first Kelly Cup in franchise history over the South Carolina Stingrays in four games. 
==Playoff format==
The qualification and with the top four teams from each conference at the end of the regular season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 14 of the 26 member teams participated in the season, the playoff field was cut from 16 teams to eight, and there were no divisions. As the start of the season was delayed and extended to later in the year than normal, each playoff series is a best-of-five tournament, down from the previous 2019 playoffs and planned 2020 playoffs that consisted of best-of-seven series.
Due to the postseason being pushed later into the year than typical, both the South Carolina Stingrays and Wichita Thunder were forced to play home games out of their practice rinks over scheduling conflicts with their normal home arenas.
==Playoff seeds==
After the regular season, eight teams qualify for the playoffs. The Wichita Thunder were the first team to qualify during the regular season on May 16. Due to the imbalanced scheduling during the pandemic, teams were seeded by points percentage.
Final seeds and points percentages:
=== Eastern Conference ===
#Florida Everblades – Brabham Cup winners, conference champions, .667 pts%
#Greenville Swamp Rabbits – .632 pts%
#Indy Fuel – .594 pts%
#South Carolina Stingrays – .579 pts%
===Western Conference===
#Allen Americans – Conference champions, .653 pts%
#Wichita Thunder – .634 pts%
#Fort Wayne Komets – .618 pts%
#Utah Grizzlies – .563 pts%
==Playoff bracket==
As of July 2, 2021.
== Conference semifinals ==
=== Eastern Conference ===
==== (1) Florida Everblades vs. (4) South Carolina Stingrays ====
==== (2) Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. (3) Indy Fuel ====
=== Western Conference ===
==== (1) Allen Americans vs. (4) Utah Grizzlies ====
==== (2) Wichita Thunder vs. (3) Fort Wayne Komets ====
== Conference finals ==
=== Eastern Conference ===
==== (2) Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. (4) South Carolina Stingrays ====
=== Western Conference ===
==== (1) Allen Americans vs. (3) Fort Wayne Komets ====
== Kelly Cup finals ==
Note: Italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
=== (W3) Fort Wayne Komets vs. (E4) South Carolina Stingrays ===
==Statistical leaders==
===Skaters===
These are the top ten skaters based on points as of June 30. Currently active players are in bold. 
Player 	Team 	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Anthony Nellis 	Fort Wayne Komets 	12	8	5	13 	+4 	8
Cole Ully 	South Carolina Stingrays	12	4	8	12 	+2 	0
Matthew Weis 	South Carolina Stingrays	12	3	9	12 	−4 	6
Brandon Hawkins 	Fort Wayne Komets 	12	6	5	11 	+2 	6
Stephen Harper 	Fort Wayne Komets 	11	4	7	11 	+1 	0
Shawn Szydlowski 	Fort Wayne Komets 	8 	2	9	11 	+5 	4
Dan Desalvo 	South Carolina Stingrays	12	5	5	10 	+1 	6
A. J. Jenks 	Fort Wayne Komets 	12	4	6	10 	+3 	18
Max Novak 	South Carolina Stingrays	12	4	6	10 	0 	6
Alan Lyszczarczyk	Fort Wayne Komets 	10	3	7	10 	+6 	0
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
===Goaltending===
This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 240 minutes played as of June 30. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded. Currently active players are in bold.
Player 	Team 	GP	W	L	OTL	SA 	GA	GAA 	SV% 	SO	TOI
Ryan Bednard 	Greenville Swamp Rabbits	5 	2	3	0 	154	11	2.44	0.929	1 	271
C. J. Motte 	Allen Americans 	4 	2	1	1 	119	11	2.74	0.908	0 	241
Evan Buitenhuis	Wichita Thunder 	5 	2	2	1 	152	14	2.79	0.908	0 	301
Dylan Ferguson 	Fort Wayne Komets 	12	7	4	0 	372	36	3.10	0.903	1 	697
Jake Hildebrand	Florida Everblades 	5 	2	2	1 	131	15	3.28	0.885	0 	274
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes)
== See also ==
* 2020–21 ECHL season
* List of ECHL seasons
== References ==
==External links==
*ECHL website