Southwest Florida sports fans, rejoice: The Florida Everblades are officially back. The back-to-back-to-back ECHL champions kicked off their 2024-2025 season last weekend in Jacksonville, snagging a 3-2 overtime win over the Icemen. Now, they are gearing up for their first home games this weekend.
“Unreal," Everblades returning forward Logan Lambdin said when asked about starting another season in Estero. "Especially since we could end it off last year on the right foot. It just makes starting this year that much more exciting.”
The Everblades will start the home opener with what's becoming an annual tradition — raising a championship banner into the Hertz Arena rafters.
“Banner raising night, home opener, we have a new squad here but a lot of returning faces as well, so it’s a great time of year for us," Everblades head coach Brad Ralph said.
The Everblades return some big names to their roster, such as fan-favorite Cam Johnson in net and Kelly Cup Finals MVP Olivier Chau on the attack. However, some other notable players are now gone, including former captain Joe Pendenza.
“We have all the right leaders in the room still," Lambdin said.
With some players moving on, there were plenty of holes the Everblades filled. Florida has four players signed on AHL contracts and three with NHL deals. Despite all of the new faces, the Blades are already gelling.
“I always say 99% of hockey guys are awesome guys; luckily, we got 100% on our team," Everblades newcomer Carson Gicewicz said.
Now, the challenge for Brad Ralph and his staff is to build this new team up into the Florida Everblades the Southwest Florida community and the entire country know.
“We’re working on building that Everblades style," Ralph said. "I think they’re understanding the gold standard of the Florida Everblades and the expectations that follow.”
The expectation this season, as has been every year in Estero, is to be the last team standing and hoist the Kelly Cup trophy above their heads again.
“The sky is the limit for us," Gicewicz said. "We just got to play hard, take it day by day, and hopefully we’ll get good results.”
The Florida Everblades host the Atlanta Gladiators on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m.