PORTLAND, ME – May 6, 2022 – Mariners goaltender Stefanos Lekkas has joined the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Acquired by the Mariners in March, Lekkas was a big part of the Mariners run to their first ever postseason appearance this spring.
Lekkas, 26, is a native of Chicago. He was acquired by the Mariners from the Wheeling Nailers in a future considerations trade in early March. Lekkas won his first two starts as a Mariner in a crucial series at Worcester on March 5th and 6th. Although Callum Booth and Jeremy Brodeur returned to the active roster soon after, Lekkas was called upon again in April and picked up several key wins down the stretch. On April 1st and 3rd against the Adirondack Thunder, Lekkas posted back-to-back shutouts and was named the ECHL Goaltender of the Week. Then, on the final weekend of the regular season, he defeated the Newfoundland Growlers twice to help the Mariners clinch their first playoff appearance in team history.
Overall, in 14 games with the Mariners, Lekkas posted a record of 7-4-0 with a 2.55 GAA and a .920 SV%, plus the two shutouts. Lekkas also played for Fort Wayne, Orlando, and Wheeling this season. He has prior AHL experience in the 2020-21 season with the Rochester Americans. Lekkas played his college hockey at the University of Vermont from 2016-2020 where he set records for both the program and Hockey East.
The Chicago Wolves have a first-round bye in the Calder Cup Playoffs and are awaiting the winner of the Rockford IceHogs and Texas Stars series. Chicago will host Game 1 on Saturday, May 14th. With injuries to their top two goaltenders, the Carolina Hurricanes (Chicago’s NHL affiliate), were forced to use their third string goaltender, Pyotyr Kochetkov in Games 1 and 2 of their playoff series against the Boston Bruins. Kochetkov had been Chicago’s number one netminder.
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