ESTERO, Fla. — A party was held inside Hertz Arena on Monday to congratulate the Florida Everblades, who won the 2022 Kelly Cup Championship over the weekend. Everblades took the Kelly Cup home on Saturday after winning 4-2 in game 5 vs the Toledo Walleye.
Craig Brush, the General Manager of the Florida Everblades, actually created the team decades ago, so imagine his excitement seeing the team from the start-up days to this weekend taking home the Kelly Cup Championship.
"I told the players that they’ll enjoy this more tomorrow morning when they wake up and realize that they truly have won," said Brush. "We tried a bunch of times that were unsuccessful, so I was more relieved at that point, but this is elation."
And Executive VP of Business Development Mike Kelly says with all the excitement, ticket sales are already up for next year.
"It bleeds over for sure," said Kelly. "Everybody wants to be a part of this and people who got shut out want to make sure that they’re here next year and be a part of it."
As the party continued, Naples native and Everblades player Zach Solow described what the win meant to him saying he grew up here in this area and would come to the rink all the time.
"I've always had the Everblades crest on my jersey so this is just so special," he said.
Hundreds of people waited in line to get a picture with the Kelly Cup while players lined the arena, signing autographs and taking pictures with the community here in Southwest Florida.
