Walleye Weekly No. 18: February 23, 2026
ECHL Toledo Walleye

Walleye Weekly No. 18: February 23, 2026

Published on February 23, 2026 under ECHL (ECHL)
Toledo Walleye News Release


Toledo Walleye defenseman Riley McCourt
Toledo Walleye defenseman Riley McCourt
(Toledo Walleye)

Overall Record: 28-12-4-4, 2nd Central Division, Current Streak: 1 Loss / 2 Unbeaten

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, February 20 at Trois-Rivières (6-3 L)

Saturday, February 21 at Trois-Rivières (4-1 W)

Sunday, February 22 at Trois-Rivières (4-3 SOL)

THIS WEEK'S GAMES (All Times Eastern)

Wednesday, February 25 at Cincinnati (7:35 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, FloSports)

Friday, February 27th vs. Bloomington (7:15 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN, FloSports)

Saturday, February 28 vs. Bloomington (7:15 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN, FloSports)

Sunday, March 1 vs. Iowa (5:15 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN, FloSports)

Walleye Notes

Came Away with Half: The Toledo Walleye came away with three of six points this weekend against the Trois-Rivières Lions, securing a 1-1-0-1 record against the team that defeated them in the Kelly Cup Finals a season ago. The Lions got a fast start on Friday, scoring three goals in just three minutes of play. The Walleye came back to tie it with goals from Tanner Kelly, Dylan Moulton, and Colby Ambrosio, but ended up falling 6-3. Toledo came back for revenge in Saturday's game, defeating the Lions 4-1 with a 30-save performance from goaltender Matt Jurusik. The Walleye tied Sunday's game early in the third period after originally leading but fell in a nine-round shootout and came away with a point. Fort Wayne overtook Toledo for the division lead, leading by two points with two more games played.

Special Teams, Special Plays: The power play and penalty kill units of the Toledo Walleye have continued to be some of the league's strongest. Since the start of the new year, the PK unit has gone 57/66 (86%) and 35/39 (89.7%) on the road. Riley McCourt has been leading that charge with seven power-play assists in that span and 23 on the season. McCourt has entered the top-ten of most power-play assists (23, 3rd; held by Shane Berschbach, 28, 2016-17), points by a defenseman (39, 8th; held by J.C. Sawyer, 59, 2009-10), and assists by a defenseman (34, T-7th), which he set during the 2023-24 season with 44. The penalty kill has killed off 26 of 31 opposing power plays (83.9%) in the month of February as the Walleye have added two more shorthanded goals to their league lead (14) off the sticks of Mitch Lewandowski and Nick Andrews.

Props to Lewy: With his shorthanded goal in Saturday's game against Trois-Rivières, Mitch Lewandowski tied a franchise record for shorthanded goals in a Walleye career, matching Alden Hirschfeld's career mark of six shorthanded goals with the Walleye. Lewandowski has found his groove in the month of February as he leads Walleye skaters in points (11), ties Riley McCourt for assists (8), and ties for third in goals with 3; Johnny Waldron has 4 and Tanner Kelly has 5. Lewandowski needs just one more shorthanded goal to pass Hirschfeld's record and to tie the 9-way tie for most single-season shorthanded goals in franchise history (3) and is three assists away from his 100th professional assist.

The Chase Goes On: As the season goes along, Brandon Hawkins continues his chase for the Walleye franchise all-time scoring record. Hawkins needs 9 more points to tie current Walleye leader Shane Berschbach and 10 more points to pass. His next target will be to pass Toledo Storm legend Rick Judson's Toledo ECHL record of 441 career points, needing only 57 more points to tie that record. Hawkins is currently second in the ECHL in points with 57 (24 goals, 33 assists), trailing Kansas City defenseman Marcus Crawford (63 pts).

Back to the Central: The Walleye will go back to facing familiar foes this upcoming week with matchups against Cincinnati, Bloomington, and Iowa. The Walleye hold an 8-2-1-0 record over the Cyclones this season over 11 games, set to face off four more times, including Wednesday at the Heritage Bank Center. Wednesday's game will be the first time the Walleye have played on a Wednesday since New Year's Eve at Kalamazoo, where they defeated the 5-3 to close out 2025. Friday's and Saturday's games will be against the Bloomington Bison at the Huntington Center as the Walleye square off against them for the 6th and 7th times this season with two games to go against the division rival after the weekend. Toledo will see the Iowa Heartlanders for the final time on Sunday at the Huntington Center, holding a 5-2-0-1 record over the Heartlanders in eight matchups.

Walleye Player of the Week:

Mitch Lewandowski (1 G, 2 A, 3 Pts, SHG)

Walleye Goaltender of the Week:

Matt Jurusik (W, 30 SVS, .968 SV%)

Check out the Toledo Walleye Statistics

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Toledo Walleye defenseman Riley McCourt
Toledo Walleye defenseman Riley McCourt
   



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