When the Fort Wayne Komets first came to North Charleston back in March, the South Carolina Stingrays were in trouble.

The Stingrays had recently endured a 10-game winless skid, and as the Komets came to town they were mired in another four-game slump. The hockey club’s proud tradition — making the ECHL playoffs every year but one in its 27-year history — seemed in jeopardy.

But the Stingrays swept the Komets in a three-game series March 19-21, an early indicator of the late-season surge that has carried the Stingrays into the playoffs, past the top two seeds in the ECHL’s Eastern Conference and into their sixth Kelly Cup finals.

“That series was a little bit of a turning point,” said coach Ryan Blair, whose club will host Fort Wayne again on June 24 and 25 at the Carolina Ice Palace in the first two games of the Kelly Cup finals. “At the same time, that was three months ago and we’re a different team now.

“We feel like we’re better, and I’m sure they feel like they are a better group now. They are in the finals for a reason, and so are we.”

The Stingrays are playing for their fourth Kelly Cup title, and first since 2009, because a 35-year-old, first-year head coach found a way to keep his team together through struggles on the ice, COVID-19 restrictions off the ice and a delayed season that kept the club from using its usual home at the North Charleston Coliseum for playoff games.

Blair was an assistant on the Stingrays team that went 44-14-4 last year before the pandemic wiped out the ECHL playoffs, and was named a year ago to replace Steve Bergin as head coach.

“I’m very proud of the way Ryan battled down the stretch in a very, very unique and crazy year,” said Stingrays president Rob Concannon. “It wasn’t a normal season where you just play hockey. There were a lot of different things behind the scenes that he had to manage every single day, COVID testing, travel, you name it.

“He’s been very loyal to this group, and they are playing their best hockey of the year right now. That’s a tribute to Ryan and (assistant coach) Brenden Kotyk and (trainer) Max Finley, and to the guys in that room.”

Blair is now the sixth different Stingrays coach to lead the team into the Kelly Cup finals, joining names such as Jared Bednar (coach of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche) and Spencer Carbery (head coach of the AHL’s Hershey Bears). That speaks to the culture the Stingrays have maintained over the years, despite changing coaches, ownership and rosters.

The club first came to the Lowcountry in 1993, was the first pro hockey team established in South Carolina, and is the oldest operating franchise in the ECHL that’s still in its founding city. The Stingrays’ three Kelly Cup titles are tied for the most in league history, and the club has sent more than 30 players to the NHL.

“There is a culture, for sure,” said team captain Andrew Cherniwchan, whose been with the club since 2011 and has almost as many years in a Rays uniform as all-time greats such as Brett Marietti and Dave Seitz. “Right from day one when I got here, I knew there was a certain standard that everyone was expected to abide by, and always bring your best.

“I played for Jared Bednar in the AHL, and you could see he had the same standards that he learned while he was a Stingray. There is definitely a certain standard here.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge of the season has been adjusting to the Carolina Ice Palace, which is the Stingrays’ practice rink and seats only about 500 fans. The North Charleston Coliseum, which hosted more than 7,000 spectators on the final day of the regular season, is unavailable for the postseason after the ECHL season was delayed and the Coliseum previously booked.

“I wish I had a picture of the players’ faces when I told them that was a possibility,” Concannon said. “They weren’t too pleased. But they have embraced it, they go to work with a smile on their face and are really enjoying their time together.”

Goalie Hunter Shepard, up and down from the AHL affiliate in Hershey this season, has been a backbone of the playoff run, with a 90.3 save percentage and 2.89 goals-against average.

Matthew Weis leads the team in playoff points with nine, with Mark Cooper (eight) and Cole Ully (seven) just behind  Cherniwchan has a team-best four goals in the playoffs, and Justin Florek, Brett Supinski, Weis, Max Novak and Ully have three each.

“In the middle of the year, we had to shift our focus and play more of a playoff brand of hockey,” Blair said. “I think that paid big-time dividends and we’re seeing some of that now.”

Fort Wayne didn’t begin its season until February due to COVID-19, and went 29-17-3 during the season, finishing third in the Western Conference. The Komets have defeated Allen and Wichita (which also played in its practice rink) during the playoffs.