Bryan Stalder
Contributor

The Kansas City Mavericks will open their 2025-26 ECHL season with a home weekend series against the Rapid City Rush on October 17 and 18. The Mavericks first game is set for a 7:00 PM puck drop at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri.

Kansas City enters the new campaign after a dominant 2024-25 season, finishing first in both the Western Conference and Mountain Division. The team clinched a playoff berth for the third straight year and secured back-to-back Mountain Division titles. Last season was marked by numerous player milestones and a historic achievement by General Manager and Head Coach Tad O’Had, who became the winningest coach in both Mavericks and Kansas City professional hockey history.

Founded in 2009 as the Missouri Mavericks with the now-defunct Central Hockey League, this team joined the ECHL in 2014 and adopted the Kansas City name in 2017. They are currently the longest-running professional hockey franchise in Kansas City history.

This season’s 72-game schedule includes 36 home dates at Cable Dahmer Arena, which seats 5,800 for hockey. Regular home game start times are 7:05 p.m. on weekdays, 6:05 p.m. on Saturdays, and 4:05 p.m. on Sundays.

Highlights of the early schedule include a Kids Day game on November 5, when the Mavericks host the Idaho Steelheads at 10:35 a.m. in front of thousands of local students, and a three-game stretch against rival Wichita Thunder in November, including a Black Friday matchup. Kansas City will also face new opponents this season, including the Jacksonville Icemen and an expansion team, the Bloomington Bison.

Northeast hockey fan, Jack Lowe, a Mavericks season ticket holder for fifteen years,  exclaims that “Cold steel on ice is one of the best sports seen live, and once you go……you probably will want to come back for more!”

We’re excited to keep our readers up-to-date with the Kansas City Mavericks progress this season, including fun promotions and fan-oriented marketing events to get Northeast hyped about ice hockey! The full game schedule is available at kcmavericks.com/schedule.