CHARLESTON, S.C. — Jeff Jakaitis, the goaltender who backstopped the South Carolina Stingrays to the 2015 Kelly Cup Finals, is a Charleston hockey favorite bound for the ECHL Hall of Fame, which picked him for its class of 2027.
The league named Jakaitis on Wednesday along with forwards Matt Hendricks and Derek Nesbitt. The three will go in as the Hall’s 19th class during All-Star week in Boise, Idaho, with a banquet set for the Grove Hotel Ballroom on Jan. 26, 2027, at 5 p.m. Mountain time.
Jakaitis played seven ECHL seasons, five of them in Charleston, with stops in Columbia, Charlotte and Gwinnett. No other player has been voted the league’s Goaltender of the Year three times; he won it in 2012, 2014 and 2015 and was also league MVP in 2015, making him one of only four goalies to earn that award.
His 2014-15 season set a league mark of four shutouts in a row and a scoreless run of 321 minutes and 46 seconds, second in pro hockey only to the 332:01 streak Brian Boucher posted in the NHL in 2003-04. He shares the ECHL career record of 25 shutouts and owns 128 wins.
He becomes the seventh former Stingray in the Hall, joining David Seitz, Jason Saal, Jared Bednar, Brett Marietti, Brad Dexter and Jason Fitzsimmons. Since retiring he has coached young goalies with the Charleston Youth Hockey Association, and team president Rob Concannon called him a great ambassador for the club and the league.
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