AHL Morning Skate: June 12

Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest from around the American Hockey League in today’s Morning Skate.

Complete Schedule || Playoff Brackets || Today’s Scoreboard || League Leaders || Series Preview

Tonight’s Previews

syr  gr  
2013 Calder Cup Finals – Game 3 – 7:00 ET
(GR leads series, 2-0)
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, ESPN America
Webcast:
AHL Live (free offer)
The Calder Cup Finals head to West Michigan for the first time ever as Grand Rapids hosts Syracuse in Game 3 tonight at Van Andel Arena… The Griffins head home with a 2-0 series lead after 3-1 and 6-4 wins to open the Finals… Landon Ferraro (5-8-13) notched a goal and an assist and Riley Sheahan (3-12-15) picked up three assists in Sunday’s Game 2 victory as Grand Rapids became the 10th team ever to win the first two games of a Calder Cup Final series on the road… Francis Pare (3-9-12) netted the game-winning goal in Game 2, breaking a 4-4 tie late in the second period just 26 seconds after J.T. Brown (4-5-9) had tied the game for Syracuse… The Griffins have scored eight goals on 49 shots against the Crunch’s Cedrick Desjardins (11-3, 2.16, .908), who entered the series with a .920 save percentage in the postseason… Petr Mrazek (13-7, 2.21, .921) has allowed five goals on 63 Syracuse shots… Fourteen Grand Rapids skaters have notched at least one point in the series, including nine different goal-scorers… The Crunch have not lost away from home in these playoffs (5-0) and had the second-best road record in the AHL during the regular season (24-10-2-2)… Grand Rapids has won five of its last six games, scoring 24 goals in the process… The Crunch are 2-for-13 on the power play in the series… The Griffins are 3-for-9 on the power play in the series, and 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) over their last six games… Three teams in AHL history have won the Calder Cup after losing the first two games of the Finals, and the 2010 Hershey Bears (vs. Texas) are the only one to do it after dropping Games 1 and 2 at home.

2013 Calder Cup Finals – Series “O” (best-of-7)
E3-Syracuse Crunch vs. W3-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 1 – Sat., June 8 – Grand Rapids 3, SYRACUSE 1
Game 2 – Sun., June 9 – Grand Rapids 6, SYRACUSE 4
Game 3 – Wed., June 12 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., June 14 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., June 15 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., June 18 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 7 – Thu., June 20 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

Alumni Watch

The 2013 Stanley Cup Finals are set with the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins preparing to battle for the National Hockey League’s championship beginning tonight, and more than 80 percent of the players involved are graduates of the American Hockey League… On the Western Conference champion Blackhawks, 18 of the 23 players to be penciled into the lineup so far this postseason are AHL alumni, including five who spent time with the Rockford IceHogs this season… On the other side, the Eastern Conference champion Bruins boast 20 AHL graduates among their 24 players to have dressed for game action in the playoffs, including six former AHL All-Stars, two Calder Cup champions and nine former Providence Bruins… Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville and Bruins head coach Claude Julien both finished their playing careers in the AHL in 1991-92, with Quenneville’s St. John’s Maple Leafs defeating Julien’s Moncton Hawks in the playoffs en route to a trip to the Calder Cup Finals.

Final Comebacks

Syracuse is looking to become the fourth team in AHL history to win the Calder Cup after losing the first two games of the Finals:

2010 – Hershey Bears def. Texas Stars, 4-2 (lost first two at home)
1991 – Springfield Indians def. Rochester Americans, 4-2
1972 – Nova Scotia Voyageurs def. Baltimore Clippers, 4-2

Working Overtime
There have been 13 overtime games played in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Road teams are 10-3:

Apr. 26 – Texas 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (Brett Ritchie, 11:44)
Apr. 26 – Charlotte 4, OKLAHOMA CITY 3 (Brody Sutter, 3:06)
Apr. 27 – SPRINGFIELD 2, Manchester 1 (Cody Bass, 10:36)
Apr. 27 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (Chad Kolarik, 8:18)
Apr. 27 – SYRACUSE 4, Portland 3 (Richard Panik, 6:36)
Apr. 28 – Hershey 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Jon DiSalvatore, 3:05)
Apr. 28 – SPRINGFIELD 3, Manchester 2 (Cody Bass, 18:44)
*May 1 – Toronto 3, ROCHESTER 2 (Will Acton, 5:14)
*May 2 – Syracuse 4, PORTLAND 3 (Ondrej Palat, 19:43)
*May 4 – Springfield 4, MANCHESTER 3 (Nick Drazenovic, 8:06)
May 9 – Oklahoma City 2, TEXAS 1 (Anton Lander, 1:28)
May 15 – Providence 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 (Carter Camper, 0:31)
May 20 – W-B/Scranton 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (Trevor Smith, 3:26)
  *indicates goal ended series

Watch the Calder Cup Finals Free on AHL Live
As a thank you to our fans, the American Hockey League and NeuLion are offering free streaming of the 2013 Calder Cup Finals on AHL Live… Former AHL broadcasters Bob McElligott of the Columbus Blue Jackets and John Michael of the Cleveland Cavaliers have the call tonight… Visit ahllive.com for details.