AHL Morning Skate: June 14

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 4 – 7:00 ET
(GR leads series, 3-0)
TV: ESPN America, WXSP-TV (Grand Rapids), Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (central NY)
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (Sirius 207, XM 92)
Webcast:
AHL Live (free offer)
The Grand Rapids Griffins are one win away from their first championship after Wednesday night’s 4-2 win in Game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals… With a 3-0 series lead, the Griffins get their first of four cracks at finishing off the Syracuse Crunch tonight at a sold-out Van Andel Arena… Jan Mursak deflected home a Jeff Hoggan shot with 4:49 to play in regulation on Wednesday, breaking a 2-2 tie and sending the Griffins to their sixth win in their last seven games… Hoggan (5-6-11) and Mursak (10-6-16) both finished the night with a goal and an assist, Tomas Tatar (13-5-18) scored his league-leading 13th goal of the postseason and East Grand Rapids native Luke Glendening (6-8-14) ended a nine-game drought with his sixth playoff marker… Petr Mrazek (14-7, 2.20, .922) made 11 of his 26 saves in the third period to preserve the victory… Hoggan, the Griffins’ captain, has one goal, three assists and a plus-6 rating through the first three games of the series… Richard Panik (6-4-10) and Dan Sexton (5-6-11) scored for the Crunch… Panik’s goal at 10:21 of the opening period gave Syracuse its first lead of the series… Cedrick Desjardins (11-4, 2.29, .904) stopped 25 of 29 shots on the night… Mark Barberio (3-9-12), 3-7-10 with a plus-9 rating entering the Finals, has two assists and a minus-6 against Grand Rapids… The Crunch have lost three straight games in regulation for just the second time all season (Jan. 12-19)… Sixteen different Griffins skaters have tallied a point in the Finals.

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 – GRAND RAPIDS 4, Syracuse 2
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

Andrew Shaw scored at 12:08 of the third overtime period on Wednesday night to give Chicago a 4-3 win over Boston in Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final… Shaw was one of five skaters in the Blackhawks’ Game 1 lineup who also played for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs during the 2012-13 season.

Home is Where the Cup Is

In the last 20 years, teams are 11-3 in home games with a chance to win the Calder Cup:

2010 Game 6 – HERSHEY BEARS 4, Texas Stars 0
2009 Game 5 – Manitoba Moose 3, HERSHEY BEARS 2
2008 Game 6 – CHICAGO WOLVES 5, W-B/Scranton Penguins 2
2007 Game 5 – HAMILTON BULLDOGS 2, Hershey Bears 1
2005 Game 4 – PHILADELPHIA PHANTOMS 5, Chicago Wolves 2
2003 Game 7 – Houston Aeros 3, HAMILTON BULLDOGS 0
2002 Game 5 – CHICAGO WOLVES 4, Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3 (2OT)
2001 Game 6 – SAINT JOHN FLAMES 1, W-B/Scranton Penguins 0
1999 Game 5 – PROVIDENCE BRUINS 5, Rochester Americans 1
1998 Game 6 – PHILADELPHIA PHANTOMS 6, Saint John Flames 1
1996 Game 7 – ROCHESTER AMERICANS 2, Portland Pirates 1
1996 Game 6 – Portland Pirates 5, ROCHESTER AMERICANS 1
1994 Game 6 – PORTLAND PIRATES 4, Moncton Hawks 1
1993 Game 5 – CAPE BRETON OILERS 7, Rochester Americans 2

Sweep Redux?
Only three times in AHL history have there been consecutive sweeps in the Calder Cup Finals… Norfolk defeated Toronto in four straight in 2012:

2005 – Philadelphia Phantoms def. Chicago Wolves, 4-0
2004 – Milwaukee Admirals def. W-B/Scranton Penguins, 4-0

1971 – Springfield Kings def. Providence Reds, 4-0
1970 – Buffalo Bisons def. Springfield Kings, 4-0

1944 – Buffalo Bisons def. Cleveland Barons, 4-0
1943 – Buffalo Bisons def. Indianapolis Capitals, 3-0

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.