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
Tonight’s Previews
Game 1 – 6:00 ET – AHL Live
St. John’s hosts Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the opener of the Eastern Conference Finals at Mile One Centre tonight… The Penguins are in the conference finals for the second year in a row; they lost to Syracuse in five games in 2013… The IceCaps have reached the conference finals for the second time in their three-year history; St. John’s was swept by Norfolk in 2012… Eric O’Dell (7-0-7) has scored six goals in his last four games for the IceCaps… O’Dell and Andrew Gordon (6-2-8) have combined to score 13 of the IceCaps’ 29 postseason goals… St. John’s defensemen have accounted for four goals and 24 assists in the playoffs, led by Zach Redmond (0-7-7) and Will O’Neill (0-7-7)… Chuck Kobasew (5-6-11) and Brian Dumoulin (2-9-11) share the Penguins’ team scoring lead through two playoff rounds… Conor Sheary (5-4-9) is averaging a point per game in the playoffs for Wilkes-Barre, and his six-game scoring streak is the longest active run in the AHL… St. John’s and Wilkes-Barre split their four meetings during the 2013-14 regular season… Neither Michael Hutchinson (7-3, 1.77, .941) nor former IceCap Peter Mannino (7-4, 2.51, .901) played in the season series between the teams… Road teams are 11-2 in Game 1’s this postseason.
Eastern Conference Finals – Series “M” (best-of-7)
4-St. John’s IceCaps vs. 6-W-B/Scranton Penguins | Series Snapshot
Game 1 – Sat., May 24 – W-B/Scranton at St. John’s, 6:00
Game 2 – Sun., May 25 – W-B/Scranton at St. John’s, 6:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 28 – St. John’s at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 4 – Thu., May 29 – St. John’s at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sat., May 31 – St. John’s at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 6 – Tue., June 3 – W-B/Scranton at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 4 – W-B/Scranton at St. John’s, 6:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
About Last Night…
Drew MacIntyre made 49 saves as Toronto opened the Western Conference Finals with a 5-1 win over Texas in Game 1 at the Cedar Park Center on Friday night… MacIntyre (8-0) stopped 12 shots in the first period, 17 in the second and 21 more in the third as Texas finished with a 50-19 edge in shots on goal… Brandon Kozun‘s goal 3:11 into the first period gave the Marlies an early 1-0 lead; Toronto still has not trailed in a game all postseason… T.J. Brennan and Peter Holland scored 13 seconds apart in the second period to make it 3-0, and Sam Carrick and Jerred Smithson added empty-net goals… Holland has scored a goal in each of his five games played this postseason… Chris Mueller got the Stars’ only goal with 4:27 left in regulation on their 43rd shot of the game… Game 2 is Monday night.
Working Overtime
There have been 15 overtime games played in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs so far:
Apr. 23 – Springfield 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (Andrew Joudrey, 2:21)
Apr. 23 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (Mike Hedden, 5:35)
Apr. 25 – Providence 2, SPRINGFIELD 1 (Matt Fraser, 3:54)
Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (Anton Zlobin, 8:40)
Apr. 25 – Chicago 4, ROCHESTER 3 (Dmitrij Jaskin, 1:06)
Apr. 25 – Grand Rapids 2, ABBOTSFORD 1 (Ryan Sproul, 39:26)
Apr. 26 – BINGHAMTON 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (Stephane Da Costa, 11:07)
Apr. 26 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (Brendan Ranford, 15:04)
Apr. 30 – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Binghamton 2 (Chuck Kobasew, 7:32)
Apr. 30 – NORFOLK 1, Manchester 0 (Maxime Sauve, 14:51)
May 13 – NORFOLK 3, St. John’s 2 (Andre Petersson, 13:10)
May 14 – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Simon Despres, 26:32)
May 14 – TORONTO 4, Chicago 3 (Jerry D’Amigo, 3:28)
May 16 – PROVIDENCE 3, W-B/Scranton 2 (Cory Kane, 6:31)
May 16 – Texas 3, GRAND RAPIDS 2 (Chris Mueller, 3:18)
Eastern Conference Finals History
The Richard F. Canning Trophy is presented each season to the playoff champions of the AHL’s Eastern Conference… Here are the results of the Eastern Conference Finals since the league split into two conferences in 1995-96:
2013 – Syracuse Crunch 4, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 1
2012 – Norfolk Admirals 4, St. John’s IceCaps 0
2011 – Binghamton Senators 4, Charlotte Checkers 0
2010 – Hershey Bears 4, Manchester Monarchs 2
2009 – Hershey Bears 4, Providence Bruins 1
2008 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 4, Portland Pirates 3
2007 – Hershey Bears 4, Manchester Monarchs 0
2006 – Hershey Bears 4, Portland Pirates 3
2005 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Providence Bruins 2
2004 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 3
2003 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Binghamton Senators 1
2002 – Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2001 – Saint John Flames 4, Providence Bruins 1
2000 – Hartford Wolf Pack 4, Providence Bruins 3
1999 – Providence Bruins 4, Fredericton Canadiens 2
1998 – Saint John Flames 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 1
*1997 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Albany River Rats 1
*1996 – Portland Pirates 4, Saint John Flames 3
*known as Northern Conference
AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2014 Calder Cup championship. AHL Live brings AHL action to your desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet all season long with live video webcasts and free highlights of every AHL game… Visit ahllive.com for details.
