Calder Cup Playoffs start tonight

The 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs get underway tonight with Game 1 of the West Division semifinal pitting two of the last three Calder Cup champions, as the Chicago Wolves host the Houston Aeros. You can follow all the action from tonight’s postseason opener live on the AHL’s real-time scoreboard, or listen in to our teams’ game cybercasts from your own computer.

Complete 2005 Calder Cup Playoff schedule and results

Interactive 2005 playoff brackets


All times Eastern… *if necessary



Atlantic Division Semifinal – Series “A”

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – Providence at Manchester, 7:35
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – Providence at Manchester, 7:35
Game 3 – Mon., Apr. 25 – Manchester at Providence, 7:05
Game 4 – Wed., Apr. 27 – Manchester at Providence, 7:05
*Game 5 – Thu., Apr. 28 – Providence at Manchester, 7:05
*Game 6 – Sat., Apr. 30 – Manchester at Providence, 7:05
*Game 7 – Mon., May 2 – Providence at Manchester, 7:05

Regular Season Comparison
Manchester Providence
Record 51-21-4-4 40-30-3-7
Points 110 90
Home 28-7-3-2 26-10-2-2
Road 23-14-1-2 14-20-1-5
Goals for 258 211
Goals against 176 202
PP% (rank) 17.4 (6) 18.5 (4)
PK% (rank) 87.0 (6) 84.1 (17)


Calder Cup Playoff History
Manchester Providence
Appearances 4th 11th
Record (games) 4-10 47-44
Record (series) 0-3 10-9
OT record 0-3 10-6
Calder Cup titles 0 1 (1999)
Losing finalist 0 0


2004-05 Regular Season Series
Manchester Providence
Record 6-3-0-1 4-6-0-0
at MCH 4-0-0-1 1-4-0-0
at PRO 2-3-0-0 3-2-0-0
Goals 22 19
Power play 6/48 (12.5%) 6/50 (12.0%)
Scoring Cammalleri, 6+8=14
Brown, 2+4=6
Clarke, 2+3=5
Boyes, 2+7=9
LaCouture, 5+2=7
Aucoin, 3+4=7
Goaltending Hauser, 4-2-0, 1.59
Garon, 2-1-1, 2.05
Toivonen, 3-3-0, 1.66
Madden, 1-1-0, 2.52

Results Dec. 3 MCH 3 at PRO 2
Dec. 4 PRO 0 at MCH 2
Jan. 1 PRO 3 at MCH 5
Jan. 15 PRO 1 at MCH 2
Feb. 11 MCH 0 at PRO 3
Feb. 27 MCH 1 at PRO 2
Mar. 6 PRO 2 at MCH 4
Mar. 20 MCH 1 at PRO 0
Apr. 1 PRO 3 at MCH 2 (SO)
Apr. 3 MCH 2 at PRO 3


SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Manchester won its first division title in 2005; now the Monarchs are out for their first series victory after opening-round ousters by Hartford (2002), Bridgeport (2003) and Worcester (2004)… Manchester is 1-6 all-time on home ice in the playoffs… Mike Cammalleri led all scorers in the season series with 14 points (6g, 8a)… Providence, which has dropped 11 of its last 13 postseason matches, has also been eliminated in its first series each of the last three years… Andy Hilbert, who finished seventh in the AHL in scoring, recorded just two points (2g) in 10 games against the Monarchs this year… Six of the 10 meetings between the Monarchs and Bruins in 2004-05 were decided by a single goal.



Atlantic Division Semifinal – Series “B”

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 21 – Lowell at Hartford, 7:05
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – Lowell at Hartford, 7:05
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 24 – Hartford at Lowell, 4:00
Game 4 – Tue., Apr. 26 – Hartford at Lowell, 7:00
*Game 5 – Thu., Apr. 28 – Lowell at Hartford, 7:05
*Game 6 – Sat., Apr. 30 – Hartford at Lowell, 7:00
*Game 7 – Sun., May 1 – Lowell at Hartford, 6:05

Regular Season Comparison
Hartford Lowell
Record 50-24-3-3 47-27-1-5
Points 106 100
Home 30-8-1-1 26-11-0-3
Road 20-16-2-2 21-16-1-2
Goals for 206 242
Goals against 160 190
PP% (rank) 14.8 (15) 15.4 (12)
PK% (rank) 89.1 (2) 87.0 (7)


Calder Cup Playoff History
Hartford Lowell
Appearances 8th 5th
Record (games) 43-35 6-13
Record (series) 10-6 1-4
OT record 7-7 0-4
Calder Cup titles 1 (2000) 0
Losing finalist 0 0


2004-05 Regular Season Series
Hartford Lowell
Record 5-2-0-1 3-5-0-0
at HFD 2-1-0-1 2-2-0-0
at LOW 3-1-0-0 1-3-0-0
Goals 19 15
Power play 3/43 (7.0%) 6/54 (11.1%)
Scoring Ortmeyer, 5+3=8
Hamilton, 3+3=6
Moore, 3+2=5
Zigomanis, 4+2=6
Staal, 2+3=5
Commodore, 1+3=4
Goaltending Valiquette, 5-0-1, 0.71
LaBarbera, 0-2-0, 3.71
Ward, 2-3-0, 1.82
Krahn, 1-2-0, 2.78

Results Oct. 29 HFD 3 at LOW 1
Dec. 3 LOW 1 at HFD 0 (SO)
Jan. 22 LOW 4 at HFD 6
Feb. 6 HFD 0 at LOW 3
Mar. 12 LOW 3 at HFD 1
Mar. 19 HFD 3 at LOW 2
Mar. 23 LOW 0 at HFD 1
Apr. 3 HFD 5 at LOW 1


SERIES NOTEBOOK:
For the first time in AHL history, two teams with at least 100 points in the regular season are meeting in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs… Hartford reached overtime of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final before falling last year; Lowell is in the postseason for the first time since 2002… The Wolf Pack held Chuck Kobasew, Colin Forbes and Eric Staal to a combined 10 points in eight meetings in the regular season… Kobasew, Mike Commodore and Matt Lombardi helped Calgary to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004… Hartford’s Jed Ortmeyer scored five of his seven goals on the year against Lowell… Steve Valiquette, who 172 of 176 Lowell shots (.977) in six appearances this season, played 15 games for the Lock Monsters over the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.



East Division Semifinal – Series “C”

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – Wilkes-Barre at Binghamton, 7:05
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – Wilkes-Barre at Binghamton, 7:05
Game 3 – Mon., Apr. 25 – Binghamton at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05
Game 4 – Wed., Apr. 27 – Binghamton at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05
*Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 29 – Wilkes-Barre at Binghamton, 7:05
*Game 6 – Sun., May 1 – Binghamton at Wilkes-Barre, 5:05
*Game 7 – Mon., May 2 – Wilkes-Barre at Binghamton, 7:05

Regular Season Comparison
Binghamton W-B/Scranton
Record 47-21-5-7 39-27-7-7
Points 106 92
Home 27-6-3-4 23-12-2-3
Road 20-15-2-3 16-15-5-4
Goals for 276 227
Goals against 217 219
PP% (rank) 20.1 (1) 14.6 (17)
PK% (rank) 83.2 (19) 82.9 (20)


Calder Cup Playoff History
Binghamton W-B/Scranton
Appearances 3rd 4th
Record (games) 8-8 28-23
Record (series) 2-2 7-3
OT record 2-0 10-8
Calder Cup titles 0 0
Losing finalist 0 2 (01-04)


2004-05 Regular Season Series
Binghamton W-B/Scranton
Record 7-1-0-0 1-4-3-0
at BNG 4-0-0-0 0-2-2-0
at WBS 3-1-0-0 1-2-1-0
Goals 31 17
Power play 8/40 (20.0%) 4/38 (10.5%)
Scoring Spezza, 5+11=16
Hamel, 4+6=10
Kelly, 3+6=9
Abid, 3+5=8
Lupaschuk, 1+4=5
Beech, 2+2=4
Goaltending Emery, 5-1-0, 1.82
Thompson, 2-0-0, 2.41
Fleury, 1-3-0, 3.00
Sabourin, 0-2-0, 5.91

Results Oct. 31 BNG 0 at WBS 2
Nov. 19 WBS 2 at BNG 3 (OT)
Nov. 20 BNG 5 at WBS 4 (OT)
Jan. 7 WBS 1 at BNG 5
Jan. 14 WBS 3 at BNG 4 (OT)
Mar. 13 BNG 6 at WBS 2
Apr. 6 BNG 3 at WBS 1
Apr. 9 WBS 2 at BNG 5


SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Binghamton won its final seven meetings with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton en route to the East Division title… The Senators allowed only four power-play goals to the Penguins while scoring five shorthanded goals themselves… League scoring champion Jason Spezza averaged two points per game against the Pens this season, and ended the regular season on a 20-game scoring streak… Binghamton co-coach John Paddock has won more Calder Cup Playoff games (80) than any other coach in AHL history… The Penguins have reached the Finals in two of their first three postseason trips… Michel Ouellet led Wilkes-Barre with 31 goals in the regular season, but scored just one in his final 29 games after the All-Star break… Fourteen members of last year’s conference champion Penguins are back this spring.



East Division Semifinal – Series “D”

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – Norfolk at Philadelphia, 7:05 (WC)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – Norfolk at Philadelphia, 7:05 (WC)
Game 3 – Mon., Apr. 25 – Philadelphia at Norfolk, 7:30
Game 4 – Wed., Apr. 27 – Philadelphia at Norfolk, 7:30
*Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 29 – Philadelphia at Norfolk, 7:30
*Game 6 – TBA – Norfolk at Philadelphia
*Game 7 – TBA – Norfolk at Philadelphia

Regular Season Comparison
Philadelphia Norfolk
Record 48-25-3-4 43-30-1-6
Points 103 93
Home 26-10-2-2 25-13-0-2
Road 22-15-1-2 18-17-1-4
Goals for 235 200
Goals against 185 188
PP% (rank) 16.3 (9) 15.7 (11)
PK% (rank) 87.4 (5) 90.0 (1)


Calder Cup Playoff History
Philadelphia Norfolk
Appearances 8th 5th
Record (games) 45-33 14-16
Record (series) 10-6 3-4
OT record 9-7 4-4
Calder Cup titles 1 (1998) 0
Losing finalist 0 0


2004-05 Regular Season Series
Philadelphia Norfolk
Record 4-3-2-1 6-2-1-1
at PHI 1-1-2-1 4-0-1-0
at NOR 3-2-0-0 2-2-0-1
Goals 23 28
Power play 7/53 (13.2%) 6/53 (11.3%)
Scoring Umberger, 5+4=9
Voce, 4+2=6
Sim, 1+4=5
Bourque, 5+3=8
Vorobiev, 5+2=7
Babchuk, 2+4=6
Goaltending Niittymaki, 3-2-1, 1.94
Little, 1-3-0, 3.37
Leighton, 4-2-0, 1.79
Munro, 1-0-1, 2.40
Anderson, 1-1-0, 2.93

Results Nov. 14 NOR 2 at PHI 3 (OT)
Dec. 4 NOR 2 at PHI 1 (OT)
Dec. 29 NOR 2 at PHI 1 (OT)
Jan. 14 PHI 2 at NOR 6
Jan. 16 NOR 3 at PHI 2 (SO)
Feb. 9 PHI 3 at NOR 1
Feb. 12 PHI 2 at NOR 1
Apr. 2 PHI 4 at NOR 3 (SO)
Apr. 6 PHI 3 at NOR 4
Apr. 17 NOR 4 at PHI 2


SERIES NOTEBOOK:
These teams are meeting in the East Division semifinals for the second year in a row; Philadelphia won last year’s series in six games… Game 4 of last year’s series was the eighth-longest game in AHL history, ending in the Phantoms’ favor at 13:02 of the third overtime… Norfolk earned 14 of a possible 20 points in the regular-season series with Philadelphia, including a 4-2 win in the 2004-05 finale on Sunday… Philadelphia head coach John Stevens won two Calder Cups as a player, including in 1998 with the Phantoms… Admirals goaltender Michael Leighton had a 0.57 goals-against average in four playoff appearances last spring… Philadelphia was 4-1-1-0 in the Wachovia Center this year.



North Division Semifinal – Series “E”

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 20 – Hamilton at Rochester, 7:05
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 22 – Hamilton at Rochester, 7:35
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 24 – Rochester at Hamilton, 4:00
Game 4 – Tue., Apr. 26 – Rochester at Hamilton, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 29 – Hamilton at Rochester, 7:35
*Game 6 – Sun., May 1 – Rochester at Hamilton, 4:00
*Game 7 – Mon., May 2 – Hamilton at Rochester, 7:05

Regular Season Comparison
Rochester Hamilton
Record 51-19-4-6 38-29-7-6
Points 112 89
Home 27-8-3-2 20-14-2-4
Road 24-11-1-4 18-15-5-2
Goals for 243 225
Goals against 208 210
PP% (rank) 18.9 (2) 15.3 (13)
PK% (rank) 85.9 (10) 84.6 (13)


Calder Cup Playoff History
Rochester Hamilton
Appearances 39th 8th
Record (games) 200-178 53-47
Record (series) 43-32 12-7
OT record 29-36 12-7
Calder Cup titles 6
(65-66-68-83-87-96)
0
Losing finalist 10
(57-60-67-77-84-
90-91-93-99-00)
2 (97-03)


2004-05 Regular Season Series
Rochester Hamilton
Record 7-2-0-1 3-7-0-0
at ROC 3-1-0-1 2-3-0-0
at HAM 4-1-0-0 1-4-0-0
Goals 28 23
Power play 7/30 (23.3%) 9/42 (21.4%)
Scoring Taylor, 4+5=9
Vanek, 4+4=8
Paetsch, 2+6=8
Higgins, 4+4=8
Plekanec, 3+4=7
Ward, 3+4=7
Goaltending Miller, 6-2-1, 2.10
Askey, 1-0-0, 2.00
Ellis, 2-4-0, 2.49
Danis, 1-3-0, 3.46

Results Nov. 10 HAM 0 at ROC 1
Nov. 20 HAM 1 at ROC 3
Nov. 24 HAM 3 at ROC 1
Dec. 11 HAM 3 at ROC 2 (SO)
Jan. 26 ROC 4 at HAM 2
Jan. 29 ROC 3 at HAM 2
Feb. 2 HAM 2 at ROC 3
Feb. 12 ROC 2 at HAM 5
Feb. 25 ROC 4 at HAM 2
Apr. 15 ROC 5 at HAM 3


SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Rochester led the league with 112 points in the regular season, but lost eight of its last 11 games to end the regular season… Hamilton’s 89 points are the fewest of any playoff qualifier this year, but the Bulldogs went 11-3-1-1 down the stretch… Hamilton has never lost a first-round playoff series (7-0), but also has never beaten the Americans in a postseason series (0-3)… Including last year’s four-game playoff sweep, Amerks goalie Ryan Miller is 10-2-1 in his last 13 decisions against the ’Dogs… Rochester defenseman David Cullen was on the Houston team that beat Hamilton in the 2003 Calder Cup Final… Tomas Plekanec led the Bulldogs in goals (29), assists (35), points (64), PPG (11) and GWG (7) in 2004-05… Rookie Yann Danis was 7-1-1 in his last nine decisions for Hamilton.



North Division Semifinal – Series “F”

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 20 – Manitoba at St. John’s, 6:05
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 22 – Manitoba at St. John’s, 6:05
Game 3 – Mon., Apr. 25 – St. John’s at Manitoba, 8:30
Game 4 – Wed., Apr. 27 – St. John’s at Manitoba, 8:30
*Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 29 – St. John’s at Manitoba, 8:30
*Game 6 – Sat., Apr. 30 – Manitoba vs. St. John’s, 7:05 (ACC)
*Game 7 – Mon., May 2 – Manitoba vs. St. John’s, 7:35 (ACC)

Regular Season Comparison
St. John’s Manitoba
Record 46-28-1-5 44-26-3-7
Points 98 98
Home 28-9-0-3 22-14-1-3
Road 18-19-1-2 22-12-2-4
Goals for 244 243
Goals against 232 210
PP% (rank) 17.3 (7) 18.0 (5)
PK% (rank) 84.3 (15) 83.9 (18)


Calder Cup Playoff History
St. John’s Manitoba
Appearances 11th 3rd
Record (games) 38-42 11-10
Record (series) 7-10 3-2
OT record 5-10 2-1
Calder Cup titles 0 0
Losing finalist 1 (1992) 0


2004-05 Regular Season Series
St. John’s Manitoba
Record 4-3-0-1 4-4-0-0
at STJ 2-1-0-1 2-2-0-0
at MTB 2-2-0-0 2-2-0-0
Goals 32 25
Power play 10/50 (20.0%) 7/41 (17.1%)
Scoring Wellwood, 6+13=19
Ling, 6+8=14
Stajan, 1+8=9
Sarno, 1+8=9
Bieksa, 2+6=8
Goren, 4+2=6
Goaltending Tellqvist, 3-2-0, 2.51
Racine, 1-1-0, 3.28
Aubin, 0-0-0, 5.01
Auld, 2-3-0, 4.18
Flaherty, 2-1-0, 3.74

Results Oct. 25 MTB 3 at STJ 1
Oct. 26 MTB 2 at STJ 4
Nov. 17 STJ 2 at MTB 4
Nov. 19 STJ 5 at MTB 3
Feb. 11 MTB 4 at STJ 3 (SO)
Feb. 12 MTB 1 at STJ 6
Mar. 24 STJ 4 at MTB 6
Mar. 26 STJ 7 at MTB 2


SERIES NOTEBOOK:
After missing the postseason in 2004, both St. John’s and Manitoba recorded 98 points in 2004-05 to finish tied for second in the North Division… Maple Leafs Kyle Wellwood and David Ling, two of the AHL’s top four scorers this season, combined for 33 points in eight meetings with Manitoba… The Leafs’ Doug Shedden never played in a playoff game in 10 AHL and NHL seasons, but won five championships as a coach in the Central and United leagues… The Moose opened up the MTS Centre with a 4-2 win over St. John’s on Nov. 17… Manitoba’s Peter Sarno finished second in the AHL with 66 assists… Wade Flaherty won the Jack Butterfield Trophy as MVP of the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs with Milwaukee.



West Division Semifinal – Series “G”

Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 19 – Houston at Chicago, 8:00
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 21 – Houston at Chicago, 8:00
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 23 – Chicago at Houston, 8:05
Game 4 – Sun., Apr. 24 – Chicago at Houston, 6:05
*Game 5 – Tue., Apr. 26 – Chicago at Houston, 8:05
*Game 6 – Thu., Apr. 28 – Houston at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 7 – Sat., Apr. 30 – Houston at Chicago, 8:00

Regular Season Comparison
Chicago Houston
Record 49-24-5-2 40-28-6-6
Points 105 92
Home 28-7-4-1 23-13-1-3
Road 21-17-1-1 17-15-5-3
Goals for 245 212
Goals against 211 195
PP% (rank) 16.1 (10) 16.6 (8)
PK% (rank) 84.5 (14) 88.0 (3)


Calder Cup Playoff History
Chicago Houston
Appearances 4th 4th
Record (games) 26-18 23-16
Record (series) 7-2 6-2
OT record 6-3 4-5
Calder Cup titles 1 (2002) 1 (2003)
Losing finalist 0 0


2004-05 Regular Season Series
Chicago Houston
Record 5-3-1-1 5-3-2-0
at CHI 4-0-0-1 1-2-2-0
at HOU 1-3-1-0 4-1-0-0
Goals 31 30
Power play 6/51 (11.8%) 8/48 (16.7%)
Scoring Maltais, 4+6=10
Roche, 3+5=8
Santala, 1+7=8
Bouchard, 3+10=13
Law, 5+6=11
Cullen, 2+7=9
Goaltending Lehtonen, 5-2-1, 2.02
Garnett, 0-2-0, 4.67
Harding, 3-5-0, 3.05
Smith, 2-0-0, 2.44

Results Oct. 20 HOU 4 at CHI 5 (OT)