Sign up now for playoff fantasy contest

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced the launch of the RBK Hockey 2005 Calder Cup Fantasy Contest, an on-line challenge to run on the official Web site of the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs, caldercup.com.

The contest is a game of skill designed to test fans’ ability to guess the performance of selected players during the upcoming road to the Calder Cup championship.

The RBK Hockey 2005 Calder Cup Fantasy Contest is free to play. Contestants will select 10 players for each playoff round – six forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender – earning points for goals, assists, power-play goals, shorthanded goals, overtime goals, wins and shutouts.

Three grand-prize winners, with the three highest cumulative scores at the end of the 2005 Calder Cup Final, will win prize packages from RBK Hockey. Prizes will also be awarded to the contestants with the highest score in each of the four playoff rounds.

Fans can pre-register now for the RBK Hockey 2005 Calder Cup Fantasy Contest on theahl.com and caldercup.com. The game will open following the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday, and picks for the first playoff round (division semifinals) must be made before the first game starts on Tuesday night.

The Hockey Company, a division of Reebok International Ltd, is headquartered in Montreal. With operations in Europe and the United States, it is the world’s largest designer, manufacturer and marketer of hockey equipment and related apparel under three of the world’s most recognized hockey brand names: CCM, Jofa and Koho. The Company is a world leader in the design and innovation of skates, sticks, helmets, protective equipment products and related apparel, and is the Premier Equipment Supplier of the AHL and the exclusive licensee of the NHL and the Canadian Hockey League for authentic and replica jerseys.

In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. This season, more than 6.3 million fans have attended AHL games to date, and 16 clubs will continue to vie for the league’s coveted championship trophy when the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs get underway next week.