Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest news and notes from the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs in today’s AHL Morning Skate.
Playoff Brackets | Today’s Scoreboard | League Stats
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Game 1 – Friday, 7:00 ET – AHL Live
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The 2017 Calder Cup Finals get underway on Friday night when Grand Rapids hosts Syracuse in Game 1… In AHL history, teams that win Game 1 of the Finals have gone on to win the championship 61 of 80 times (76.3 percent).
2017 Calder Cup Finals – Series “O” (best-of-7)
Grand Rapids Griffins vs. Syracuse Crunch
Game 1 – Fri., June 2 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 2 – Sat., June 3 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 3 – Wed., June 7 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., June 9 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., June 10 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., June 13 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 14 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Century Club
Grand Rapids captain Nathan Paetsch is closing in on becoming the 18th player in AHL history with 100 career Calder Cup Playoff games played:
1. Bryan Helmer – 158
2. Chris Bourque – 133
3. Boyd Kane – 128
4. Ken Gernander – 123
5. Fred Glover – 120
T6. Maxime Fortunus – 118
T6. Alexandre Giroux – 118
8. Jody Gage – 115
T9. Les Duff – 112
T9. Willie Marshall – 112
T9. Mike Nykoluk – 112
12. Darren Haydar – 110
13. Glenn Merkosky – 107
T14. Terry Virtue – 106
T14. Dennis Bonvie – 106
16. Alain Nasreddine – 104
17. John Stevens – 102
T18. Jeff Hoggan – 97
T18. Tom Kostopoulos – 97
T18. Nathan Paetsch – 97
T18. Bob Solinger – 97
Reading List
Conacher wants to bring a Calder Cup to Syracuse (Syracuse.com)
Former P-Bruins coaches part of a Stanley Cup first (Patriot Ledger)
Third time the charm for Irwin with Predators (USA Today)
Year of firsts continues for Penguins’ Rowney (Times Leader)
Pardy can’t help but wonder, “What if?” (St. John’s Telegram)
McIlrath the piece Griffins needed for run (Grand Rapids Press)
Working Overtime
There have been 17 overtime games played in the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs so far:
May 21 – PROVIDENCE 2, Syracuse 1 (Jordan Szwarz, 8:28)
May 14 – Hershey 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (Madison Bowey, 1:58)
May 11 – Hershey 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (Chris Bourque, 7:14)
May 10 – San Jose 4, SAN DIEGO 3 (Timo Meier, 17:40)
May 7 – HERSHEY 3, Providence 2 (Travis Boyd, 5:44)
May 5 – San Diego 3, SAN JOSE 2 (Kevin Roy, 0:38)
*May 2 – SAN JOSE 2, Stockton 1 (Ryan Carpenter, 8:52)
*Apr. 28 – TORONTO 2, Albany 1 (Justin Holl, 46:43)
*Apr. 28 – SYRACUSE 2, St. John’s 1 (Gabriel Dumont, 2:18)
*Apr. 26 – Grand Rapids 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (Kyle Criscuolo, 10:03)
Apr. 26 – TORONTO 3, Albany 2 (Colin Greening, 0:45)
Apr. 26 – Lehigh Valley 2, HERSHEY 1 (Chris Conner, 1:49)
Apr. 23 – Charlotte 4, CHICAGO 3 (Connor Brickley, 9:28)
Apr. 23 – W-B/Scranton 6, PROVIDENCE 5 (Derrick Pouliot, 7:49)
Apr. 22 – Syracuse 4, ST. JOHN’S 3 (Tye McGinn, 30:37)
Apr. 21 – GRAND RAPIDS 4, Milwaukee 3 (Tomas Nosek, 9:32)
Apr. 21 – Hershey 1, LEHIGH VALLEY 0 (Nathan Walker, 7:38)
*clinched series
Alumni Watch
In Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final last night, 2016-17 AHL All-Rookie forward Jake Guentzel scored with 3:17 remaining in regulation to break a tie and send Pittsburgh to a 5-3 win over Nashville… Nick Bonino scored twice, Conor Sheary added his first goal of the postseason and Matt Murray made 23 saves… 2016 AHL All-Star Frederick Gaudreau scored his first career NHL goal for the Predators.
On This Date
May 30, 2006 – Rookie Eric Fehr scores 9:07 into overtime as Hershey beats Portland, 5-4, in a classic Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
May 30, 2003 – In the longest game in AHL history at the time, Michael Ryder scores 14:56 into the fourth overtime period and Ty Conklin records 83 saves as Hamilton beats Houston, 2-1, in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals at Copps Coliseum.
May 30, 1993 – Bill McDougall caps his astonishing postseason with four assists – giving him 52 points in 16 games – as the Cape Breton Oilers win the Calder Cup with a 7-2 victory over Rochester.
AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2017 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.
