AHL Morning Skate: April 23, 2024

A3-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. A6-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 1 – Wednesday, 7:05 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – W-B/Scranton at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton, 5:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

A4-Charlotte Checkers vs. A5-Hartford Wolf Pack
Game 1 – Thursday, 7:00 ET,

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 25 – Hartford at Charlotte, 7:00
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 27 – Hartford at Charlotte, 4:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Hartford at Charlotte, 4:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N4-Belleville Senators vs. N5-Toronto Marlies
Game 1 – Wednesday, 7:00 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Toronto at Belleville, 7:00
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Belleville at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Toronto at Belleville, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N2-Rochester Americans vs. N3-Syracuse Crunch
Game 1 – Friday, 7:05 ET,

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Syracuse at Rochester, 3:05
Game 3 – Thu., May 2 – Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 4 – Sat., May 4 – Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 10 – Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

C4-Texas Stars vs. C5-Manitoba Moose
Game 1 – Tonight, 8:00 ET,

Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 23 – Manitoba at Texas, 8:00
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 25 – Manitoba at Texas, 8:00
*Game 3 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Manitoba at Texas, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
The 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs get started tonight with Game 1 of the Central Division’s first-round series between the Texas Stars and Manitoba Moose... The Stars edged the Moose by a single point in the regular-season standings to earn home ice in the series but Manitoba has won all four of their visits to H-E-B Center this season, including a pair of victories this past weekend... The Moose have won four straight meetings with the Stars overall, outscoring Texas 25-9 in those games... Second-year pro Mavrik Bourque won the AHL scoring title this season, leading the Stars with 77 points... Matej Blümel paced Texas with 31 goals, good for fifth in the league... Manitoba’s Kyle Capobianco led all AHL defensemen with 54 points and tied for fourth overall with a plus-29 rating... Moose forward Brad Lambert (21-34-55) came in second in rookie scoring to Texas’s Logan Stankoven (24-33-57), who remains on recall to Dallas... Moose goaltender Thomas Milic (19-9-2, 2.72, .900) went 14-4-1 over his final 19 decisions in the regular season... Texas (first) and Manitoba (fourth) were both among the AHL’s top power-play units during the regular season, but they were also both in the bottom five on the penalty kill, with the Stars ranking 28th and the Moose coming in 30th... This is the first-ever postseason clash between Texas and Manitoba, and the Stars’ first playoff series against a Winnipeg Jets affiliate since defeating St. John’s in the 2014 Calder Cup Finals.

C2-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. C3-Rockford IceHogs
Game 1 – Saturday, 8:00 ET,

Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 27 – Grand Rapids at Rockford, 8:00
Game 2 – Wed., May 1 – Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 3 – Fri., May 3 – Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 4 – Sun., May 5 – Grand Rapids at Rockford, 5:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 10 – Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

P2-Tucson Roadrunners vs. P7-Calgary Wranglers
Game 1 – Wednesday, 10:00 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Calgary at Tucson, 10:00
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Calgary at Tucson, 10:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Calgary at Tucson, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

P3-Ontario Reign vs. P6-Bakersfield Condors
Game 1 – Wednesday, 10:00 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Bakersfield at Ontario, 10:00
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 27 – Ontario at Bakersfield, 10:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Bakersfield at Ontario, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

P4-Colorado Eagles vs. P5-Abbotsford Canucks
Game 1 – Wednesday, 9:05 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Abbotsford at Colorado, 9:05
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Abbotsford at Colorado, 9:05
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Abbotsford at Colorado, 5:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

The Charlotte Checkers have their blueprint for how to play when they open the Calder Cup Playoffs later this week.

Head coach Geordie Kinnear’s Checkers went into Hershey this past Saturday night in their second-to-last regular-season game and put forth a template for postseason success. Up against the AHL’s regular-season champion, the Checkers came away with a 4-1 victory, leaving the Bears with something to think about should the teams meet at some point in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

A club with excellent skaters up and down their lineup, the Checkers frustrated and swarmed Hershey the entire night. Will Lockwood delivered his fifth goal in eight games while rookie first-round pick Mackie Samoskevich took his point streak to six games (four goals, five assists) before it ended yesterday in a loss at Lehigh Valley. And of course goaltender Spencer Knight continued his stellar second half, stopping 24 shots when the Bears did manage to break through. He finished his regular season having allowed one goal or less in five of his final six starts.

The weekend wrapped up a stretch of nine of 11 games on the road for the Checkers, and Kinnear admitted that the past several weeks have been a grind for his players. Charlotte now returns home to open their first-round series against Hartford on Thursday.

Kinnear is upbeat about his club as they tied up their remaining loose ends down the stretch to ready themselves for the postseason.

“I think we’ve played some really good hockey since the All-Star break, to be quite honest. We were right there in the playoff bubble, and if you look at the group, it was a total team effort. It’s a credit to the group. You need depth to be able to win in the end.”

Checkers captain Zac Dalpe helped to finish off Hershey with an empty-netter and is ready to pursue the Calder Cup. Last season he spent his spring with the Florida Panthers as they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.

“It’s a good time of year to be playing the way we’re playing,” Dalpe said. “Everybody says it, but we wanted to create a culture and identity, and I think that’s what we’re doing in the month of April.”

Now the Checkers are back home in Charlotte, where they went 19-13-4-0 this season.

“I know the guys are looking forward to getting home and playing in front of our fans,” Kinnear said.

Four members from the NCAA champion University of Denver Pioneers have an opportunity to go after another title this spring, this time in the AHL.

The Colorado Avalanche signed defenseman Sean Behrens to a three-year entry-level contract that starts next season, and he made his pro debut over the weekend with the Colorado Eagles. The 21-year-old Behrens was taken by the Avalanche in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft and had 31 points (four goals, 27 assists) in 44 games as a junior with Denver this season. He was named to the Frozen Four all-tournament team as Denver won the NCAA title for the second time in three seasons.

Behrens and the Eagles will face Abbotsford in a Pacific Division first-round series.

Forward Massimo Rizzo has joined Lehigh Valley as well after signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. Rizzo, 22, had 44 points (10 goals, 34 assists) in 30 games for Denver in 2023-24, his third season with the club. A seventh-round pick by Carolina, Rizzo was acquired by the Philadelphia organization in a trade last August.

Rizzo and the Phantoms will take on Tristan Broz and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Broz, 21, was a second-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2021 and put up 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 43 games for the Pioneers this season, including scoring the overtime winner in their national semifinal against Boston University.

And defenseman Shai Buium made his pro debut with Grand Rapids over the weekend after tallying 36 points (seven goals, 29 assists) in 43 games for DU in 2023-24. The 21-year-old Buium was Detroit’s second-round choice in the 2021 NHL Draft.

― with files from Patrick Williams

Watch the Calder Cup Playoffs on AHLTV
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2024 Calder Cup championship. AHLTV features live streaming of every AHL game in high definition on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices, as well as OTT platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV. A subscription is just $29.99 to watch every game for the entire postseason, or just $8.99 for a day pass. Visit AHLTV.com for details.