AHL Morning Skate: June 17

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

tex  stj
2014 Calder Cup Finals – Game 5 – 6:00 ET | Broadcast Information
The Texas Stars are one win away from their first American Hockey League championship as they hit the ice for Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals in St. John’s tonight… Travis Morin scored 2:24 into overtime last night to give the Stars a 4-3 win and a 3-1 series lead… It was Morin’s second consecutive OT goal and his third game-winner of the series, as Texas set an AHL record with its fifth road overtime win in a single postseason… Morin (2g, 1a), Curtis McKenzie (1g, 2a) and Brendan Ranford (3a) all had three points in Game 4, helping Texas come back from a 3-0 deficit with four unanswered goals… After winning the regular-season scoring title with 88 points in 66 games, Morin (9-13-22) leads the league in playoff scoring and has 5-2-7 in the Finals so far… Ranford (8-8-16) has added 1-5-6 in the Finals, and McKenzie (3-11-14) has chipped in with 1-4-5… Brett Ritchie (6-3-9) scored the tying goal with 2:09 left in regulation last night… Kael Mouillierat (7-6-13) had a goal and an assist in Game 4, and has now scored in all four games in the Finals after totaling three goals in 16 games through three rounds… St. John’s had a 29-6 advantage in shots on goal before Texas finished on a 32-6 run… Ben Chiarot (2-3-5) and Carl Klingberg (3-5-8) also scored for the IceCaps… Michael Hutchinson (12-8, 1.88, .940) made 34 saves, but suffered a second consecutive loss for the first time since Feb. 9-14 (excluding shootouts)… Cristopher Nilstorp (12-5, 2.15, .919) stopped 32 of 35 shots to earn the win for the Stars… With three chances to get their fourth victory of the series and win the Calder Cup, Texas has not lost three straight games (excluding shootouts) since a four-game slide from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1… Game 4 marked the third time this postseason that Texas won a game it had trailed by at least two goals (Game 1 at Oklahoma City; Game 7 vs. Toronto)… The Stars are bidding to become the fourth consecutive team to clinch the Calder Cup on the road (Binghamton, 2011 at Houston; Norfolk, 2012 at Toronto; Grand Rapids, 2013 at Syracuse)… This is the first Calder Cup Finals series to feature consecutive overtime games since the first three games of the 1998 Finals (Philadelphia Phantoms vs. Saint John Flames) required OT… Road teams are 6-0 all-time in Calder Cup Finals games played in St. John’s (Texas 2-0; Adirondack Red Wings 4-0 in 1992)… Every one of the IceCaps’ six previous playoff series all-time has ended at Mile One Centre, a streak St. John’s is looking to avoid continuing tonight… The IceCaps are 0-3 all-time in Game 5’s, but on all three occasions they entered leading the series 3-1… St. John’s is facing elimination for the first time in these playoffs; the IceCaps were 1-1 in such games in 2012… Texas is 3-1 this postseason and 7-2 all-time with a chance to close out a series.

2014 Calder Cup Finals – Series “O” (best-of-7)
W1-Texas Stars vs. E4-St. John’s IceCaps | Series Snapshot
Game 1 – Sun., June 8 – TEXAS 6, St. John’s 3
Game 2 – Mon., June 9 – St. John’s 2, TEXAS 1
Game 3 – Wed., June 11 – Texas 2, ST. JOHN’S 1 (OT)
Game 4 – Mon., June 16 – Texas 4, ST. JOHN’S 3 (OT)
Game 5 – Tue., June 17 – Texas at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 6 – Thu., June 19 – St. John’s at Texas, 8:30
*Game 7 – Mon., June 23 – St. John’s at Texas, 8:30
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

OT Hero
Travis Morin is the third player in AHL history to score two overtime goals in the same Calder Cup Finals series:

Travis Morin, 2014
Game 3 – Texas Stars 2, St. John’s IceCaps 1 (7:20)
Game 4 – Texas Stars 4, St. John’s IceCaps 3 (2:24)

Bud Stefanski, 1984
Game 2 – Maine Mariners 6, Rochester Americans 5 (14:55)
Game 4 – Maine Mariners 3, Rochester Americans 2 (27:43)

Doug Robinson, 1963
Game 3 – Buffalo Bisons 2, Hershey Bears 1 (16:04)
Game 5 – Buffalo Bisons 2, Hershey Bears 1 (7:29)

Morin is also the fourth player in AHL history to score overtime goals in back-to-back games during any playoff series:

Travis Morin, 2014
Game 3 – Texas Stars 2, St. John’s IceCaps 1 (7:20)
Game 4 – Texas Stars 4, St. John’s IceCaps 3 (2:24)

Cody Bass, 2013
Game 1 – Springfield Falcons 2, Manchester Monarchs 1 (10:36)
Game 2 – Springfield Falcons 3, Manchester Monarchs 2 (18:44)

Chris VandeVelde, 2012
Game 3 – Oklahoma City Barons 5, San Antonio Rampage 4 (15:50)
Game 4 – Oklahoma City Barons 2, San Antonio Rampage 1 (1:05)

Jim Wiemer, 1983
Game 3 – Rochester Americans 5, New Haven Nighthawks 4 (6:03)
Game 4 – Rochester Americans 2, New Haven Nighthawks 1 (22:09)

Finals Comebacks
Of the 34 previous teams who have trailed a Calder Cup Finals series three games to one, three have come back to win the championship:

1946 – Buffalo Bisons def. Cleveland Barons
1947 – Hershey Bears def. Pittsburgh Hornets
1949 – Providence Reds def. Hershey Bears

Working Overtime
There have been 17 overtime games played in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Texas is 5-0; St. John’s is 0-3:

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)
June 11 – Texas 2, ST. JOHN’S 1 (Travis Morin, 7:20)
June 16 – Texas 4, ST. JOHN’S 3 (Travis Morin, 2:24)

Calder Cup Finals History
Results of the last 25 Calder Cup Finals series:

2013 – Grand Rapids Griffins 4, Syracuse Crunch 2
2012 – Norfolk Admirals 4, Toronto Marlies 0
2011 – Binghamton Senators 4, Houston Aeros 2
2010 – Hershey Bears 4, Texas Stars 2
2009 – Hershey Bears 4, Manitoba Moose 2
2008 – Chicago Wolves 4, W-B/Scranton Penguins 2
2007 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Hershey Bears 1
2006 – Hershey Bears 4, Milwaukee Admirals 2
2005 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Chicago Wolves 0
2004 – Milwaukee Admirals 4, W-B/Scranton Penguins 0
2003 – Houston Aeros 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2002 – Chicago Wolves 4, Bridgeport Sound Tigers 1
2001 – Saint John Flames 4, W-B/Scranton Penguins 2
2000 – Hartford Wolf Pack 4, Rochester Americans 2
1999 – Providence Bruins 4, Rochester Americans 1
1998 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Saint John Flames 2
1997 – Hershey Bears 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 1
1996 – Rochester Americans 4, Portland Pirates 3
1995 – Albany River Rats 4, Fredericton Canadiens 0
1994 – Portland Pirates 4, Moncton Hawks 2
1993 – Cape Breton Oilers 4, Rochester Americans 1
1992 – Adirondack Red Wings 4, St. John’s Maple Leafs 3
1991 – Springfield Indians 4, Rochester Americans 2
1990 – Springfield Indians 4, Rochester Americans 2
1989 – Adirondack Red Wings 4, New Haven Nighthawks 1

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.