AHL Quick Hits is now the Morning Skate… Every morning, take a spin around the AHL ice with recaps and previews, news and notes, facts and figures, and the top headlines from around the American Hockey League.
WEDNESDAY’S SCORES:
W-B/Scranton 8, PHILADELPHIA 4 (WBS leads, 3-1)
SYRACUSE 5, Toronto 4 (OT) (SYR leads, 3-1)
ROCKFORD 3, Chicago 2 (Series tied, 2-2)
WEDNESDAY’S THREE STARS:
1. Ryan Stone netted two goals and added two assists as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton doubled up Philadelphia by an 8-4 final to take a 3-1 lead in the East Division finals.
2. Joakim Lindstrom tallied his second overtime game-winner of the playoffs to propel
3. Troy Brouwer notched a pair of goals to help
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times ET):
No games scheduled
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times ET):
Game 6 –
Game 5 –
Game 5 –
Game 5 –
2008 CALDER CUP PLAYOFFS:
Complete Results || Scoring Leaders || Goaltending Leaders
Atlantic Division Finals – Series “I” (best-of-7)
A1-Providence Bruins vs. A3-Portland Pirates || Preview
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 26 – PROVIDENCE 4, Portland 0
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 27 – PROVIDENCE 7, Portland 1
Game 3 – Fri., May 2 – PORTLAND 4, Providence 3 (OT)
Game 4 – Sun., May 4 – PORTLAND 3, Providence 2 (OT)
Game 5 – Tue., May 6 – PORTLAND 3, Providence 2
Game 6 – Fri., May 9 –
*Game 7 – Sat., May 10 –
East Division Finals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
E1-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. E2-Philadelphia Phantoms || Preview
Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – Philadelphia 5, W-B/SCRANTON 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 3 – W-B/SCRANTON 5, Philadelphia 4 (OT)
Game 3 – Mon., May 5 – W-B/Scranton 3, PHILADELPHIA 2 (WC)
Game 4 – Wed., May 7 – W-B/Scranton 8, PHILADELPHIA 4 (WC)
Game 5 – Fri., May 9 –
*Game 6 – Sat., May 10 – W-B/Scranton at
*Game 7 – Mon., May 12 –
North Division Finals – Series “K” (best-of-7)
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. N2-Syracuse Crunch || Preview
Game 1 – Fri., May 2 – Syracuse 5, TORONTO 1
Game 2 – Sun., May 4 – Syracuse 3, TORONTO 1
Game 3 – Tue., May 6 – Toronto 8, SYRACUSE 2
Game 4 – Wed., May 7 – SYRACUSE 5, Toronto 4 (OT)
Game 5 – Fri., May 9 –
*Game 6 – Sat., May 10 –
*Game 7 – Mon., May 12 –
West Division Finals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
W1-Chicago Wolves vs. W2-Rockford IceHogs || Preview
Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – CHICAGO 4, Rockford 1
Game 2 – Sat., May 3 – CHICAGO 7, Rockford 3
Game 3 – Sun., May 4 – ROCKFORD 3, Chicago 1
Game 4 – Wed., May 7 – ROCKFORD 3, Chicago 2
Game 5 – Fri., May 9 –
Game 6 – Sun., May 11 –
*Game 7 – Tue., May 13 –
*if necessary… All times Eastern… (WC) –
MORNING HEADLINES:
TOP LINE LEADS ICEHOGS AS THEY TIE SERIES
Reed Schreck,
Mike Haviland called Martin St. Pierre, Troy Brouwer and Derek Nesbitt into his office. “I challenged them after Game 2,” the Rockford IceHogs head coach said, “and they responded.” Never more than in Wednesday’s 3-2 Game 4 victory over the Chicago Wolves, and never at a more important time.
http://www.rrstar.com/sports/x299933895/Top-line-leads-IceHogs-as-they-tie-series-at-2
ICEHOGS DO JOB AT HOME
Len Ziehm,
Home ice seems to mean everything in the American Hockey League’s West Division championship series. The Rockford IceHogs evened the best-of-seven series with the Wolves at 2-2 with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday at the MetroCentre. Now the series goes back to Allstate Arena for Game 5 on Friday. During the regular season and playoffs, the IceHogs – the Blackhawks’ top farm team – are 6-1 against the Wolves in
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hockey/wolves/938537,CST-SPT-wolves08.article
ROARIN’ RALLY
Lindsay Kramer,
After the briefest of intermissions, the must-see season of the Syracuse Crunch resumed right on schedule Wednesday night. It was prime-time viewing at its finest.
http://www.syracuse.com/crunch/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/121023712183391.xml&coll=1
PENS SET RECORDS IN BLOWOUT
Paul Sokoloski,
Tim Brent made it his mission to charge the net throughout the Calder Cup playoffs. He’s taking a host of his Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins teammates with him. Brent and Ryan Stone each scored two goals and added an assist apiece Wednesday as the Penguins plastered the Philadelphia Phantoms in a record-setting 8-4 win to take a 3-1 lead in their second-round playoff series at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center. “I’ve just kind of made it a desire that I’m going to go to the net,” said Brent, who now has nine goals in nine playoff games this season. Because he did, the Penguins can wrap up the series and a spot in the Eastern Finals during tomorrow’s Game 5 at Wilkes-Barre’s Wachovia Arena.
http://www.timesleader.com/sports/20080508_08_penguins_spt_ART.html
Dave Gross, CanWest News Service
The ingredients for a strong rivalry are already on the table: Toss the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers into the same blender, and presto. But add in some minor-league history, and this is one exceptionally potent Stanley Cup drink. Not only have a good chunk of the players involved in the upcoming Eastern Conference final locked horns as members of the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and Philadelphia Phantoms, but so, too, have the coaches. “Obviously there’s a history there,” said Flyers head coach John Stevens, who saw a lot of Penguins bench boss Michel Therrien across the AHL ice. “We played two great series before, and with a lot of the players that are now playing in the National Hockey League as well.”
THERRIEN-STEVENS: A SIMMERING RIVALRY
Mike Prisuta,
With Michel Therrien’s Pittsburgh Penguins and John Stevens’ Philadelphia Flyers on a collision course in the Eastern Conference final, can a resumption of hostilities be far behind? “Maybe ‘hate’ is a strong word,” former Penguins winger Colby Armstrong said. “Maybe it’s not a strong word for Michel and John. I’m not sure where they stand.” If that winds up being toe to toe amid the tumult of a conference championship series, it won’t be anyplace Therrien and Stevens haven’t been before. Twice they’ve met in the American Hockey League playoffs, with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Philadelphia Phantoms trading jabs and punches and insults and series victories. It got loud. It got insulting. It got obscene. And it may be just getting started.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_566377.html
ALUMNI WATCH:
Three former AHL head coaches are preparing to lead their teams into the conference finals of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs… Detroit’s Mike Babcock guided Cincinnati to the AHL postseason in each of his two seasons with the Mighty Ducks (2000-02); Pittsburgh’s Michel Therrien won a Calder Cup as a player with Sherbrooke in 1985 and returned to the Finals as head coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2004; and Philadelphia’s John Stevens was a member of three Calder Cup champions as a defenseman before coaching the Phantoms to the title in 2005.
Marius Holtet, who has played 255 AHL games with
BY THE NUMBERS:
20 – Overtime games played so far in the 2008 Calder Cup Playoffs… Of the 20, all but three have been decided in the first OT period.
0 – Multiple-overtime games played by the Syracuse Crunch in their franchise history… The Crunch are 8-8 in playoff OT games all-time (including 5-1 this spring), the longest needing
ON THIS DATE:
May 8, 1999 – John Spoltore’s second overtime goal of the series gives Providence a 5-4 win over Hartford and a 3-0 lead in their New England Division final.
ON THE AIR:
B2 Networks brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts of every AHL game… Visit theahl.com for details.
