AHL playoff series previews

Western Conference Qualifier – Series "Q1"
7-Milwaukee Admirals vs. 10-Rochester Americans

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 10 Rochester at Milwaukee, 7:12 CT
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 12 Rochester at Milwaukee, 7:12 CT
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 13 Rochester at Milwaukee, 8:12 CT (if necessary)

Regular Season Comparison

Milwaukee Rochester
Record 32-27-14-7 31-30-14-5
Standings 4th, West 2nd, Central
Home 19-9-8-4 16-14-9-1
Road 13-18-6-3 15-16-5-4
Goals for 247 219
Goals against 251 221
PP% (rank) 16.9 (10) 14.0 (25)
PK% (rank) 81.7 (21) 86.1 (6)

Calder Cup Playoff History

Milwaukee Rochester
Appearances 1st 37th
Record (games) 0-0 190-169
Record (series) 0-0 41-30
OT record 0-0 28-34
Calder Cup titles 0 6
(65-66-68-83-87-96)
Losing finalist 0 10
(57-60-67-77-84-
90-91-93-99-00)

2002-03 Regular Season Series

Milwaukee Rochester
Record 1-1-0-0 1-1-0-0
at MIL 1-0-0-0 0-1-0-0
at ROC 0-1-0-0 1-0-0-0
Goals 8 9
Power play 0/10 (0.0%) 3/14 (21.4%)
Scoring Pittis, 2+1=3 Hamel, 1+2=3
Fiddler, 1+2=3 Botterill, 1+2=3
Classen, 1+2=3 Taylor, 1+2=3
Goaltending Lasak, 1-1-0, 4.28 Miller, 1-1-0, 4.00

Results
Nov. 29 MIL 3 at ROC 7
Mar. 22 ROC 2 at MIL 5

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Milwaukee is making its first appearance in the AHL postseason, while Rochester is in for the 37th time, and the 14th year in a row... The Admirals were 6-1-1-2 in their last 10 regular-season games... Jan Lasak has played the last 14 contests in net for Milwaukee; rookie Ryan Miller has played 16 straight for the Amerks... Admirals forward Domenic Pittis was the leading playoff scorer on Rochester's 1999 and 2000 Calder Cup finalist teams... Head coaches Peter Horachek (Milwaukee) and Randy Cunneyworth (Rochester) were briefly teammates with the Amerks in 1982-83.

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Western Conference Qualifier – Series "Q2"
8-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. 9-Utah Grizzlies

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 10 Utah at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 ET
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 12 Utah at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 ET
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 13 Utah at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5:05 ET (if necessary)

Regular Season Comparison

Wilkes-Barre Utah
Record 36-32-7-5 37-34-4-5
Standings 3rd, South 5th, West
Home 21-15-2-2 21-14-1-4
Road 15-17-5-3 16-20-3-1
Goals for 245 227
Goals against 248 243
PP (rank) 17.8 (6) 17.9 (5)
PK (rank) 83.3 (T-16) 83.3 (T-16)

Calder Cup Playoff History

Wilkes-Barre Utah
Appearances 2nd 2nd
Record (games) 13-8 2-3
Record (series) 3-1 0-1
OT record 5-2 1-0
Calder Cup titles 0 0
Losing finalist 1 0
(2001)

2002-03 Regular Season Series

Wilkes-Barre Utah
Record 1-3-0-0 3-1-0-0
at WIL 1-1-0-0 1-1-0-0
at UTA 0-2-0-0 2-0-0-0
Goals 13 18
Power play 5/31 (16.1%) 5/28 (17.9%)
Scoring Murley, 2+3=5 Montgomery, 2+6=8
Kostopoulos, 1+3=4 Oliver, 3+2=5
Beech, 3+1=4 Landry, 3+2=5
Goaltending Tallas, 1-0-0, 1.86 Hirsch, 1-0-0, 3.00
Caron, 0-1-0, 5.14 Bacashihua, 0-1-0, 4.05

Results
Nov. 3 UTA 5 at WIL 3
Jan. 31 UTA 2 at WIL 4
Feb. 19 WIL 2 at UTA 5
Feb. 21 WIL 4 at UTA 6

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Wilkes-Barre's only other appearance in the AHL postseason ended in a trip to the Calder Cup Final in 2001... The Penguins finished the regular season on a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2-0)... Utah's Jim Montgomery won a Calder Cup title with Philadelphia in 1998... Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin was 2-0-1 with a 0.65 goals against average in his last three regular-season starts... The teams combined for five shorthanded goals in their four-game season series.

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Eastern Conference Qualifier – Series "Q3"
7-Hartford Wolf Pack vs. 10-Springfield Falcons

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 9 Springfield at Hartford, 7:05 ET
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 11 Springfield at Hartford, 7:05 ET
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 12 Springfield at Hartford, 7:05 ET (if necessary)

Regular Season Comparison

Hartford Springfield
Record 33-27-12-8 34-38-7-1
Standings 3rd, East 4th, East
Home 18-14-6-2 22-13-4-1
Road 15-13-6-6 12-25-3-0
Goals for 255 202
Goals against 236 243
PP (rank) 16.9 (11) 15.3 (21)
PK (rank) 84.9 (10) 80.8 (25)

Calder Cup Playoff History

Hartford Springfield
Appearances 6th 6th
Record (games) 32-28 18-21
Record (series) 8-4 3-5
OT record 3-5 6-2
Calder Cup titles 1 0
(2000)
Losing finalist 0 0

2002-03 Regular Season Series

Hartford Springfield
Record 6-3-0-1 4-6-0-0
at HFD 5-0-0-0 0-5-0-0
at SPR 1-3-0-1 4-1-0-0
Goals 37 26
Power play 9/49 (18.4%) 10/66 (15.2%)
Scoring Lyashenko, 4+6=10 Westrum, 1+6=7
Gernander, 5+4=9 Keefe, 3+2=5
Ekman, 1+8=9 Taffe, 3+2=5
Goaltending LaBarbera, 3-2-0, 3.18 Pelletier, 2-1-0, 3.23
Meyer, 1-0-0, 2.00 Konstantinov, 1-5-0, 4.08

Results
Oct. 11 HFD 4 at SPR 2
Nov. 23 SPR 4 at HFD 9
Nov. 24 HFD 3 at SPR 4
Jan. 17 HFD 1 at SPR 3
Jan. 18 SPR 1 at HFD 4
Jan. 24 SPR 1 at HFD 2
Feb. 28 HFD 2 at SPR 3
Mar. 7 SPR 1 at HFD 5
Mar. 16 SPR 3 at HFD 4
Mar. 28 HFD 3 at SPR 4 (OT)

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Under rookie head coach Marty McSorley, Springfield is in the AHL postseason for the first time in three years... The Falcons haven't won a playoff series since 1997, and they were eliminated in the conference quarterfinals in 1999 and 2000 by Hartford... Springfield is 10-26-0 all-time at the Hartford Civic Center (including playoffs)... Wolf Pack head coach Ryan McGill won the Memorial Cup with Kootenay last season... Hartford captain Ken Gernander has played 99 career AHL playoff games; only seven players have ever reached 100... No one in AHL history has played more games than Falcons captain Rob Murray (1,098, including playoffs) without winning a Calder Cup... The cities of Hartford and Springfield are separated by 27 miles along Interstate 91.

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Eastern Conference Qualifier – Series "Q4"
8-Portland Pirates vs. 9-Manitoba Moose

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 10 Manitoba at Portland, 7:05 ET
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 11 Manitoba at Portland, 7:05 ET
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 13 Manitoba at Portland, 6:05 ET (if necessary)

Regular Season Comparison

Portland Manitoba
Record 33-28-13-6 37-33-8-2
Standings 4th, North 2nd, Canadian
Home 19-12-6-3 22-14-4-0
Road 14-16-7-3 15-19-4-2
Goals for 221 229
Goals against 195 228
PP (rank) 17.2 (9) 16.8 (14)
PK (rank) 86.6 (4) 81.4 (23)

Calder Cup Playoff History

Portland Manitoba
Appearances 8th 2nd
Record (games) 37-33 3-4
Record (series) 7-6 1-1
OT record 4-7 1-0
Calder Cup titles 1 0
(1994)
Losing finalist 1 0
(1996)

2002-03 Regular Season Series

Portland Manitoba
Record 1-1-2-0 1-1-2-0
at POR 1-0-1-0 0-1-1-0
at MTB 0-1-1-0 1-0-1-0
Goals 10 8
Power play 3/10 (30.0%) 4/20 (20.0%)
Scoring Forbes, 1+2=3 Reid, 1+5=6
Whitfield, 2+1=3 Morrison, 2+1=3
Farrell, 2+1=3 Bouck, 1+2=3
Goaltending Ouellet, 1-0-1, 1.92 Moss, 1-1-2, 2.40
Stana, 0-1-0, 2.04

Results
Oct. 20 MTB 2 at POR 2 (OT)
Nov. 1 MTB 2 at POR 5
Mar. 14 POR 1 at MTB 2
Mar. 16 POR 2 at MTB 2 (OT)

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Portland missed the postseason in 2002, and hasn't won a playoff series since 1998... The Pirates reached the Finals twice in their first three seasons (1994, 1996)... Portland forward Peter Ferraro was MVP of the 1999 Calder Cup Playoffs with Providence... Moose defenseman Bryan Helmer won a Calder Cup with Albany in 1995... Manitoba was 6-2-0-2 in its last 10 regular-season road games; the Pirates were 1-3-3-1 in their last eight at home... The Moose were the only team to win their qualifying series on the road last season, defeating Worcester in three games.

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Western Conference Quarterfinal – Series "C"
3-Norfolk Admirals vs. 6-San Antonio Rampage

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 10 San Antonio at Norfolk, 7:15 ET
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 11 San Antonio at Norfolk, 7:30 ET
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 13 Norfolk at San Antonio, 2:00 CT
Game 4 – Tue., Apr. 15 Norfolk at San Antonio, 7:00 CT (if necessary)
Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 18 San Antonio at Norfolk, 7:30 ET (if necessary)

Regular Season Comparison

Norfolk San Antonio
Record 37-26-12-5 36-29-11-4
Standings 1st, South 3rd, West
Home 18-12-6-4 22-9-7-2
Road 19-14-6-1 14-20-4-2
Goals for 201 235
Goals against 187 226
PP (rank) 16.5 (17) 15.8 (19)
PK (rank) 86.0 (7) 84.4 (12)

Calder Cup Playoff History

Norfolk San Antonio
Appearances 3rd 1st
Record (games) 5-8 0-0
Record (series) 1-2 0-0
OT record 2-2 0-0
Calder Cup titles 0 0
Losing finalist 0 0

2002-03 Regular Season Series

Norfolk San Antonio
Record 1-2-0-1 3-1-0-0
at NOR 0-1-0-1 2-0-0-0
at SAN 1-1-0-0 1-1-0-0
Goals 10 15
Power play 3/21 (14.3%) 3/14 (21.4%)
Scoring Radulov, 3+0=3 Toms, 3+3=6
Hankinson, 2+1=3 Ritchie, 1+3=4
Baines, 2+1=3 Jardine, 2+2=4
Goaltending Leighton, 1-2-0, 3.32 Mason, 2-1-0, 1.95

Results
Dec. 15 NOR 1 at SAN 5
Dec. 18 NOR 5 at SAN 1
Feb. 5 SAN 5 at NOR 1
Feb. 12 SAN 4 at NOR 3 (OT)

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Norfolk has lost seven of its last nine playoff games... Behind 2002 All-Rookie goaltender Michael Leighton and the league-leading 1.94 GAA of Craig Andersson, the Admirals finished second in the AHL with 187 goals against... San Antonio's Chris Mason ranked fourth in the league with 25 wins... The first-year Rampage were 22-9-7-2 at the SBC Center... Norfolk leading scorer Peter White won Calder Cups in 1993 (Cape Breton) and 1998 (Philadelphia)... Rampage forward Jeff Toms has eight goals in 13 career AHL playoff games.

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Western Conference Quarterfinal – Series "D"
4-Chicago Wolves vs. 5-Hershey Bears

Game 1 – Sun., Apr. 13 Hershey at Chicago, 3:00 CT
Game 2 – Wed., Apr. 16 Hershey at Chicago, 7:00 CT
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 19 Chicago at Hershey, 7:00 ET
Game 4 – Sun., Apr. 20 Chicago at Hershey, 6:00 ET (if necessary)
Game 5 – Tue., Apr. 22 Hershey at Chicago, 7:00 CT (if necessary)

Regular Season Comparison

Chicago Hershey
Record 43-25-8-4 36-27-14-3
Standings 2nd, West 2nd, South
Home 28-8-2-2 20-13-6-1
Road 15-17-6-2 16-14-8-2
Goals for 276 217
Goals against 237 209
PP (rank) 19.7 (1) 15.4 (20)
PK (rank) 81.5 (22) 87.2 (3)

Calder Cup Playoff History

Chicago Hershey
Appearances 2nd 56th
Record (games) 17-8 241-227
Record (series) 5-0 51-47
OT record 4-0 41-41
Calder Cup titles 1 8
(2002) (47-58-59-69-
74-80-88-97)
Losing finalist 0 10
(41-42-45-49-54-
61-63-65-76-86)

2002-03 Regular Season Series

Chicago Hershey
Record 0-1-1-0 1-0-1-0
at CHI 0-0-1-0 0-0-1-0
at HER 0-1-0-0 1-0-0-0
Goals 3 6
Power play 2/13 (15.4%) 4/15 (26.7%)
Scoring Gamache, 0+2=2 Willsie, 1+2=3
Freer, 2+0=2
Goaltending Maracle, 0-0-1, 1.85 Budaj, 1-0-1, 1.44
Cassivi, 0-1-0, 3.10

Results
Nov. 9 CHI 1 at HER 4
Mar. 29 HER 2 at CHI 2 (OT)

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Chicago's roster includes 19 members of last year's championship team... The Wolves closed the regular season on a 15-2-1-1 run, including 12-1-1-0 in their last 14 at home... Chicago won its last nine home playoff games in 2002 by a combined score of 35-11... Hershey has won 10 playoff series in the last six years, and at least one Calder Cup in every decade since the 1940s... Bears defenseman Brett Clark played 42 games for Chicago in 2001-02... Goaltender Philippe Sauve has been named team MVP in each of his three seasons with Hershey.

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Eastern Conference Quarterfinal – Series "G"
3-Binghamton Senators vs. 6-Worcester IceCats

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 10 Worcester at Binghamton, 7:05 ET
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 11 Worcester at Binghamton, 7:05 ET
Game 3 – Fri., Apr. 18 Binghamton at Worcester, 7:05 ET
Game 4 – Sat., Apr. 19 Binghamton at Worcester, 7:05 ET (if necessary)
Game 5 – Tue., Apr. 22 Worcester at Binghamton, 7:05 ET (if necessary)

Regular Season Comparison

Binghamton Worcester
Record 43-26-9-2 35-27-15-3
Standings 1st, East 3rd, North
Home 23-11-4-2 18-11-10-1
Road 20-15-5-0 17-16-5-2
Goals for 239 235
Goals against 207 220
PP (rank) 16.8 (13) 16.7 (15)
PK (rank) 84.5 (11) 83.1 (19)

Calder Cup Playoff History

Binghamton Worcester
Appearances 1st 8th
Record (games) 0-0 21-26
Record (series) 0-0 3-7
OT record 0-0 3-4
Calder Cup titles 0 0
Losing finalist 0 0

2002-03 Regular Season Series

Binghamton Worcester
Record 1-1-0-0 1-1-0-0
at BNG 1-0-0-0 0-1-0-0
at WOR 0-1-0-0 1-0-0-0
Goals 2 2
Power play 0/8 (0.0%) 1/10 (10.0%)
Scoring Smyth, 1+0=1 Varlamov, 0+2=2
Giroux, 1+0=1 Virtue, 0+2=2
Goaltending Emery, 1-1-0, 1.00 Sanford, 0-1-0, 1.02

Results
Feb. 1 BNG 1 at WOR 2
Mar. 15 WOR 0 at BNG 1

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
The city of Binghamton is hosting the Calder Cup Playoffs for the 16th time, and the first since 1997... First-year Senators head coach John Paddock, 72-51 in the playoffs, is the only man ever to coach three different teams to Calder Cup titles... Binghamton's Brad Smyth and Worcester's Terry Virtue and Jason Dawe played for Paddock's Cup-winning Hartford team in 2000... Reinhard Divis returned from injury to go 6-1-0 down the stretch for the IceCats... Worcester has lost five of its last seven home playoff games.

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Eastern Conference Quarterfinal – Series "H"
4-Manchester Monarchs vs. 5-Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 12 Bridgeport at Manchester, 7:35 ET
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 13 Bridgeport at Manchester, 4:05 ET
Game 3 – Fri., Apr. 18 Manchester at Bridgeport, 7:35 ET
Game 4 – Sat., Apr. 19 Manchester at Bridgeport, 7:05 ET (if necessary)
Game 5 – Tue., Apr. 22 Bridgeport at Manchester, 7:05 ET (if necessary)

Regular Season Comparison

Manchester Bridgeport
Record 40-23-11-6 40-26-11-3
Standings 2nd, North 2nd, East
Home 23-11-6-0 24-10-4-2
Road 17-12-5-6 16-16-7-1
Goals for 254 219
Goals against 209 198
PP (rank) 19.1 (2) 16.2 (18)
PK (rank) 86.3 (5) 87.3 (1)

Calder Cup Playoff History

Manchester Bridgeport
Appearances 2nd 2nd
Record (games) 2-3 12-8
Record (series) 0-1 3-1
OT record 0-1 2-3
Calder Cup titles 0 0
Losing finalist 0 1
(2002)

2002-03 Regular Season Series

Manchester Bridgeport
Record 1-1-1-1                      2-1-1-0
at MCH                 1-0-1-0                      0-1-1-0
at BRI                    0-1-0-1                      2-0-0-0
Goals                            10                              10
Power play             1/13 (7.7%)               3/20 (15.0%)
Scoring                Pudlick, 2+2=4          Hamilton, 2+2=4
                            Healey, 1+2=3             Smith, 2+1=3
                             Bekar, 1+2=3           Mapletoft, 1+2=3
Goaltending       Scott, 1-1-0, 1.51      DiPietro, 1-0-1, 2.40
                           Huet, 0-1-1, 3.25    Valiquette, 1-1-0, 2.42
                                      
Results                                               
Nov. 27      MCH 2 at BRI 3 (OT)
Jan. 18        BRI 4 at MCH 4 (OT)
Mar. 7        MCH 1 at BRI 3
Mar. 29      BRI 0 at MCH 3

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Two members of the AHL's expansion class of 2001 face off in this series... Bridgeport went all the way to the Calder Cup Final in its inaugural season before losing to Chicago; Manchester was ousted in double overtime of Game 5 in last year's conference quarterfinals... Monarchs head coach Bruce Boudreau won a Calder Cup as a player in 1992... Manchester ranked second in the AHL on the power play in the regular season; the Sound Tigers were first in penalty killing... Bridgeport was 8-2-0 on home ice in the 2002 playoffs.