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April 21, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


Philadelphia hosts Norfolk in Game 1 tonight at the Wachovia Center (7:05 ET), home of the NHL's Flyers and a building in which the Phantoms have lost five of their last six playoff matches. Philly has been off since an improbable 3-2 overtime win over Hershey on Apr. 11 that clinched a playoff berth for the Admirals. Norfolk responded by sweeping Binghamton in the qualifying round with Michael Leighton posting back-to-back 3-0 shutouts. Head coach John Stevens, a member of the Phantoms' 1998 Calder Cup championship team, engineered a 21-point turnaround this season, leading Philadelphia to a division title after missing the playoffs in 2003.

Claude Noel, who won a Calder Cup with Hershey in 1980, leads Milwaukee down the playoff road beginning with Game 1 against Cincinnati tonight (7:00 CT, 8:00 ET). The Admirals finished 30 points ahead of the Mighty Ducks in the regular season and placed first overall in the AHL standings, but went 4-6-0-0 down the stretch, including losses in four of their last five at the Bradley Center. The Ducks swept Houston in the qualifying series, with Tony Martensson recording a goal and five assists in the two games.

Portland kept rolling with a 3-1 win at Hartford last night, improving to 10-0-1-1 in its last 12 outings. The Wolf Pack look to snap their six-game postseason losing streak and get in the series in Game 2 tonight (7:05 ET). Chris Hajt and Mike Vigilante scored 58 seconds apart in the first period to give the Pirates all the offense they would need, and Maxime Ouellet finished with 28 saves, losing his shutout bid on a Jozef Balej shorthanded goal with 4:42 remaining. Alexander Semin recorded an assist in Game 1 for Portland and now has 12 points in his last six games.

With the series even at one game apiece, Game 3 at the Blue Cross Arena tonight (7:05 ET) sees Syracuse trying to end a nine-game losing streak in road games against Rochester. Game 2 was a convincing 6-0 win by the Amerks, featuring three goals by their league-leading power play unit and a two-goal effort by Domenic Pittis, who has climbed to 19th place on the AHL's all-time playoff scoring list with 65 career points. The Crunch have been outscored 28-6 in six visits to western New York this season.

Chicago can tighten its grip on its West Division semifinal with Grand Rapids as the Wolves take a 2-0 lead into Game 3 tonight (7:00 CT, 8:00 ET) at Allstate Arena. The Griffins, who were 11-4 in one-goal decisions at Van Andel Arena in the regular season, were on the wrong end of 4-3 and 1-0 scores to open the series. Chicago led the AHL with 26 home wins this season, and has won nine of its last 10 overall. Kari Lehtonen made 37 saves for the shutout in Game 2; Kevin Miller, 18 years Lehtonen's senior, scored three times off the Finnish phenom in Game 1.

In other action last night, Adam Hauser made 26 saves for his second straight shutout as Manchester rolled past Worcester, 6-0, to even their series at two games apiece... Ryan Kraft scored twice and Bridgeport avoided a fourth straight third-period letdown by beating Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 4-2, and taking a 3-1 series lead... Tomas Plekanec recorded three assists for Hamilton in a 4-0 win over Cleveland in Game 1.



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TONIGHT'S GAMES
Game 2 – Portland at Hartford, 7:05
$Game 1 – Norfolk at Philadelphia, 7:05
Game 3 – Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
Game 3 – Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8:00
Game 1 – Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 8:00



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SERIES SCHEDULES
Atlantic Division Semifinals
1-Hartford vs. 5-Portland
Game 1 – Portland 3, HARTFORD 1
Game 2 – Wed 4/21 at Hartford, 7:05
Game 3 – Fri 4/23 at Portland, 7:05
Game 4 – Sun 4/25 at Portland, 4:05
*Game 5 – Wed 4/28 at Hartford, 7:05
*Game 6 – Fri 4/30 at Portland, 7:05
*Game 7 – Sun 5/2 at Hartford, 4:05

2-Manchester vs. 3-Worcester
Game 1 – Worcester 2, MANCHESTER 1
Game 2 – Worcester 3, MANCHESTER 2 (OT)
Game 3 – Manchester 2, WORCESTER 0
Game 4 – Manchester 6, WORCESTER 0
Game 5 – Thu 4/22 at Manchester, 7:05
Game 6 – Sat 4/24 at Worcester, 7:05
*Game 7 – Sun 4/25 at Manchester, 4:05

East Division Semifinals
1-Philadelphia vs. 5-Norfolk
$Game 1 – Wed 4/21 at Philadelphia, 7:05
$Game 2 – Fri 4/23 at Philadelphia, 7:05
Game 3 – Tue 4/27 at Norfolk, 7:15
Game 4 – Wed 4/28 at Norfolk, 7:15
*Game 5 – Fri 4/30 at Norfolk, 7:30
*$Game 6 – Sat 5/1 at Philadelphia, 7:05
*$Game 7 – Mon 5/3 at Philadelphia, 7:05
$at Wachovia Center

2-Bridgeport vs. 3-Wilkes-Barre
Game 1 – BRIDGEPORT 5, Wilkes-Barre 4 (OT)
Game 2 – BRIDGEPORT 5, Wilkes-Barre 4 (OT)
Game 3 – WILKES-BARRE 3, Bridgeport 2 (OT)
Game 4 – Bridgeport 4, WILKES-BARRE 2
Game 5 – Thu 4/22 at Bridgeport, 7:05
*Game 6 – Fri 4/23 at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05
*Game 7 – Sun 4/25 at Bridgeport, 4:05

North Division Semifinals
1-Hamilton vs. 4-Cleveland
Game 1 – HAMILTON 4, Cleveland 0
Game 2 – Sun 4/25 at Hamilton, 4:00
Game 3 – Tue 4/27 at Cleveland, 7:00
Game 4 – Thu 4/29 at Cleveland, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri 4/30 at Hamilton, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sun 5/2 at Cleveland, 4:00
*Game 7 – Mon 5/3 at Hamilton, 7:00

2-Syracuse vs. 3-Rochester
Game 1 – SYRACUSE 3, Rochester 2
Game 2 – Rochester 6, SYRACUSE 0
Game 3 – Wed 4/21 at Rochester, 7:05
Game 4 – Fri 4/23 at Rochester, 7:35
Game 5 – Sun 4/25 at Syracuse, 5:00
*Game 6 – Wed 4/28 at Rochester, 7:05
*Game 7 – Sat 5/1 at Syracuse, 7:30

West Division Semifinals
1-Milwaukee vs. 5-Cincinnati
Game 1 – Wed 4/21 at Milwaukee, 8:00
Game 2 – Fri 4/23 at Milwaukee, 8:00
Game 3 – Sat 4/24 at Cincinnati, 7:35
Game 4 – Mon 4/26 at Cincinnati, 7:35
*Game 5 – Wed 4/28 at Cincinnati, 7:35
*Game 6 – Fri 4/30 at Milwaukee, 8:00
*Game 7 – TBA at Milwaukee, TBA

2-Grand Rapids vs. 3-Chicago
Game 1 – Chicago 4, GRAND RAPIDS 3 (OT)
Game 2 – Chicago 1, GRAND RAPIDS 0
Game 3 – Wed 4/21 at Chicago, 8:00
Game 4 – Fri 4/23 at Chicago, 8:30
*Game 5 – Sat 4/24 at Grand Rapids, 8:00
*Game 6 – Mon 4/26 at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 7 – Wed 4/28 at Grand Rapids, 7:00

*if necessary... All times Eastern



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FROM CALDER TO STANLEY:
Chad Kilger tallied a goal and an assist as Toronto beat Ottawa, 4-1, in Game 7 last night; Kilger had 12 points in 16 games to help Springfield to within one win of the Calder Cup Final in 1997.


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BY THE NUMBERS:
7-16 -- Record of home teams so far in the Calder Cup 2004 Playoffs, including 0-7 in the Atlantic Division and 0-4 in the West Division. Last postseason, home teams were 47-34 (.580).

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