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Calder Cup 2002 Playoffs are Ready

April 8, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MA ... The American Hockey League's exciting, down-to-the-wire 66th regular season concluded on Sunday night, and the field of 27 teams has been narrowed down to 20 as the road to the 2002 Calder Cup championship continues.

The 66th Calder Cup Playoffs get underway on Tuesday with qualifying series openers pitting Manitoba against Worcester, Rochester versus Philadelphia and Cincinnati at Chicago. The fourth best-of-three series gets underway on Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, where St. John's will take on Providence in Game 1.

The opening match-ups weren't established until 10:39 p.m. ET on Sunday evening, when Grand Rapids finished a 5-2 victory over Manitoba at a sold-out Winnipeg Arena. Five teams awaited the outcome of that game to learn their seeds in the Eastern Conference, including Quebec, which finished first in the Canadian Division, its second division title in three years.

Bridgeport needed a 4-1 win over Hartford on Sunday to clinch the East Division title, secure the top seed in the Eastern Conference and claim the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the league's overall points champion. The first-year Sound Tigers own home-ice advantage throughout the Calder Cup 2002 Playoffs.

Fifteen of the 20 participants this postseason are vying for their first Calder Cup championship. Six clubs are looking to join five others in league history who won the Calder Cup in their first season in the AHL.

The AHL's championship trophy is named after Hockey Hall of Famer Frank Calder, who served as the first president of the National Hockey League from 1917-43. During the 1920s, Calder was instrumental in guiding professional hockey into the mainstream of the United States' major cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Detroit, while also helping in the formation of the American Hockey League.

A total of 84 former Calder Cup winners representing each of the last 17 championship squads have skated in the NHL this season, including Steve Begin (2001), P.J. Stock (2000), John Grahame (1999), Brian Boucher ('98), Eric Messier ('97), Curtis Brown ('96), Steve Sullivan ('95), Olaf Kolzig ('94), Scott Thornton ('93), Martin Lapointe ('92), Geoff Sanderson ('91), Jeff Hackett ('90), Adam Graves ('89), Gord Murphy ('88), Benoit Hogue ('87), Adam Oates ('86) and Patrick Roy ('85).

2001-02 BY THE NUMBERS ... After averaging 10,374 fans over their final 10 home dates, Philadelphia finished with the highest attendance in the league (338,009) for the sixth consecutive season... There was an all-time high of 136 shutouts on the year; Syracuse led the way with a record 13, including J-F. Labbe's record-tying nine... Grand Rapids was involved in 18 shutout games, including one 0-0 tie... The Griffins' Martin Prusek finished with a 1.83 goals against average, the second-lowest in AHL history and the first sub-2.00 average since 1939... Rochester (8-3-15) and Albany (2-12-12) each played a league-record 26 overtime games, the River Rats recorded a league-record 12 OT losses, and the Americans and Hartford set a new league high with eight OT wins apiece... Mike Rucinski, who split the year between Lowell and Albany, is the second AHL player ever to play 82 games in a regular season (Bill Prentice, 1978-79)... Donald MacLean is the lowest-scoring points champion since Gerry Ehman led the AHL with 85 points in 1963-64... Shooters finished 9-for-32 on penalty shot attempts this season... Lowell finished 22-6-0-3 in one-goal games... For the first time since 1986, both finalists from the previous season failed to qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Western Conference Qualifier - Series "Q1"
7-Chicago Wolves vs. 10-Cincinnati Mighty Ducks SERIES NOTEBOOK: Chicago finished the regular season on a four-game losing streak, while Cincinnati was 1-4-2 in its last seven... The Mighty Ducks have never won a playoff series, falling in the first round in 1999 and 2001... Wolves head coach John Anderson was the AHL's most valuable player in 1991-92... Cincinnati ranked second in the league in penalty killing efficiency at 86.8 percent... The Ducks were 2-8-2 in their last 12 road games... Rob Brown led the Wolves with 54 assists and 83 points... 2000 Stanley Cup champion Steve Brule paced the Ducks with 42 assists and 63 points.

Western Conference Qualifier - Series "Q2"
8-Philadelphia Phantoms vs. 9-Rochester Americans SERIES NOTEBOOK: Philadelphia went 4-0-2 on the year against Rochester, earning all four wins by one-goal margins... This is the teams' fourth meeting in the Calder Cup Playoffs; the Phantoms won best-of-five series in 1998 and 2001, while the Amerks took the best-of-seven conference final in 1999... Philadelphia (1996-99) and Rochester (1998-2001) are the only teams in AHL history to record three straight 100-point seasons... Amerks head coach Randy Cunneyworth won a Calder Cup with Rochester in 1983; Phantoms head coach John Stevens won with Philadelphia in 1998 (and with Springfield in 1991)... Philadelphia owned the league's top-ranked penalty kill; Rochester was last on the power play.

Eastern Conference Qualifier - Series "Q3"
7-St. John's Maple Leafs vs. 10-Providence Bruins SERIES NOTEBOOK: Providence and St. John's haven't met since February 25, 2000, a 5-1 Bruins win at the Dunkin' Donuts Center... The Maple Leafs are 13-8-1 all-time against Providence... The B's have reached the conference finals each of the last three years, winning the Calder Cup in 1999... St. John's has not won a playoff series since 1997... Leafs head coach Lou Crawford is the brother of Vancouver Canucks coach Marc Crawford, who led St. John's to the Calder Cup Finals in 1992... Game 1 of this series will be played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto; Games 2 and 3 are scheduled for the Brampton Sports Centre in Brampton, Ont.

Eastern Conference Qualifier - Series "Q4"
8-Worcester IceCats vs. 9-Manitoba Moose

SERIES NOTEBOOK: The Worcester IceCats and Manitoba Moose have never met... The Moose led the AHL with 270 goals scored during the regular season, but no other playoff team allowed more than their 260... Worcester ranked second on the power play at 20.1 percent, and are in the postseason for the seventh consecutive season... League MVP Eric Boguniecki and sophomore sensation Justin Papineau tied for the AHL lead with 38 goals... Manitoba went 4-1-1-1 on a seven-game road trip from Mar. 27 to Apr. 6... Steve Kariya led the Moose in scoring 62 points, while Andre Savage had a team-best 35 goals. Western Conference Quarterfinal - Series "C"
3-Norfolk Admirals vs. 6-Hershey Bears

SERIES NOTEBOOK: On the heels of a 16-game winless skid, Hershey finished the season 23-4-2-2 in its last 31 games... The Admirals went 16-6-2 in their last 24... These teams met in the conference semifinals a year ago, with the Bears prevailing four games to one... Hershey, in its 64th season in the AHL, has won eight Calder Cup titles, including at least one in each decade since the 1940s... The series pits Norfolk's AHL All-Rookie goaltender Michael Leighton against the ITECH AHL Goaltender of the Month for February and March, the Bears' Philippe Sauve.

Western Conference Quarterfinal - Series "D"
4-Houston Aeros vs. 5-Utah Grizzlies

SERIES NOTEBOOK: Five of the 12 regular-season meetings between the clubs were one-goal affairs, while two others ended tied... The Aeros finished with the second-best road record in the AHL (20-16-4)... Utah head coach Don Hay led Phoenix (NHL) to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1997... The Grizzlies' Greg Hawgood finished tied for the AHL scoring lead among defensemen with 61 points... Houston finished the regular season on a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1)... The Aeros' Cory Larose led all AHL rookies with 32 goals and 64 points.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinal - Series "G"
3-Quebec Citadelles vs. 6-Hamilton Bulldogs

SERIES NOTEBOOK: The home team is 17-4-3 in the all-time series between Hamilton and Quebec, including 6-0-2 in 2001-02... Hamilton has won at least one series in each of its previous four playoff appearances, including a trip to the Finals in 1997... Quebec's Eric Landry was a member of that '97 Hamilton team... Bulldogs head coach Claude Julien played all 14 games of his NHL career for the Quebec Nordiques (1984-86)... The Citadelles have won a division title in two of their three seasons in the AHL... Quebec's Craig Darby won a Calder Cup with Philadelphia in 1998.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinal - Series "H"
4-Hartford Wolf Pack vs. 5-Manchester Monarchs

SERIES NOTEBOOK: The Wolf Pack earned a win and a tie in the two-game season series with the Monarchs... The Pack's Jason LaBarbera made 38 saves on Oct. 27 in a 2-2 tie at the Hartford Civic Center... Boyd Kane scored twice and captain Ken Gernander tallied in overtime to give Hartford a 4-3 win on New Year's Eve... Manchester head coach Bruce Boudreau was the AHL's scoring champion in 1988 and won a Calder Cup in 1992... Hartford's John Paddock has won three Calder Cup titles as a head coach, most recently with Hartford in 2000.

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