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Moose advance to face the Bulldogs in North Division Final

May 1, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


With Tuesday's 4-1 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins in Game 7 of their North Division Semi-Final, the Manitoba Moose have advanced to the Calder Cup's North Division Final for the third consecutive year where they will now face the Hamilton Bulldogs. In the regular season, the Moose finished atop the North Division, seven points ahead of the third-place Bulldogs. Hamilton advanced to the division final by downing the second-seeded Rochester Americans in six games in their North Division Semi-Final.

This season, the Moose and Bulldogs met eight times, however, they haven't played each other since Jan. 27/07. This year, the Moose finished the regular season 4-2-0-2 against the Bulldogs with one game decided in overtime and two decided by a shootout. Back on Dec. 20/06, Brandon Reid scored in overtime to lift the Moose past Hamilton. Manitoba also beat the Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum this season 3-0 on Nov. 21/06 for their first victory in almost three seasons in Hamilton. Manitoba's top scorer versus the Bulldogs this regular season was Jason Jaffray who scored three goals and four assists for seven points in eight games. The leading scorer between both teams was Bulldogs forward Mikhail Grabovski who had a goal and eight assists for nine points in eight games. Wade Flaherty and Drew MacIntyre each collected a pair of wins over Hamilton this season while rookie Julien Ellis took both losses. The Bulldogs have been led this post-season by rookie Carey Price who was added to the roster just prior to the Calder Cup playoffs and will enter this series with a 2.39 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. Price led Canada to a IIHF Under-20 World Junior Gold Medal just this past December/06.

The Moose will now face the Bulldogs in the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time since their 2003 Western Conference Quarter-Final meeting which also went the maximum seven games before Hamilton eliminated Manitoba with a 3-2 victory on May 11/03.

North Division Final - Manitoba Moose vs. Hamilton Bulldogs (all times central)

Game 1 - Saturday, May 5 Hamilton Bulldogs at Manitoba Moose 7:30 p.m. MTS Centre

Game 2 - Sunday, May 6 Hamilton Bulldogs at Manitoba Moose 7:30 p.m. MTS Centre

Game 3 - Tuesday, May 8 Manitoba Moose at Hamilton Bulldogs 6:30 p.m. Copps Coliseum

Game 4 - Saturday, May 12 Manitoba Moose at Hamilton Bulldogs 6:00 p.m. Copps Coliseum

*Game 5 - Sunday, May 13 Manitoba Moose at Hamilton Bulldogs 2:00 p.m. Copps Coliseum

*Game 6 - Monday, May 14 Hamilton Bulldogs at Manitoba Moose 7:30 p.m. MTS Centre

* Game 7 - Wednesday, May 16 Hamilton Bulldogs at Manitoba Moose 7:30 p.m. MTS Centre

Calder Cup Playoff Tickets for all games in this series are now on sale. Fans can get their tickets by calling 987-PUCK, or by calling Ticketmaster at 204-780-3333 or by going online at www.ticketmaster.ca or www.moosehockey.com.

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