The AHL Report

by David Winkelsas
Published on April 21, 2001 under American Hockey League (AHL)

by David Winkelsas

The Scoreboard
First Round Best-of- Five Calder Cup Playoff match-ups and results:

Series A: Saint John Flames vs. Portland Pirates
Game 1: Saint John, 3-0
Game 2: Saint John, 4-3
Game 3: Saint John, 3-2 (3OT)
Saint John wins series, 3-0
Notes: Saint John goaltender Martin Brochu, yielding just 5 goals in the series to his former team, helped the Flames move on to the second round...Portland goaltender Sebastian Charpentier made 65 saves for the Pirates in Game Three's, 3 overtime affair loss.

Series B: Quebec Citadelles vs. St. John's Maple Leafs
Game 1: Quebec, 5-1
Game 2: Quebec, 4-3
Game 3: St. John's, 3-2 (OT)
Game 4: Quebec, 4-0
Quebec wins series, 3-1

Series C: Worcester IceCats vs. Lowell Lock Monsters
Game 1: Worcester, 4-3 (OT)
Game 2: Worcester, 4-3
Game 3: Lowell, 4-0
Game 4: Worcester, 3-2 (OT)
Worcester wins series, 3-1

Series D: Hartford Wolf Pack vs. Providence Bruins
Game 1: Hartford, 3-1
Game 2: Hartford, 2-1
Game 3: Providence, 5-4 (OT)
Game 4: Providence, 4-3
Game 5: Providence, 2-1
Providence wins series, 3-2
Notes: Hartford, the defending Calder Cup Champions, eliminated in the first round, after losing a 2-0 series lead.

Series E: Rochester Americans vs. Philadelphia Phantoms
Game 1: Rochester, 4-3 (OT)
Game 2: Philadelphia, 2-1 (OT)
Game 3: Philadelphia, 2-0
Game 4: Philadelphia, 4-2
Philadelphia wins series, 3-1
Notes: The Phantoms came into the series with a seven game losing streak to close the regular season, but showed they were ready, eliminating the Mid-Atlantic Division Champion Americans in 4 games.

Series F: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. Syracuse Crunch
Game 1: Syracuse, 2-1 (OT)
Game 2: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5-2
Game 3: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5-4 (OT)
Game 4: Syracuse, 3-2
Game 5: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 6-2
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wins series, 3-2
Notes: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton center Milan Kraft had 6 goals and 9 points and Michal Rozsival had 6 assists and 8 points in the series...Syracuse goalie J.F. Labbe had 56 saves in a Game 1 win in OT.

Series G: Kentucky Thoroughblades vs. Hershey Bears
Game 1: Hershey, 3-2 (OT)
Game 2: Hershey, 3-2 (OT)
Game 3: Hershey, 2-1
Hershey wins series, 3-0
Notes: Hershey upsets Southern Division Champions Thoroughblades...Kentucky held to only 5 goals. Hershey goaltender Frederic Cassivi stopped 100 of 105 shots faced in the series.

Series H: Cincinnati Mighty Ducks vs. Norfolk Admirals
Game 1: Norfolk, 5-4 (OT)
Game 2: Norfolk, 6-3
Game 3: Cincinnati, 4-3
Game 4: Norfolk, 4-3 (OT)
Norfolk wins series, 3-1
Notes: The Admirals defeated Cincinnati, playing 3 of the 4 games in Norfolk...Casey Hankinson scored the game winner in overtime of Game 4, sporting a stitched right side of his upper lip from being hit in the face with a puck while sitting on the bench in the first period and a hole in his chin caused by taking a stick to the face early in the extra period.

Mark Bell made a great play to get the puck out of the Admirals zone, which set up a 2 on 0 with Hankinson and Kyle Calder against Mighty Duck goalie Scott Langkow. Hankinson, being pursued from behind by a Cincinnati defender, considered passing off to Calder but took the shot himself and scored falling to the ice. Norfolk overcame a 3-0 deficit in the first period to win in OT, 4-3.

"You worry a little bit when it is 3-0 and we obviously don't want to go back to Cincinnati and play there because they're going to have all the momentum. Fortunately, we got a couple of goals and our power play was quick in there for a little bit. Then we got into it, Marty Wilford scored a big goal to tie it at 3-3, and then we felt that we were going to win the game. But Cincinnati played well in that third period and the longer they stayed with it, I think it was to our disadvantage because the momentum just stayed the same, but luckily enough we won it in overtime" said Hankinson after the game.

Second Round Playoff Best-of-Seven match-ups:
Series J: Saint John Flames vs. Quebec Citadelles
Game 1: Saint John, 4-0
Game 2: at Saint John, April 23
Game 3: at Quebec, April 25
Game 4: at Quebec, April 27
Game 5: at Quebec, April 29
Game 6: at Saint John, May 1
Game 7: at Saint John, May 2
Saint John leads series, 1-0

Series K: Worcester IceCats vs. Providence Bruins
Game 1: at Worcester, April 21
Game 2: at Worcester, April 22
Game 3: at Providence, April 24
Game 4: at Providence, April 27
Game 5: at Worcester, April 28
Game 6: at Providence, April 30
Game 7: at Worcester, May 1

Series L: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. Philadelphia Phantoms
Game 1: at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, April 21
Game 2: at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, April 23
Game 3: at Philadelphia, April 25
Game 4: at Philadelphia, April 27
Game 5: at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, April 28
Game 6: at Philadelphia, May 1
Game 7: at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, May 2

Series M: Norfolk Admirals vs. Hershey Bears
Game 1: Norfolk, 4-2 (at Richmond Coliseum)
Game 2: at Norfolk (at Richmond Coliseum), April 21
Game 3: at Hershey, April 25
Game 4: at Hershey, April 27
Game 5: at Norfolk (at Richmond Coliseum), April 29
Game 6: at Hershey, April 30
Game 7: at Norfolk, May 2
Norfolk leads series, 1-0

News and Notes

The Norfolk Admirals were credited with a road win in Game 2 over the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, although the game was played at the Norfolk Scope. Due to civil unrest taking place in Cincinnati, the game was moved to Norfolk, but Cincinnati was officially the home team...The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins drew a total of 15,462 fans in their two home playoff games, while the Kentucky Thoroughblades drew a total of 2,987 for their two home games...Due to scheduling conflicts with the City of Norfolk, the Admirals will play second round home games (Game 1,2, and 5) at the Richmond Coliseum. Richmond is about 100 miles from Norfolk. The City of Norfolk claims that it will not happen again.

David Winkelsas joined OurSports Central in early 2001 as our primary AHL correspondent.

American Hockey League Stories from April 21, 2001

• The AHL Report - OSC Original by David Winkelsas

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.