Just as one challenge passes for the Toronto Marlies, the American Hockey League presents another one as the organization seeks its first Calder Cup since 1982.
Having escaped with a Game 7 win in their Calder Cup playoff second-round series against the Albany Devils this past Monday, the Marlies are up against another Eastern Conference foe, the Hershey Bears.
The Atlantic Division champion Bears, the Washington Capitals’ AHL affiliate, will greet the Marlies for games tonight and Saturday at Giant Center.
History and pride
The AHL’s most storied and longest-running franchise, Hershey has 11 Calder Cup championship banners hanging in the rafters at Giant Center. Three of those banners have come during their affiliation with Washington that started in 2005. They also won a Calder Cup as a Washington affiliate in 1980.
Going into Hershey, the Marlies will face one of the most intimidating environments in the AHL. Hershey’s 9,790 average attendance mark led the AHL this season, the 10th season in a row that they have topped the league. Much like the Marlies, the Bears operate a franchise with many NHL-quality amenities and are a popular destination for AHL free-agents.
Scheduling conflicts have put the Marlies on the road for the first two games of the series. However, that same bit of schedule-juggling would put the Marlies on home ice for four of the final five games in the series if it goes its limit. Hershey has dropped the first game of their prior two series; doing so against the Marlies would leave them with a difficult journey, given the schedule.
Here is your Eastern Conference Finals Schedule versus @TheHersheyBears: #MarliesLive #ConquerCalder pic.twitter.com/JCSqepkczX
— Z-Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 17, 2016
“I know our guys are really excited,” Bears head coach Troy Mann told the Capitals website. “It’s a really young team, and we’re looking forward to seeing what we’ve got here.”
“I think we play very similar styles,” Mann said of the Bears and Marlies.
Albany revisted
As with Albany, Hershey will bring a well-balanced line-up that can beat an opponent in several different ways. After a 43-21-5-7 regular season, the Bears eliminated the formidable Portland Pirates in the first round before finally putting away the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a seven-game second-round series that went to overtime.
To start with, there is AHL most valuable player Chris Bourque. The shifty, play-making veteran left wing led the AHL with 80 points (30-50-80) in the regular season and has continued his production in the playoffs with a 3-4-7 line in 12 playoff games. Bourque, 30, is a three-time Calder Cup champion in Hershey colours. Earlier this month he became the seventh player in AHL history to record 100 playoff points.
In net is veteran Justin Peters, who has excelled in the post-season after a difficult regular season. In 11 playoff games, Peters has put up a .935 save percentage, topping all goaltenders who have played four or more games. He is 7-4-0 with a 1.78 goals-against average and has thrown in two shutouts along the way.
Surrounding Bourque is a talented, well-balanced cast of forwards. Rookie Riley Barber, a sixth-round pick by the Capitals in 2012, finished with 26 goals. Fifteen of those goals came in his final 30 regular-season games, though he has produced just two goals in 12 playoff games. Another sixth-round pick, rookie Travis Boyd, had 21 regular-season goals. His Game 7 overtime winner against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton sent the Bears to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2010.
Veteran Carter Camper had a quiet regular season, but he has blossomed in the playoffs. Camper has four playoff goals in 12 games after scoring nine in 64 regular-season games and brings a six-game point streak into the series. His nine points tie him with rookie Jakub Vrana, the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, for the team lead.
Hershey also brings a quality blue line led by veteran Aaron Ness guiding three rookies. Madison Bowey, a 2013 second-rounder, had a strong rookie season and will be counted on heavily against the Marlies’ explosive attack. Erik Burgdoerfer, Tyler Lewington, Christian Djoos and NHL veteran Ryan Stanton round out the group.
Playoff-worn, playoff-tested
One enduring weakness for the Bears has been special-teams play. Hershey finished 18th on the power play in the regular season and is 11th among playoff teams. The Bears ranked 17th in regular-season penalty-killing, though they have bumped up their kill rate to sixth in the playoffs. Hershey has also been shorthanded a league-most 59 times, something that could be a significant issue against the Marlies’ 21.3 percent power play.
However, Hershey has already been through the tight grind of having played three elimination games this spring. The Bears also know how to bounce back from a loss – they’re 5-0 in games following a defeat in the post-season.
They endured and survived an extremely physical series Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and they will push the Marlies in yet another playoff test for both teams.
Out west
Hershey and Toronto will be fighting for a trip to the Calder Cup final.
Who the Bears or Marlies face then will be determined in the Western Conference final between the defending Calder Cup champion Ontario Reign and the Lake Erie Monsters.
Ontario has pushed a pair of California rivals to reach the third round, bumping the San Jose Barracuda in four games before finishing off the San Diego Gulls in five games.
The Reign bring a big, physical blue line and a proven mix of forwards who blend reliable two-way play with an ability to chip in a goal as needed. Rookie Adrian Kempe starred in last season’s run to the Calder Cup with eight goals in 17 games. The 19-year-old 2014 first-round selection of the Los Angeles Kings endured an uneven regular season with 11 goals in 55 games. But he has caught fire this spring again, notching four goals in nine playoff games.
Ontario veteran netminder Peter Budaj captured the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award winner as the AHL’s most outstanding goaltender this season, and he has extended his excellence in to the playoffs with a 1.73 GAA. Led by Budaj and a punishing blue line, the Reign have allowed a league-best 1.89 goals per game in the playoffs.
After cruising past the Rockford IceHogs in a first-round sweep, the Monsters survived a scare against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Griffins erased the Monsters’ 3-0 series lead, winning two straight games and taking Game 6 to overtime before Lake Erie rookie defenceman Zach Werenski ended the series with a goal.
Lake Erie will not be an easy out, however. They also have a strong blue line headlined by Werenski, an 18-year-old that was the eighth overall pick in this past June’s NHL Draft. Werenski stepped into the pro game at the end of the regular season and has excelled. He is second among AHL defencemen in scoring with 4-6-10.
Lake Erie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo has struggled at times in the post-season, but he is on the brink of breaking through to full-time NHL duty as soon as next season. The Monsters also have a well-balanced collection of two-way forwards led by strong prospects Josh Anderson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Daniel Zaar, Sonny Milano, Michael Chaput and Lukas Sedlak among others.
