After a euphoric sports weekend in Toronto, it might be tempting to look at how the Toronto Marlies handled the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in their first-round Calder Cup playoff series and think that more good times are a sure thing.
Not so fast.
The Albany Devils are fresh off a rather efficient first-round defeat of the Utica Comets that set up a second-round series with the Marlies.
The Devils might pose Toronto’s stiffest test this spring if the Marlies are to win the Toronto Maple Leafs organization’s first Calder Cup since 1982.
Albany (46-20-10) piled up 102 points, second-most in the AHL this season and had 27 home wins, equaling the Marlies for the league lead. The Devils also finished second in goals-against in the regular season at 2.20.
But Albany head coach Rick Kowalsky knows that Toronto will still be a tough test.
“Pretty much everything concerns me (about the Marlies),” the AHL coach of the year said. “Now that they’ve got everybody together, the addition of (Marlies blue-liner) Connor Carrick is just like putting the cherry on top of the sundae.”
“There’s no question that they’re the best offensive team from the back end through all four lines that I’ve seen in my six years (in the American Hockey League).”
The best-of-seven series starts Wednesday at Ricoh Coliseum after a six-day break for both teams.
Wedgewood in net
Scott Wedgewood will be in net for the Devils. The 23-year-old Toronto native and member of Canada’s 2012 world junior team overcame two serious injuries this season. Wedgewood also beat out veteran Yann Danis for the starting job in the post-season.
“It was not an easy decision, no question,” Kowalsky said. “They (Wedgewood and Danis) both have been outstanding.”
Wedgewood has rewarded Kowalsky’s decision, posting a 1.93 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in the first round. That follows up a regular season where he was 14-3-3 in 22 games for Albany with a 1.55 GAA and a .933 save percentage. In four games with NHL New Jersey, he was 2-1-1 with a 1.25 GAA and .957 save percentage.
Blue line bolstered
The NHL Devils sent defenceman Damon Severson into the Albany lineup to strengthen an already exceptional blue line. Severson, 21, has played in 123 NHL games and had five assists in four games against Utica.
“He was very excited to come down,” Kowalsky said. “He understands that it’s part of his development, part of his process. He was anxious to come down here, be a part of this team, and he has stepped right in. He is an elite puck-mover.”
Seth Helgeson could be close to finding a full-time job with New Jersey, and Dan Kelly is a reliable presence in his sixth AHL season. Vojtech Mozik does a steady, unheralded job on the back end, and vetern Marc-Andre Gragnani provides a further puck-distributing presence.
Forwards fortified
New Jersey also boosted Albany’s forwards by returning Reid Boucher, Joseph Blandisi and 19-year-old Pavel Zacha. Zacha, the sixth overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, had 64 points in 51 regular-season games for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting. Zacha had a goal and two assists in Round 1.
Boucher scored 19 goals in 34 regular-season games and dominated offensively in the first round with three goals and three assists. Blandisi had two goals in four games, and Blake Pietila returned from an upper-body injury in Game 4 at Utica to assemble a four-point performance in the series-clinching win.
The offensive talent does not stop there.
Veteran Mike Sislo tied for fifth in the AHL with a team-leading 27 goals in 57 games. Rookie Matt Lorito, the team’s regular-season leading scorer with 54 points, chipped in three points in four playoff games while veteran Jim O’Brien has two goals and two assists.
Brian O’Neill, the AHL’s most valuable player last season, has yet to heat up this spring after splitting the season between New Jersey and Albany. O’Neill has just one assist in four games but scored 10 goals in 19 games last spring with the Calder Cup champion Manchester Monarchs. He added 13 goals in 42 AHL games this season and is a threat to explode offensively at any time.
The Albany penalty kill ranked third in the AHL in the regular season and didn’t allow a goal on 14 Utica opportunities with the man advantage in Round 1. The Devils’ power play, which ended up in eighth place in the regular season, sparkled against the Comets, converting four times on 16 chances.
Kowalsky has blended all of these elements into a well-tuned operation.
“I think it starts with our commitment to play away from the puck defensively,” he said “It’s something that we take pride in. We’ve gotten everyone to buy into it. I don’t want to say that it’s a defence-first mentality, but there is certainly a commitment to that, and on the other side of it our possession and pace game combined with the skill that we have.”
“Those things – our play without the puck, our possession and ability to skate – are three of the biggest factors for the season we’ve had.”
Southern California showdown
The AHL has its answer to the Anaheim Ducks-Los Angeles Kings rivalry.
The Ontario Reign, the Kings’ AHL affiliate, could have their hands full against the San Diego Gulls in the Pacific Division second-round series. The Anaheim-affiliated Gulls and Reign staged a bitter, and at times nasty, season series in the AHL’s first season in California.
Ontario cruised to a Pacific Division title and took out another California opponent, the San Jose Barracuda, in the first round. The Gulls handled the Texas Stars rather easily in four games.
In a 12-game seasons series, San Diego had eight wins against the Reign. Each team is built on goaltending, defensive play and the Gulls bring a muscular, abrasive style that can wear down opponents.
The Reign and San Diego will rotate their series home and away with each game. The set starts on Thursday at Ontario.
The rest of the field
The Atlantic Division champion Hershey Bears finally outlasted the pesky Portland Pirates. Portland took a 2-1 series lead in Game 3 in a triple-overtime win, but Hershey responded with back-to-back wins this past weekend.
Hershey will face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who have been off since April 24. The series will coincide with the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs series between their parent clubs, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. The AHL series starts Wednesday.
In the Central Division, the Grand Rapids Griffins and Lake Erie Monsters get underway Thursday.
