Three days after eliminating the Toronto Marlies to claim the American Hockey League’s Eastern Conference title, the Hershey Bears ran into a brick wall in Game 1 of the prospect-packed Calder Cup final.
That wall was the Lake Erie Monsters, whose methodical play led to the Bears losing 4-1 on home ice on Wednesday. Game 2 goes Friday before the series moves westward to Cleveland for three games.
Should the Bears lose Friday, they would face the task of trying to take victories in four of the next five games against an opponent that has won 21 of its last 24 games. Along the way, the Monsters knocked out the Western Conference regular-season champion Ontario Reign as well as a pair of strong Central Division teams in the Rockford IceHogs and Grand Rapids Griffins.
Tied 1-1 after two periods, Lake Erie scored three times in a span of 9:30 to take the victory. The Columbus Blue Jackets‘ AHL affiliate has won 14 of its last 16 games, and is now just three wins away from the first Calder Cup championship in the NHL organization’s history.
Monsters netminder Anton Forsberg continued his impressive playoff run, stopping 26 of 27 shots for his sixth consecutive win. Forward Daniel Zaar scored twice and checking forward Trent Vogelhuber had the go-ahead goal while Markus Hannikainen chipped in with the final marker. That kind of balanced scoring has helped carry the Monsters this spring.
Lake Erie did it all without even going on the power play. Hershey kept the AHL’s second-best power play off the ice with a penalty-free game.
“I look at their team, and I see a lot of similarities to our team,” Lake Erie head coach Jared Bednar told reporters after Game 1. “I liked our decision-making. We made plays when they were there.”
“We pride ourselves on being a four-line team, and I think we had all four lines going.”
Adjustments needed
The Bears, AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals, are pursuing their fifth Calder Cup championship in 11 seasons. Before taking out the Marlies in five games, the Atlantic Division champions ousted the Portland Pirates and archrival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in five and seven games, respectively.
For Hershey to avoid a 2-0 series hole, head coach Troy Mann will need to combat several strengths in Lake Erie’s game. The Monsters’ aggressive forecheck and strong neutral-zone play often created problems for Bears defenders. Slowing down Lake Erie’s speedy forwards will be critical, too.
“I think we’ve got to get back to pucks quicker and move them [more] quickly,” Mann said after Game 1 via the Bears’ website.
Mann will also have a simple directive for his dressing room.
“I think all season long when we needed a big performance or a bounce-back game, we’ve been resilient in terms of coming with a good game,” Mann said of the Bears. “We need to make a couple of adjustments, certainly play better overall and just come back ready to go.”
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Changes in Winnipeg
A member of Paul Maurice’s coaching staff with the Winnipeg Jets, Pascal Vincent, will have his own bench to run come this fall.
The Jets named Vincent as the new head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, last week. Vincent, 44, replaces Keith McCambridge, who was not retained after the Moose lost 50 games and finished 28th in the AHL this season.
This is Vincent’s first opportunity as a pro head coach after 12 seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and five more as a Jets assistant.
Vincent expressed an interest in eventually becoming an NHL head coach when he was hired by the Jets in 2011, and AHL head-coaching experience is usually a prerequisite to running an NHL bench.
“Working with Paul Maurice to me was like going to university every day,” Vincent said.
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has pushed a strong emphasis on development and believes that Vincent is the right fit for that objective.
“This is the next step in his progression,” he said. “It is a development process. We’re going to have a lot of young players as we continue to move forward here. One thing that was very, very evident in the process of looking for a head coach here was Pascal’s passion on the development side of it.”
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More coaching changes to come…
The Manitoba job is off the board, but it is still a good time to be looking for an AHL head coaching position.
As of now, as many as 11 teams could have new bench bosses when next season arrives.
The Chicago Wolves became the latest team to make a coaching change, as they “mutually agreed” to part ways Thursday with head coach John Anderson. The 59-year-old former Toronto Maple Leafs sniper in the 1980s had just finished the third season of his second stint behind the Chicago bench and has 424 AHL coaching victories.
However, the St. Louis Blues‘ affiliate missed the post-season despite a well-stocked mix of veterans and strong prospects in the competitive Central Division.
The Binghamton Senators, Providence Bruins and the Arizona Coyotes’ new Tucson affiliate each have head-coaching openings as well. Luke Richardson elected to leave Binghamton after four seasons to pursue an NHL head-coaching opportunity. Providence’s Bruce Cassidy will be an assistant with the parent Boston Bruins next season. The Coyotes cleaned house, firing head coach Ron Rolston and his staff after their AHL affiliate finished 29thne.
Earlier this week, former NHL defenceman Ulf Samuelsson left his job as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers to take over the Charlotte Checkers. The Rochester Americans (Dan Lambert) and Syracuse Crunch (Benoit Groulx) filled vacancies as well.
Scott Allen, who coached the Florida Panthers’ AHL prospects with the Portland Pirates, will head to the NHL for an assistant coaching role on Gerard Gallant’s staff, according to multiple reports. The Iowa Wild, who finished the season with interim head coach David Cunniff, have not announced any plans for next season. Iowa placed 30th in the AHL this season, with Cunniff taking the Iowa job when John Torchetti left for an interim role with the Minnesota Wild.
