The Calder Cup Playoffs are down to four teams now, and all that we know is that there will be a new champion this year.
The Charlotte Checkers, who swept the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears in the Atlantic Division Finals, will open the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals against the Laval Rocket on Wednesday night at Place Bell. After both the Central and North Division Finals went the distance, the Abbotsford Canucks and Texas Stars emerged and will meet in the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals. That series will start Thursday at Abbotsford.
All four teams are heavyweights. The Rocket finished first overall in the regular season. Charlotte landed fourth overall while Abbotsford took the fifth spot. Texas rounds out the group having finished 10th in the AHL in the regular season.
Let’s break down the Eastern Conference Finals first. A look at the Western Conference Finals will go Thursday.
Series Schedule
Game 1 – Tonight – Charlotte at Laval 7:00 PM EDT
Game 2 – Tomorrow – Charlotte at Laval 7:00 PM EDT
Game 3 – Sunday, June 1 – Laval at Charlotte 4:00 PM EDT
Game 4 – Tuesday, June 3 – Laval at Charlotte 7:00 PM EDT
Game 5 – Thursday, June 5 – Laval at Charlotte 7:00 PM EDT (if necessary)
Game 6 – Saturday, June 7 – Charlotte at Laval 3:00 PM EDT (if necessary)
Game 7 – Sunday, June 8 – Charlotte at Laval 3:00 PM EDT (if necessary)
How They Got Here
Charlotte: The Checkers finished second in the Atlantic Division with a 44-22-3-3 record, two points behind the first-place Hershey Bears. They tied with the Colorado Eagles for third place overall in the AHL, and their 44 victories tied for second overall. In the best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals, they ousted the Providence Bruins in five games. They then swept the back-to-back Calder Cup champion Bears in the best-of-five Atlantic Division Finals l.
The Checkers had the best finish for a Florida Panthers AHL affiliate since 2014-15 when the San Antonio Rampage went 45-23-7-1 for 98 points. That team fell in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, however. A Florida affiliate has never advanced this far in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Laval: The Rocket won the AHL’s regular-season title, recording a 48-19-3-1 record and 101 points. It was the single-season performance by a Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate since 2009-10 when the Hamilton Bulldogs went 52-17-3-8 for 115 points. Laval then eliminated the Cleveland Monsters in the best-of-five North Division Semifinals, needing four games to do so, before taking out the Rochester Americans in five games in the best-of-five North Division Finals with a 5-0 home win this past Sunday afternoon.
The last time a Canadiens affiliate won the Calder Cup was 2007 when Carey Price graduated from the WHL, joined the Bulldogs, and captured the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Charlotte Checkers
The Checkers website reports that defenseman Matt Kiersted could be back for this series. The veteran has been out of action since exiting Game 3 of the Providence series and has missed five consecutive games. He had 1-28-29 in 64 regular-season games along with one assist in three playoff games.
Kaapo Kähkönen has been Charlotte’s go-to option in net. Acquired from the Winnipeg Jets on March 6 just before the NHL trade deadline, the 2019-20 Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award winner as the AHL’s top goaltender is back in the AHL for the first time since that season. He took control of Charlotte’s number-one job down the stretch and has gone 6-2 | 1.85 | .918 in starting all eight playoff games so far.
Defenseman Trevor Carrick is a force on the back end for the Checkers. A member of the AHL Second All-Star Team, he had 13-37-50 in 66 regular-season games and tied for fourth in AHL scoring among defenseman with Kyle Capobianco of Texas. Carrick won the Calder Cup in 2019 with the Checkers when they were affiliated with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Charlotte’s forward scoring has been exceptionally balanced. Rasmus Asplund’s four goals lead the team, but with the exception of Jesse Puljujärvi (four assists), every forward who has dressed for eight games has recorded at least one goal. John Leonard (36 regular-season goals) is tied with forward Wilmer Skoog and defenseman Michael Benning for second on the team with three goals apiece.
The Charlotte penalty kill has been exceptional, killing off 24 of 26 opposing power-play chances (92.3 percent) and burning opponents for three shorthanded goals. The Checkers’ 16 shorthanded goals in the regular season ranked them first in the AHL. Charlotte can also punish teams on the power play. Charlotte’s power play finished fifth overall in the regular season with a 21.2 percent conversion rate.
The Checkers are quite comfortable on the road. Along with a 3-0 road record this postseason, the Checkers tied for the AHL’s second-best road record (.694) with a 23-9-1-3 mark in the regular season.
Head coach Geordie Kinnear’s team is one of just two AHL teams to have its NHL parent team still competing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Florida, the defending Stanley Cup champion, is just one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final again. The Dallas Stars (Texas) are the other organization still alive in both the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Calder Cup Playoffs.
Laval Rocket
Much has been made about Laval’s goaltending situation, but the net now appears to be controlled fully by veteran Cayden Primeau, who is back in the Eastern Conference Finals after taking the Rocket there three years ago. Primeau, who won 21 of 26 regular-season appearances with the Rocket after being sent to the AHL midseason, had gone back to the Canadiens during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With Connor Hughes injured for the Rocket at the time, much-heralded rookie prospect Jacob Fowler stepped in for the start of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Primeau returned to the Rocket following Montreal’s postseason elimination, and head coach Pascal Vincent alternated between the two for portions of the two playoff series against Cleveland and Rochester. Primeau replaced Fowler in relief in Game 4 last Friday at home against Rochester after the rookie surrendered four goals on 14 shots to the Amerks. Primeau then turned in a 27-save shutout this past Sunday as the Rocket finished off Rochester.
Rocket defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon, who played all 72 regular-season games and the first seven games of the postseason, left Game 3 last Wednesday with an undisclosed injury and has not played since. Noel Hoefenmayer has taken his place on the Laval blue line. On Tuesday the Rocket recalled defenseman Vincent Sévigny from their ECHL affiliate, the Trois-Rivières Lions.
Logan Mailloux (2-4-6 in eight games) ranks third in scoring among AHL blueliners. First-year AHLers Adam Engström and David Reinbacher have also been strong on Laval’s back end.
Long-time top AHL forwards Alex Barré-Boulet and Laurent Dauphin have paced much of the Laval attack. Barré-Boulet is tied for fourth in AHL playoff scoring with 3-7-10 in nine games. Dauphin is in a tie for fifth with 5-4-9 through nine games.
Prone to penalty trouble, Laval is just 18th in the Calder Cup Playoffs on the penalty kill (76.7 percent). But the Rocket are clicking at 24.2 percent on the power play this postseason.
Place Bell is an exceptionally difficult building for visiting teams, though Cleveland and Rochester each won once on Laval ice this postseason. Laval’s .708 home performance (24-9-2-1) tied for second in the AHL in the regular season.
Trois-Rivières also is going for a championship this spring. The Lions eliminated the Florida Everblades with a 6-0 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night. They will face the Toledo Walleye in the Kelly Cup Finals.
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