With a lengthy travel day behind them, the Stars are now in place to begin their Western Conference Finals in Abbotsford tonight.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” head coach Neil Graham said before the Stars headed to the airport Wednesday morning. “You go through two excellent teams in Grand Rapids and Milwaukee. We have a lot of respect for both of those opponents. They were hard-fought series. That battle-readiness is only going to help us down the road. We’ve had a few days to reset and refocus…and now it’s important to execute.”
While the Stars had a lighter schedule early in the postseason, playing only eight games in the last 39 days, the pace will increase considerably. After games in Abbotsford tonight and Saturday night, the teams move to Cedar Park for games Monday, Wednesday and, if necessary, next Friday. The series would then come back to Abbotsford for two more games if needed. Add it up, and it could mean as many as seven games in 12 nights with significant travel as well. So Graham is stressing the need for a quick start to this series for his players despite the lack of familiarity between the teams. He and his coaching staff have spent their time preparing for the Canucks and digging for information.
“There’s no time this time of year to get into things slow or feel it out,” Graham outlined. “We have to start on time. We have to be ready to go. I expect our opponent to be ready to go.”
Rookie forward Justin Hryckowian, whose 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in eight games lead the AHL in playoff scoring, is ready as well. The Stars flew back home from Milwaukee on Monday, learned who their next opponent would be, and got to work preparing for the Canucks.
“We dug in deep there (against Milwaukee) to come out on top, and it was a great feeling to win it in their barn,” Hryckowian said. “We enjoyed the night together, and then as we traveled back, (we) got our minds back on what’s next.
“This league is very competitive from top to bottom. We know we’re going to play a very strong team with a great identity. We’re up for the challenge.”
The Checkers got a key piece of their lineup back for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night.
Defenseman Matt Kiersted re-entered the Charlotte lineup after missing the past five games. Kiersted contributed 29 points (one goal, 28 assists) and a league-best plus-34 rating in 64 regular-season games.
Head coach Geordie Kinnear paired Kiersted with rookie Marek Alscher, and the veteran blueliner picked up two third-period assists in Charlotte’s 5-1 win.
Charlotte and Texas are the first teams since 2019 to reach the Calder Cup conference finals in the same season that their parent teams reached the same round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Florida and Dallas, respectively).
That year, Charlotte and Carolina both made their respective conference finals.
The last pair of affiliates to reach the Finals in the same season was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Pittsburgh in 2008. The last affiliates to win the championship in the same spring were the Albany River Rats and New Jersey Devils in 1995.
― with files from Patrick Williams
