Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
National Hockey League general managers want their prospects playing intense, high-pressure AHL games come March and April.
That was the driving force behind the AHL adopting a 23-team format for the Calder Cup Playoffs a few years ago. And with two weeks to go in the 2024-25 regular season, 29 clubs are either already guaranteed a playoff berth or still in the hunt. Thirteen teams remain alive with seven spots up for grabs.
Those tight playoff races mean that prospects are getting that desired high-stakes hockey. Whether or not their teams make the postseason cut, these players are gaining valuable experience.
Being on the outside of the playoff picture at this stage of the season makes for a difficult task. But impossible? Definitely not.
Recently, the 2016-17 Stockton Heat went on a 7-0-3-1 run to finish the regular season and push their way into the postseason. A year later, the last-place San Jose Barracuda made up a 10-point gap with six consecutive wins to secure a berth. The Hartford Wolf Pack used an eight-game winning streak in late March and early April to get into the 2023 postseason, and last year’s Belleville Senators won eight of their last nine to carry them into the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Here is a look at the AHL teams that are still alive but currently sitting outside of a playoff spot as the regular season’s final two weeks begin.
BAKERSFIELD CONDORS
It was a tough weekend for the Condors, no doubt.
Coming into a two-game visit to Tucson, Bakersfield trailed the Roadrunners by just one point for the Pacific Division’s seventh and final playoff spot. Two regulation losses later, that gap is now five points with six games to go.
That said, the Condors have two factors going for them. They hold two games in hand on Tucson, and they have also gotten solid play from goaltender Brett Brochu, who has stepped in for the recalled Olivier Rodrigue and given the Condors solid performances.
BELLEVILLE SENATORS
After last season’s late run, the B-Sens are back in territory that is familiar if nothing else.
Last weekend’s two-game home series against Rochester started off well enough with a 5-0 win; Wyatt Bongiovanni’s standout season continued with two more goals as he reached the 20-goal mark. But the Amerks pushed back on Saturday with a 4-0 victory, leaving the Senators six points out of fifth place in the North Division.
A visit to Rochester on Wednesday begins a five-game road trip that continues in Springfield and Providence, and the schedule ends with three games against league-leading Laval.
The Sens’ goaltending duo of Leevi Meriläinen and Malcolm Subban has been solid in net, and has experience in pressure games before.
HENDERSON SILVER KNIGHTS
Saturday’s 4-1 Silver Knights win against Coachella Valley completed the season series with Henderson winning six of eight meetings with the two-time conference champions. It also allowed the Silver Knights’ high-wire act to continue; but 11 points out with six games to go, there is no margin for error.
Henderson closes out the regular season with two home games against Bakersfield, sandwiched around a four-game road swing to Colorado, San Diego and Bakersfield.
Carl Lindbom has had a terrific season, going 17-13-1 with a .915 save percentage, and Raphael Lavoie returned to the lineup last week and got into the scoring column Saturday.
IOWA WILD
Six points out a playoff spot with five games to go, the Wild have won four in a row as they continue to chase down the Rockford IceHogs for the Central Division’s final playoff spot.
The Wild swept a two-game road set against a top-tier opponent in the Texas Stars last Tuesday and Wednesday, outscoring their hosts 10-3. They then returned home for back-to-back games against San Diego and grabbed 4-2 and 5-1 wins. Since returning from the Minnesota Wild, top prospect Liam Öhgren has provided four goals in seven games.
The Wild host first-place Milwaukee on Wednesday, then it’s a weekend on the road for a pair of games against the Manitoba Moose. Iowa closes out at home against Chicago and Grand Rapids.
SAN DIEGO GULLS
The two losses in Des Moines left the Gulls nine points out with five games left. Now it’s on to Bakersfield for a meeting with the Condors on Wednesday before the road continues to Coachella Valley on Friday.
But San Diego has shown before that they can get hot: Their season was revived by a 10-1-0-1 stretch between Feb. 12 and Mar. 8. The Gulls have also gotten a jolt from defenseman Stian Solberg, the 2024 first-round draft pick who has four points in eight games since joining the club.
UTICA COMETS
No matter how many times it has seemed that the season came close to getting away from the Comets, they are still mathematically alive with six games to go.
If the season had begun on Nov. 22, the Comets would be in fourth place in the North Division with a record of 29-20-4-0. But a forgettable start that included a 13-game winless streak and a head-coaching change left Utica in a hole they are still trying to dig out of.
The Comets have won five straight, including a home-and-home sweep of Hershey and victories over Springfield and Providence last weekend. They still will need to win out and then get considerable help to bump aside one of Toronto, Cleveland and Belleville. Syracuse visits on Wednesday before a two-game weekend trip to Charlotte.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
