After a frenetic Friday saw several puzzle pieces fall into place, the 2024-25 regular season comes to a conclusion with 14 games tonight and one more on Sunday afternoon.
Only one Calder Cup Playoff berth remains up for grabs, but nine seeds are still to be determined as teams prepare to play Game 72. Here’s a look at where things stand on the penultimate day of the season:
ATLANTIC DIVISION
The Hershey Bears (1) and Charlotte Checkers (2) have secured byes into the division semifinals in the Atlantic Division, while the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (5) and Springfield Thunderbirds (6) will be the lower seeds in the first round.
Providence and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton enter Saturday jockeying for third and fourth place. The Penguins host Cleveland (6 ET, AHL Live on Social Game of the Week), while the Bruins entertain Bridgeport (7 ET).
Providence clinches third place on Saturday with:
(a) a point vs. Bridgeport, OR
(b) a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton loss (reg/OT/SO) or OT/SO win vs. ClevelandWilkes-Barre/Scranton clinches third place on Saturday with:
(a) a regulation win vs. Cleveland AND a Providence regulation loss vs. Bridgeport
NORTH DIVISION
The North Division races were all locked up Friday night, as Toronto (4) and Cleveland (5) secured the final two playoff berths and Syracuse (3) clinched a third-place finish.
The Laval Rocket (1) wrapped up the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s regular-season champions, and will await the winner of a Marlies-Monsters first-round series. The Rochester Americans (2) will take on the Crunch in the other division semifinal.
CENTRAL DIVISION
The Milwaukee Admirals (1) outlasted the Texas Stars (2) in the race for the division title in the Central, while the Rockford IceHogs (5) are preparing for a first-round series against either Grand Rapids or Chicago.
The Griffins hold a two-point lead over the Wolves entering Saturday. The third-place finisher gets a date with Texas in the division semifinals, while the fourth-place club would square off against Rockford in the best-of-three round. Grand Rapids is in Iowa tonight (7 ET); the Wolves entertain the IceHogs (8 ET).
Grand Rapids clinches third place on Saturday with:
(a) a point at Iowa, or
(b) a Chicago loss (reg/OT/SO) vs. RockfordChicago clinches third place on Saturday with:
(a) a win vs. Rockford AND a Grand Rapids regulation loss at Iowa
PACIFIC DIVISION
The Colorado Eagles (1) clinched the division championship on Friday night, and the Coachella Valley Firebirds (4) are securely in fourth place. The rest of the Pacific Division seeding – and the final invitation to the postseason party – will be determined this weekend.
Bakersfield, five points out of a playoff spot on the morning of April 9, has clawed back into the hunt and is tied with Tucson for seventh place. The Condors are in Henderson tonight to close out a home-and-home with the Silver Knights (9 ET), while the Roadrunners host the Eagles (10 ET).
Tucson clinches a playoff spot on Saturday with:
(a) a win vs. Colorado, OR
(b) a Bakersfield regulation loss at Henderson, OR
(c) an OTL/SOL vs. Colorado AND a Bakersfield OTL/SOL at HendersonBakersfield clinches a playoff spot on Saturday with:
(a) a win at Henderson AND a Tucson loss (reg/OT/SO) vs. Colorado, OR
(b) an OTL/SOL at Henderson AND a Tucson regulation loss vs. Colorado
Abbotsford and Ontario are tied for second place with 90 points each heading into their season finale – a meeting against each other at Toyota Arena tonight (9 ET). The winner of tonight’s game gets second place; the loser finishes third.
And the 1,152nd and final game – an Easter Sunday showdown between Calgary and San Jose at the Scotiabank Saddledome – will determine fifth and sixth place in the Pacific Division. The Barracuda took a two-point lead over the Wranglers with an 8-3 win on Friday, putting them in control of their fate in the finale. The fifth-place finisher will meet the Firebirds in the first round.
San Jose clinches fifth place on Sunday with:
(a) a point at CalgaryCalgary clinches fifth place on Sunday with:
(a) a regulation win vs. San Jose
The AHL’s scoring races are also coming down to the wire. Texas forward Matěj Blümel has closed to within one point of San Jose’s Andrew Poturalski atop the league leaderboard; while Poturalski, the AHL Player of the Month for March, has missed the last eight games due to injury, Blümel has seven points in his last five outings. Blümel also has 39 goals on the season, three more than Toronto’s Alex Steeves in the race for the Willie Marshall Award as the league’s top goal-scorer.
Full playoff schedules will be announced at the conclusion of play Sunday. The first round of the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs will be a best-of-three series, followed by best-of-five division semifinals and division finals, the best-of-seven conference finals and the best-of-seven Calder Cup Finals. Stay tuned to theahl.com and follow us on Instagram (@TheAHL), Facebook (fb.com/TheAHL), Bluesky (@theahl.com), Threads (@TheAHL) and X (@TheAHL), for the latest updates all weekend long.
All of the action of the regular-season finales can be seen live on AHLTV on FloHockey.
