2018 Calder Cup Championship Finals

[JMCx4]

From: The American Hockey League > News

2018 Calder Cup Finals to open Saturday

May 28, 2018

The Toronto Marlies will face off against the Texas Stars for the 82nd American Hockey League championship when the 2018 Calder Cup Finals get underway on Saturday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto.

The Marlies, top development team of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, are seeking their first Calder Cup title. The Stars, top development team of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, won the championship in 2014.

Scores updated 6/14/2018

2018 Calder Cup Finals (best-of-7)
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. P2-Texas Stars
Toronto Marlies win the series 4-3 ... Congratulations!

Game 1 – Sat., June 2 – Texas (5) at Toronto (6) ... Marlies prevail in wild Finals opener

Game 2 – Sun., June 3 – Texas (2) at Toronto (1) ... Stars muffle Marlies, even Finals with Game 2 win

Game 3 – Tue., June 5 – Toronto (2) at Texas (1) ... Toronto bounces back, regains Finals lead

Game 4 – Thu., June 7 – Toronto (2) at Texas (3) ... Stars shine in Game 4, square Finals at 2-2

... Game 5 – Sat., June 9 – Toronto (6) at Texas (2) ... Marlies one win away after Game 5 romp

... Game 6 – Tue., June 12 – Texas (5) at Toronto (2) ... Star burst sinks Marlies in Game 6

... Game 7 – Thu., June 14 – Texas (1) at Toronto (6) ... Seventh heaven: T.O. is title town again

Click to read more...

 

[JMCx4]

The Marlies get the jump on the pre-Finals news releases ...

... With Toronto’s 3-1 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Marlies have won nine straight playoff games, sweeping both the North Division and Eastern Conference Finals. ... The Toronto Marlies advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals following their series sweep against the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division Finals on May 8th. The Marlies defeated the Utica Comets 3-2 in the best-of-five first round series of the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs.

The Calder Cup Finals will be broadcast live on Leafs Nation Network, TSN2 and can be heard on TSN 1050. Purchase a 2018-19 Marlies Membership to secure complimentary tickets to all home games in the Finals. Single game tickets will be available for sale tomorrow (Saturday, May 26) as of noon through Ticketmaster. For more information on the Toronto Marlies 2018 Playoffs Presented by Scotiabank, visit our Playoff Hub. ...

 

[JMCx4]

And the Stars return fire ...

... After winning their Western Conference Finals series on Monday, the Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, announced their home dates for the 2018 Calder Cup Finals where they will face the Toronto Marlies.

The Marlies have home-ice advantage in the series and will host the first two games beginning this weekend in Toronto. The series will shift to H-E-B Center at Cedar Park next week for Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary). Tickets will be on sale beginning Wednesday at 10 a.m. CT for the home games of the series. ...

The Stars are making their third trip to the Finals in their nine-year history in the American Hockey League (2010, 2014) and claimed the Calder Cup in 2014. The Stars did not face the Marlies in the regular season.

Call 512-GO-STARS or visit http://www.texasstars.com for ticket and more information.

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Toronto Star > Sports > Leafs > Opinion

Maple Leafs hope one Cup leads to another
By Damien Cox
Sports Columnist
Mon., May 28, 2018

It’s going to be a challenge for Laurence Gilman to improve on this.

Gilman, in case you missed it, was added to the front-office staff of new Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas last week, and will essentially be the replacement for Dubas. The primary part of that job has been running the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, and that will be a key component of Gilman’s new post, something he’s done before with other NHL teams.

But if you think Dubas has big shoes to fill in replacing Lou Lamoriello, after Lamoriello guided the Leafs from 30th to seventh overall, Gilman may have an even more daunting job. He’ll have to improve upon, or at the very least maintain, the excellence of the Marlies, a team that swept aside a very good Lehigh Valley squad in the Eastern Conference final on the weekend to reach the Calder Cup final, which starts Saturday.

Coming off an outstanding 54-18-2 regular season despite being frequently raided by the Maple Leafs for lineup reinforcements, the Marlies have been even better in the post-season. Getting Travis Dermott and Andreas Johnsson back from the Leafs helped, but for the most part this stingy, Sheldon Keefe-coached squad has been getting by just fine with the players it used all season, notably star goalie Garret Sparks.

The Marlies now have a chance to win the city’s first pro hockey championship since 1967, and they should attract a fair chunk of attention while trying to do it. The Blue Jays are mediocre and Toronto FC just can’t seem to get any traction in their MLS regular season after expending a great deal of effort to try and win the CONCACAF Champions League. ...

Read more at: Maple Leafs hope one Cup leads to another | The Star

 

[Dr Pepper]

And the Stars return fire ...

What an odd scheduling quirk....how did these two teams not meet in the regular season?

Does the AHL still do what the NHL briefly did, where two divisions don't meet for a whole year?

 

[royals119]

What an odd scheduling quirk....how did these two teams not meet in the regular season?

Does the AHL still do what the NHL briefly did, where two divisions don't meet for a whole year?

There isn't a lot of inter-divisional play (or in this case inter-conference) in the AHL. Most teams play most of their games within their division, with some exceptions for teams that are geographically at the edge of their division, and the occasional long road trip. There is a thread discussing the schedule for the upcoming season, and if you go back a year there is probably one discussing the current season's schedule. This is a frequent complaint of fans - not enough variety in the regular season schedule.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

the schedule quirk has been there likely since the absorption/expansion into the midwest in 2001, then the introduction by Brian Burke's comment in2006 which set off the path to creating the 68 game and Pacific Division which finally was adopted in 2015....

 

[JMCx4]

From: NHL.com > News > Headlines

Stars, Maple Leafs affiliates set for Calder Cup Final
Key prospects, veterans lead Texas, Toronto into push for AHL championship

by Patrick Williams / NHL.com Correspondent
May 29th, 2018

Texas (Dallas Stars) and Toronto (Toronto Maple Leafs) will meet in the Calder Cup Final after impressive runs through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

Toronto led the American Hockey League with 112 points in the regular season and has continued that pace with one of the strongest postseason runs in recent history. The Marlies are 11-2 including a nine-game winning streak and a four-game sweep of Lehigh Valley in the Eastern Conference Final.

Texas has won seven of nine overtime playoff games. The Stars advanced with a 2-1 overtime win against Rockford (Chicago Blackhawks) in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final Monday.

Toronto is 7-0 at home in the postseason and hosts Game 1 on Saturday. Here is a look at each team's prospects and key veterans ...

Read more at: https://www.nhl.com/news/dallas-toronto-ahl-affiliates-set-for-calder-cup-final/c-298832936

 

[JMCx4]

From: TheAHL.com > News

Calder Cup Finals to air on TSN2, NHL Network
May 30, 2018
jchaimovitch

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that broadcasts of all seven games of the 2018 Calder Cup Finals between the Toronto Marlies and the Texas Stars will be televised across Canada on TSN2 and in the United States on NHL Network.

Leafs Nation Network, which will produce the broadcasts, will also air the series for its viewers in Ontario. ...

2018 Calder Cup Finals on TSN2 and NHL Network
Game 1 – Sat., June 2 – Texas at Toronto, 4 p.m. ET (TSN2: live; NHLN: Sunday, 9 a.m. ET)
Game 2 – Sun., June 3 – Texas at Toronto, 4 p.m. ET (live)
Game 3 – Tue., June 5 – Toronto at Texas, 8 p.m. ET (live)
Game 4 – Thu., June 7 – Toronto at Texas, 8 p.m. ET (TSN2: live; NHLN: Friday, 1 p.m. ET)
*Game 5 – Sat., June 9 – Toronto at Texas, 8 p.m. ET (live)
*Game 6 – Tue., June 12 – Texas at Toronto, 7 p.m. ET (live)
*Game 7 – Thu., June 14 – Texas at Toronto, 7 p.m. ET (live)
*if necessary ...

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

pulling for Texas here for McKenna

 

[JMCx4]

pulling for Texas here for McKenna

I'll second that emotion, especially since he's a St. Louis-area native.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'll second that emotion, especially since he's a St. Louis-area native.

HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST interviews and players this city and state have seen..... I Mean literally, he elected to come back here 4 years ago after the affiliation switch from Arizona to Florida, he didn't have to, he wanted to..... you don't find players or goalies that will do that

 

[Elysian]

Got my tickets for the games here, can't wait for the 5th.

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Toronto Sun > Sports > Hockey

AHL Stars coach Laxdal playing possum ahead of Calder Cup?
Lance Hornby
Published: May 31, 2018
Updated: May 31, 2018 11:41 AM EDT

Derek Laxdal insists his club is “just some country boys from Texas” coming wide-eyed to a big hockey city for the Calder Cup final against “Canada’s team,” the Toronto Marlies.

Well, picking up that rural theme, the coach of the Dallas Stars’ farm team might be playin’ possum. You don’t play hockey into June by shooting at wild turkeys and striking oil like Jed Clampett.

The AHL Western Conference champions led their division in offence and averaged four goals a night through 11 playoff games, a pace just behind the Marlies. Yet Laxdal threw out the term “underdog” a few times in a chat prior to Saturday’s opener at Ricoh Coliseum.

Toronto did win the AHL’s regular season with 22 more points than the Stars, but East does not play West until now, so the element of surprise is with Texas.

“I love my guys,” declared Laxdal, a 1980s Maple Leafs farmhand from Gimli, Man. “They have character and resiliency. We had to get past three great teams: Ontario, Tucson and Rockford to get here. But the Marlies are where they are because it’s well-deserved.” ...

Read more at: AHL Stars coach Laxdal playing possum ahead of Calder Cup?

 

[JMCx4]

Stephen Meserve of the 100 Degree Hockey blog read my mind ...

... Note that the AHL made AHL Live free for the Finals last year. We'll see if they do that again to assist on Game 1 (and 4) that are tape-delayed on NHL Network. ...

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Games are all live on TSN2 correct?

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Games are all live on TSN2 correct?

Fox Sports Southwest just released they have secured the rights to Games 3, 4, AND POTENTIALLY 5 (ALL games at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park) as part of the relationship between Dallas and Texas, from the Texas Stars website....

 

[JMCx4]

Games are all live on TSN2 correct?

I would've sworn I included it the first time, but I just updated this post.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Should be a tremendous final with two great teams.

I’ll pick the Marlies in six hard fought games.

 

[JMCx4]

The much-anticipated Series Snapshot.

 

[JMCx4]

All in one post this time ...

Multimedia coverage set for Calder Cup Finals
June 1, 2018

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League has announced the complete broadcast information for the 2018 Calder Cup Finals between the Eastern Conference champion Toronto Marlies, top development team of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Western Conference champion Texas Stars, top development team of the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

TSN2 and NHL Network will show all seven games to national audiences in Canada and the United States, respectively, and the entire series will also air live on Leafs Nation Network for viewers in Ontario. Todd Crocker, Bob McGill and Paul Hendrick will have the call.

Additionally, Games 3, 4 and 5 of the series will air live on Fox Sports Southwest Plus (Dish Network 448/9518, DirecTV 676-2, AT&T U-Verse 754/1754), featuring Josh Bogorad and Brent Severyn on the call.

The entire 2018 Calder Cup Finals can also be watched via the AHL’s streaming service, AHL Live (www.ahllive.com), and satellite radio subscribers can listen to Games 2-3 and 5-7 on NHL Network Radio (SiriusXM 91). ...

 

[bukwas]

Lets go Marlies.

 

[JMCx4]

Stars asst. captain Travis Moran leads all scorers with 2G-1A, but the Game 1 hero is the Marlies' LW Trevor Moore who scores the GWG in the middle of the 3rd period after a seesaw battle at Ricoh. Final score = Texas 5 - Toronto 6. Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

 

[JMCx4]

From: The American Hockey League > News

AHL Morning Skate: 6.3.18
June 3, 2018 ...

Playoff Brackets | Today’s Scoreboard | League Stats

@

Game 2 – Today, 4:00 ET, AHL Live | Series Infographic
TV: TSN2, Leafs Nation Network, NHL Network
Satellite Radio: NHL Network Radio (SiriusXM 91)

A wild, frenetic Game 1 of the 2018 Calder Cup Finals went to Toronto yesterday as Trevor Moore‘s go-ahead goal with 9:57 remaining held up as the difference in a 6-5 Marlies victory over Texas… Toronto, winners of 10 in a row coming into Game 2 today, rallied from down 4-2 in the final minute of the second period to pull out the first Finals win in club history (1-4)… Moore (5-9-14) now has 14 points in 14 playoff games after putting up 12-21-33 in 68 games during the regular season… Four members of Texas’s 2014 championship team were in the lineup yesterday, and they combined for 11 points: Chris Mueller (3-10-13) led the Marlies with a goal and two assists, while the line of Travis Morin (2g, 1a), Justin Dowling (1g, 2a) and Curtis McKenzie (1g, 1a) scored four of the Stars’ five goals in Game 1… Morin (6-5-11) has scored seven goals in his last six Calder Cup Finals contests and has 8-5-13 in 12 career Finals games… McKenzie (7-9-16) moved into a tie for the AHL lead with his seventh goal of the postseason… After combining for 16 points in four conference finals games vs. Lehigh Valley, Toronto’s trio of Andreas Johnsson (6-9-15), Miro Aaltonen (4-6-10) and Carl Grundstrom (6-4-10) was held scoreless by Texas yesterday… Justin Holl (2-1-3) netted his first goal for the Marlies since Game 1 of the first round vs. Utica, and Martin Marincin (1-6-7) ended a 15-game drought with his first goal since Apr. 6… Garret Sparks (11-2, 2.19, .920) stopped 32 shots to pick up the win despite allowing five goals for just the third time all season… Mike McKenna (11-5, 2.20, .933) made 28 saves in defeat… Toronto’s 10-game winning streak is the longest in AHL postseason play since Norfolk won its final 10 games of the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs… The Marlies also have a 13-game home winning streak, and have won 13 straight home playoff games going back to last year… The Marlies trailed for longer in Game 1 (31:45) than they had in the first nine games of their winning streak combined (22:57)… Texas scored on its first two power plays of Game 1 and finished 2-for-4; Toronto went 1-for-5. ...

 

[JMCx4]

The American Hockey League > News

Marlies, Stars going right back at it
June 3, 2018
by Patrick Williams | for TheAHL.com

The Texas Stars and Toronto Marlies see a lot of themselves in each other.

Skill, depth, and a certain stubbornness – those are some of the main elements shared by two opponents who were otherwise unfamiliar with each other before Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals on Saturday. ...

Texas also possesses abundant playoff experience. Captain Curtis McKenzie along with forwards Travis Morin and Justin Dowling each won the Calder Cup with Texas in 2014. Goaltender Mike McKenna took the Syracuse Crunch to the Calder Cup Finals last year. ...

But pre-scouts and video review of an unknown opponent are no replacement for finally lining up next to an opponent in front of a sold-out building.

“They’re really efficient in their game,” Stars head coach Derek Laxdal said of the Marlies. ...

“They’re just like us,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Texas. “There are no shifts off. They’re coming all the time. That’s a different feel from what we’ve had. We’ve been really able to establish ourselves in games and take over.”

“We haven’t had a team push back that hard on us. We were expecting that coming in, but it’s a whole other thing to get out there on the ice and play against it.”

“It’s going to be a lot harder for us to do that in this series.” ...


Read more at: Marlies, Stars going right back at it | TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League