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It's officially playoff time for the AHL, and many teams are looking to do what the Bears did last season and compete in the postseason for a chance to hoist the AHL's ultimate prize, the Calder Cup. Sure, a good regular season is always well-received in any sport, but rest assured that every game counts now and every team in the AHL knows that well… especially Hershey. The Bears can act like they've been here before.
After Saturday's 4-1 loss to Charlotte, Bears head coach Todd Nelson told Chocolate Hockey's Andrew Kalista, “The players are disappointed, but they're also a little scared.” . “Charlotte is a good team, Charlotte is a fast team.”
A rough end to the season for Hershey is obviously not something anyone in Chocolate Town wants to see, but it's an opportunity for the Bears to hit the reset button, and it's always good when a team enters its “second season.” Thing.
I think anyone associated with the Bears would sign up for a repeat of last year's playoffs without hesitation, and the Bears have a chance to start with the Charlotte Checkers just like they did last postseason.
2024 AHL Playoffs Bracket (AHL.com)
Hershey is the top-seeded team in the Atlantic Division, earning the right to play the lower seeds coming out of each first-round matchup, and is guaranteed not to play Wilkes-Barre, but if they pull off an upset. They could potentially play against Lehigh Valley. Opening game at Wilkes-Barre. The more likely scenario is against either No. 6 seed Hartford or No. 4 Charlotte, which ended its season with a disappointing regular-season finale last Saturday night.
As mentioned above, Hershey faced Charlotte in the division semifinals in last year's postseason, and Hershey won 3-1. The series began in Charlotte and ended in Hershey, with two games played in each city. In the series-ending win, Hershey allowed two goals to Charlotte in the first period, but tied it up before the second intermission. Trailing by two points with 20 games remaining, Hershey was on a roll, with Dylan McInrath scoring an unassisted goal in the first minute, Riley Sutter adding another goal 1:11 later, and Aliaksey Protas. scored two more goals to close out the game and the series.
Hershey defeated Hartford 3-0 in the division final, Rochester 4-2 in the conference final, and Coachella Valley 4-3 in the Calder Cup final to lift its 12th Calder Cup trophy.
This season, Charlotte is the 14th-best team in the entire AHL and the fourth-best team in the division. They have a record of 39-26-7, just shy of 40 wins, and were closer than the score would indicate, ending with an ugly 4-1 victory over Hershey, but late in the third game they were empty-handed. There were two net goals. They will have to take on Hartford, a 34-28-7 team that finished 4-0 to end the season with a loss to No. 2 seed Providence in the Atlantic Region.
Lehigh Valley begins its series against Wilkes-Barre Scranton on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Charlotte begins its three-game series Thursday when it hosts Hartford at 7 p.m.
Around AHL
For the two teams, the AHL postseason begins Tuesday night with the Texas Stars hosting the Manitoba Moose. Last season, both teams reached the Central Regional semifinals, and Texas also reached the Central Regional final, but lost to Milwaukee and then the Coachella Valley, 4-2 in six games. Manitoba was a No. 3 seed in 2023, but lost 3-2 to a tough Milwaukee team in five of the five-game series.
This year, in the regular season, only one point separated the Moose and the Stars, with the Stars falling just short of the fourth seed, but it was as close as it gets. The Stars may have the seeding, but the Moose have momentum in the series against Texas, having defeated the Stars six times this year and only losing twice in eight total meetings with the Stars. It is. Not only that, but Manitoba also won its final four games against Texas to end the year.
When you “make the turn” on the golf course and go from the back nine to the front nine, you don't want to come out of bogey on the ninth. Let alone a few bogeys, a few double bogeys, and even a shot in. pond. That's how Manitoba felt this season at the turn of the regular season on Jan. 26. After 11 consecutive losses, they are at the bottom of the AHL standings, at rock bottom. Manitoba quickly turned things around at 22-12-1-1 and bounced back in the second half of the season. Christian Reichel ranks eighth on the AHL scoring list, and Manitoba's Brad Lambert (T-19), Kyle Capobianco (T-26) and Jeff Marotte are among the top 30 scorers by the end of the regular season. Has entered. (T-26).
Brad Lambert's tie for 19th is tops in the league among AHL rookies, a common sight for the Moose who get a lot of points from young players. Lambert led the league in rookie scoring with 21 goals and 34 assists for 55 points, making him second in Moose rookie history in scoring. Fellow Manitoba natives Nikita Chibrikov and Parker Ford are also part of the Moose scoring frenzy. Lambert, Ford, and Chiburikov are all in the top 20 in rookie scoring this season.
Manitoba has a freshman, while Texas has a sophomore, a sensational star in his second season. Mavrik Bourke, a 2020 first-round draft pick, led the entire AHL in scoring with 26 goals and 77 assists with 51 assists in 71 games played this season. Additionally, Matej Blumel was fifth in the AHL with 31 goals and second on the Stars in team points with 62. The two were the leaders of a Texas team looking to quickly get past Manitoba and take on the top-seeded Milwaukee Admirals. In the next round.
Much like Hershey, the Admirals will be able to sit through the opening round of the playoffs before getting down to business in the division semifinals. That's because they have won 47 games this season, which ranks third in the league behind Coachella Valley and Hershey.
Perhaps one of the closest games in the playoffs will be the Central Region's No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 Grand Rapids and Rockford. Both teams passed the first round with byes and will have plenty of time to get acclimated before facing off in a best-of-five series. The series begins Saturday in Rockford. To keep things even closer, both teams split the regular season, with each winning six of a total of 12 games.
On the coast, the Coachella Valley still reverberates with the AHL's second-best record. On the other side of the Bears bracket, the Firebirds are in the same scenario as Hershey. They will face the lowest-seeded opponent to advance through the first round, with the exception of the Pacific Division, which does not have a No. 2 seed, such as Providence in the Atlantic. This means a lower seed in Calgary, Ontario, Bakersfield, Colorado or Abbotsford will face the Firebirds, then a higher seed will play a mid-ranked seed.
Finally, there's a monster in the closet (at least for now). They don't have to come out and wreak havoc until after the first round, when they'll face the winner of the trifecta between the Belleville Senators and Toronto Marlies. Cleveland won 40 games, won the division championship, and finished the season with three straight wins against all playoff opponents. They defeated the Rochester Americans, the No. 2 seed in the North Division, 3-2 in overtime on April 19, and then played both games over the weekend against the No. 5 seed and regional semifinalist Toronto Marlies. They won 4-3 and ended the season. 3-1 each.
Once again, the AHL playoffs begin on Tuesday, April 23rd at 8 p.m. with the Manitoba Moose taking on the Texas Stars.
In addition to the Toronto Marlies facing the Belleville Senators on Wednesday night, there are four other matchups, including Lehigh Valley vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Abbotsford vs. Colorado, Calgary vs. Tucson, and Bakersfield vs. Ontario. be exposed.
