WINNIPEG, Man – When you first look at the statistics of the Moose players you might be excused if you believed Manitoba finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. Jason Krog did finish third in the AHL in scoring, but after his 86 points the next closest scorer on the team (Jason Jaffray) finished with 49, a whopping 37 points behind Krog.
However all you need to know about the Moose and how they turned into the best team in the AHL this season lies to the right of the “goals for” column. The goals against column shows the Moose allowed only 188 scores and were only one of two clubs in the loop to allow less than 200 scores (Milwaukee gave up 195 goals). Thanks to their stingy defense the Moose boasted the best record in the AHL with 107 p oints—they won the tie-breaker over the Admirals–because Manitoba had more wins.
Thanks to a win over the Houston Aeros the Moose will enter the finals for the first time in their nine year existence spread over the IHL and the AHL. The team earned home ice for this series and will be backed by a crowd which may sell out their 15,000 seat arena at least for the opening game. Their opponents will be the Hershey Bears who have won nine Calder Cups during the franchise’s storied AHL career.
The defense has held in the playoffs as the club has allowed an average of just over two goals per contest. AHL Goaltender of the Year Cory Schneider has played in all but 43 minutes during the playoffs and has been outstanding with a 12-3 mark and a 2.03 goals against average. Schneider’s job has been made easier both by a team defensive system which limits opportunity and some pressure has been taken off the young goaltender by an offense that has picked up 52 goals during the 16 games to date. NHL veteran Curtis Sanford played in 19 games for the Canucks this year and played well in his one relief role in the playoffs is Schneider’s back-up.
While it may be easy to pass the club off as one that is purely a “systems” team the club is loaded with talent. Because the club opened up their roster to a few players from the Dallas Stars organization the team has five first round draft choices and one second round draft choice dressing for the championship. Dallas provided a first rounder and the second rounder to the roster. In addition the parent Vancouver Canucks have done an excellent job signing free agents bringing in such players as Jaffray and Alexandre Bolduc who were both recalled by the Canucks and saw NHL action this year. In addition the Moose organization has a firm affiliation with the ECHL Victoria Salmon Kings which has led to some excellent talent joining the club as needed.
For the second season in a row Krog has torn up the AHL playoffs. After leading the AHL in playoff scoring with a record-tying 28 points with the Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves last season, Krog sits in third place in scoring with 18 points this year. Jaffray (14), Mark Cullen (11), Mike Keane (11), Michael Grabner (12) and Guillaume Desbiens (11) have all cracked the double-digit point barrier for the club. In addition Bolduc, who the club hopes will be back for Game 1 on Saturday, May 30, has 9 points in 10 games and Matt Pope has picked up six points in seven games. Manitoba has also suited up Vancouver’s 2008 first round choice Cody Hodgson in recent games and he produced his first goal in Game 6 against the Aeros. Raymond Sawada, Greg Rallo, currently injured Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Dusty Collins and Mario Bliznak all play important roles for the club up front. Derek Nesbitt and Tom Maxwell are in reserve.
Veteran defender Nolan Baumgartner leads a defensive corps whose output is greater than the sum of its parts. Dallas first rounder Mark Fistric leads the group with seven points and players such as Travis Ramsey, Nathan McIver, Maxime Fortunas, Shawn Heshka and Zack FitzGerald are a combined +19 as a group.
Head coach Scott Arniel leads a staff which includes Jay Wells and Rick St. Croix as assistant coaches with St. Croix focusing on the goaltenders. The trio has done a solid job coaching the special teams as the power play ranks sixth in the league and the penalty-killing unit sits at third best. As an interesting side note Wells came to the club from the Bears where he was an assistant for that club last year.
The series is an interesting comparison=2 0between offense and defense. As previously mentioned the Moose were the best defensive club in the regular season. In direct contrast no team in the AHL this year scored more than the 296 times the Bears did this year. Hershey is led by Alexandre Giroux who scored 60 goals and 97 points. Giroux teamed with Keith Aucoin, who was the league-runner up with 96 points to his credit. Aucoin did miss the last game of the series between Hershey and Providence so his availability is unknown heading into the next round. It is also important to note the Bears have tightened up defensively in the playoffs without sacrificing much offense so they will be difficult to overcome.
This season’s Calder Cup finals may very well come down to how well Manitoba can limit Giroux and how well Hershey can limit Krog. It should be a classic series and win or lose the series will mark the ascension of the Moose franchise into AHL royalty. After all, once upon a time the Bears franchise had to start their tradition with their first championship.
HERSHEY, Pa – For the third time in the past four seasons, and the 21st time in team history, the Hershey Bears are in the AHL Calder Cup finals and will face off against the Western Conference champions, the Manitoba Moose.
By Brian Jennings
Series overview
This marks the sixth straight season that a team based in Pennsylvania has reached the finals. Hershey lost in 2007 to the Hamilton Bulldogs, but won the title, the team’s ninth, in 2006 when they defeated the Milwaukee Admirals. The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins lost last season to the Chicago Wolves, and in 2004 to Milwaukee. The Philadelphia Phantoms won the title in 2005 over Chicago.
The Moose and Bears finished one point apart during the year. Hershey finished in first place in the East Division with a record of 49-23-2-6 (106 points) and was the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Manitoba finished in first place in the West Division with a record of 50-23-1-6 (107 points) and was the top seed in the Western Conference. Both teams are 7-1 at home and 5-3 on the road in the playoffs.
The two have never faced each other in the Calder Cup playoffs, and did not play each other this season. However, the Moose have played the Bears, the AHL’s oldest franchise in this their 71st season, eight times in their history. In that span, the two teams have each won four games.
In th e Calder Cup playoffs, The Bears and Moose are tied for the league lead in offense with 52 goals apiece. Hershey has allowed 35 goals while Manitoba has allowed 33. Hershey has the league’s fourth best power play unit while Manitoba is sixth. The Moose are third rated penalty killing unit, while Hershey is 12th out of the 16 playoff teams.
The Bears have three of the top seven playoff scorers in the AHL. League MVP Alexandre Giroux is second overall in points with 9 goals and 11 assists. His 9 goals scored are second overall. During the regular season he led the league in goals in points with 97 and goals with 60. Chris Bourque is tied for third with 18 points with Manitoba’s Jason Krog, but leads the league with 14 assists.
Keith Aucoin is two points behind Bourque in points with 16 and is second on the team in assists with 13. Rookies Oskar Osala and Mathieu Perreault are tied for sixth overall in rookie scoring with 8 points each. However, Aucoin missed Game 5 against Providence and may not be available or at full strength.
Bryan Helmer leads the Bears defense with 8 points, 3 goals and 5 assists, which is tied for fourth by a defenseman. Tyler Sloan is tied for twelfth with 5 points.
The matchup will be a great test between two very good goaltenders. Rookie goaltender Michal Neuvirth will go up against Manitoba’s Cory Schneider. Both goaltenders are tied for third in goals against average (2.03), and in wins with 12 each. Neuvirth is sixth in save percentage (.929) while Schneider is seventh (.924). Neuvirth also leads the league with four shutouts.
If the Bears penalty killing unit can keep the Manitoba power play off the scoreboard, or at least keep it in check, the Bears should be in good shape. Both teams are evenly matched.
In addition Vancouver assigned Cody Hodgson to the Moose once his junior season ended. His addition will be one more obstacle for the Bears to overcome. The Bears do not have home ice advantage and it might cost them the series. Still, if they can steal a game on the road, it should bode well for Hershey. One gets the feeling if Hershey is going to win the series it will have to be on the road in either Game 6 or 7.
Contact tom.schettino@prohockeynews.com Contact brian.jennings@prohockeynews.com Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net
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