March 2004

Around The AHL
By Anthony Mingioni

Tight Pack of Teams Vying For Playoffs

Its nitty-gritty time in the AHL as six weeks remain in the regular season, and all 28 teams are technically still in the hunt for a trip to the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs.

In that time, the divisional rivalries that the league is known for will result in crucial high-stakes showdowns.

The West Division boasts the league’s top two teams as well as the last two Calder Cup champions. The Grand Rapids Griffins have climbed to the top of the AHL’s overall standings with 82 points, but the Griffins’ quest for a third consecutive AHL division championship is by no means over, as Milwaukee is in close pursuit in the West with 76 points (and two games in hand).

The Chicago Wolves remain within striking distance as well, with the Houston Aeros, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, San Antonio Rampage and Utah Grizzlies poised to battle for the final two berths.

Like Milwaukee in the West, Cleveland and Syracuse are closing the gap and have games in hand on first-place Hamilton in the North Division. Only four points separate the Barons (68 pts) and Crunch (67 pts) from the Toronto Roadrunners and Rochester Americans, each with 64 points.

The St. John’s Maple Leafs and the Manitoba Moose are currently on the outside looking in; the Maple Leafs and Moose have plenty of intra-divisional games left in which to make up ground.

It’s been a three-horse race atop the East Division for much of the season, and the Philadelphia Phantoms (75 pts) and Bridgeport Sound Tigers (74 pts) are beginning to separate themselves from the field.

The Hershey Bears are seven points behind the Phantoms, but have just 16 games remaining. The Norfolk Admirals (65 pts) has turned their season around with a 12-3-1-0 tear, and the Binghamton Senators and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (each with 60 pts) are suddenly fighting for fifth place.

The Albany River Rats (48 pts) are on life support but have two games left each against the Senators and Penguins.

Hartford has owned at least a share of its division lead since Oct 24, and a current 11-game points streak (8-0-2-1) has the Wolf Pack in position to make a run at their second Calder Cup in five years. Just as in the North, only four points come between second-place Manchester Monarchs (67 pts) and fifth-place Portland Pirates (63 pts) in the Atlantic, and Lowell Lock Monsters (58 pts) and Springfield Falcons (50 pts) still have plenty of time to make up ground.

The top five teams in each division reach the postseason, with the fourth- and fifth-place teams squaring off in a best-of-three qualifying round.

AHL Notes

Jason LaBarbera posted back-to-back shutouts for the third time in the last five weeks, and John Slaney became the most prolific scoring defenseman in AHL history. The veteran Slaney scored his 125th career American Hockey League goal on Saturday night, establishing a new standard for a defenseman. Slaney’s goal was the game-winner in Philadelphia’s 4-1 win over Hershey, as the Phantoms improved to 10-0-0 against the rival Bears on the season. Hartford Wolf Pack goalie LaBarbera did his part to rewrite league annals when he shut out Bridgeport and Worcester over the weekend, continuing his breakthrough season and extending his own AHL record to 12 shutouts on the year. The goose eggs also allowed the Wolf Pack to set a league mark with 15 as a team…The Sound Tigers’ Martin Kariya and older brother Steve Kariya of Albany faced off against each other for the first time on Feb 27; one or both of them had missed each of the teams’ first five meetings this season... Utah goaltender Jason Bacashihua improved to 4-for-4 this season (and 5-for-5 in his pro career) on penalty shots when he stopped an attempt by Manchester’s Jeff Giuliano on Feb 28... Chris Taylor recorded one goal and seven assists during the weekend of Feb 27-29 for Rochester... Milwaukee forward Greg Classen registered six points and a plus-8 rating in four games last week... Grand Rapids had its 10-game home winning streak and 16-game home unbeaten streak snapped in a 5-3 loss to Philadelphia on Feb 29.

-Written with assistance from AHL press releases.