AHL Finals Review

AHL Finals Review
By Tricia McMillan, AHL Correspondent

Game One: Hershey 4, Hamilton 2
(Hershey leads series 1-0)
The Hershey Bears started the series off with a 4-2 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs in Hershey. The Bears' first two goals both came on the power play, Eric Veilleux's goal late in the first period on a deflected point shot by Rich Brennan and another one early in the second period when Eric Messier tallied from the point without the aid of a tip. The Bulldogs came back to make it close with a goal from Scott Ferguson midway through the second, but it took Hershey just 90 seconds to regain a two-goal lead compliments of Christian Matte. Hamilton's Yuri Khymylev picked up another goal for the Bulldogs minutes later, but neither team was able to score again until Hamilton pulled goaltender Steve Passmore in the final minutes of the game and Hershey's Mike McHugh hit the open net to seal the deal for the Bears.

JF Labbe
Photo by Kevin Fischer

As had happened twice in the previous four games, JF Labbe left the game in the first period for a time after a goal crease collision appeared to have injured him, but he returned to the game and finished it with 28 saves. Marc Denis replaced Labbe and stopped three more shots, although given the frequency of this sequence of events one wonders if coach Bob Hartley is participating in serious gamesmanship or simply has orders from Colorado to give Denis ice time. Despite the rough-and-tumble nature of both teams, other than some antics in the first period this game proceeded without much ado, with only four penalties called the last two periods of the game. Don't count on that to last!

Game Two: Hershey 6, Hamilton 5 OT
(Hershey leads series 2-0)
What a game. As promised, the Bulldogs came out scrapping and except for scoring the first goal of the game when Labbe failed to hang onto Joe Hulbig's weak shot and allowed an even weaker goal to Jeff Daw, the first period was all Bears. In fact, the Bears outshot the Bulldogs 16-5 and by the middle of the second period the differential was 26-7. The shot difference was largely due to power plays. The Bears spent most of the game on it, including having three different 5-on-3 opportunities.
The Bears evened things back up in the first period on a goal by Eric Veilleux, and seemed well on their way when they scored again on a weak five-hole shot by Christian Matte that somehow eluded Steve Passmore. By this point a betting pool had started on when Passmore would be called for a penalty; referee Blaine Angus could have called Passmore for a dozen infractions but settled for a late second-period call for interference. But the late second was also when the Bulldogs put their game into gear and tied the score back up on Daw's unassisted second goal of the game, then took a 3-2 lead compliments of an Eric Landry shot.
The Bulldogs then started the third period by extending their lead to two goals, when a point shot from Craig Millar somehow found its way through the other nine skaters and Labbe to find the back of the net without so much as a deflection. With a two-goal lead the game seemed safely in Hamilton's hands, but as it turned out the game was really in Angus' whistle. He sent Steve Kelly off for an unsportsmanlike conduct call at 9:16 and at 10:19 also sent off Scott Ferguson for a slash. The Bears scored on this, their third 5-on-3, when Mike McHugh scored his first of the evening (this sequence also included another regular occurrence these days, as Hartley pulled Labbe for a few seconds and let Denis take the net during the 5-on-3. Upon scoring, Labbe returned to the net). Forty-eight seconds later, still on the power play at 5-on-4, Passmore committed two goaltending cardinal sins: he tried to clear the puck himself and he tried to clear it up the middle of the ice. The Bears' Christian Matte said thanks to Passmore, knocked down the clearing attempt and kicked it to McHugh, who rattled a shot off both goalposts and into the empty net, much to Passmore's chagrin.

Eric Landry
Photo by Art Ward

The chagrin would get worse, because Hamilton's Eric Landry was more than a little upset with what he perceived as uneven penalty calling - and promptly received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of his own. This time it was Steffon Walby's turn to enjoy the continuing manpower advantage and score Hershey's third power-play goal in 2:09. Whoops. Now it was Hamilton behind the eight ball, needing desperately to score but remaining perpetually on the penalty kill. With less than a minute remaining, the Bulldogs pulled Passmore and went for the gold - they got it too, when Ferguson scored with only 42 seconds left in the game to tie it at 5-5.
On to overtime we went, but it turned out to be almost not worth waiting through the intermission as Walby picked off an errant Hamilton pass, walked in on a two-on-zero breakaway and passed it to McHugh, who completed his hat trick to put an end to the game just 56 seconds into the extra session. The final damage included 46 shots on Passmore, but only 22 shots against Labbe and only 17 saves from him, not one of his better efforts. The Bears had received a total of ten chances on the power play, converting on five of them, while the Bulldogs received only three chances.
A very discouraged Bulldog team boarded the bus for Hamilton down 2-0 as the series headed for their home building. (Discouraged except for Georges Laraque, who received a very large stuffed dinosaur as a present at the game and delighted himself after the game trying to fit Dino through the bus door.) The Hamilton Booster Club made the trip to Hershey and were far more diplomatic about the loss than their players; one noted it was a pity someone had to lose in a great game like tonight's. Bears fans - at least some of them fair weather - made the game a sellout and swarmed the Bears players after the game, much to the players' surprise.

Game Three: Hamilton 2, Hershey 1
(Hershey leads series 2-1)
Now this was what I expected in this series. I figured on plenty of 2-1 and 1-0 games, it just took these teams a while to remember how to do that. As per usual, the Bears took an early lead and held onto it until midway through the third period. Recently returned Hershey defenseman Steve Lingren scored a rare goal on a feed from Cory Banika at 8:46 in the first and JF Labbe made the goal stand up until 10:08 of the third, when mucho tough guy Dennis Bonvie left a perfect drop pass for sniper Ralph Intranuovo and continued to help out Ralph by annoying Labbe, allowing Intranuovo a shot which deflected off Labbe and into the net. Seconds later at 11:59, Bonvie again set the table, this time for Game 2 standout Jeff Daw, when he sent a pass from behind the net onto Daw's stick for what would be the winning goal.

Ralph Intranuovo
Photo by Art Ward

Keeping it the game-winning goal turned out to be more difficult than usual for the Bulldogs, as Bears' coach Bob Hartley successfully continued his gamesmanship and had the official check both defenseman Sean Brown's stick and goaltender Steve Passmore's lumber - and both sticks were indeed illegal, which gave the Bears almost two minutes worth of 5-on-3 power-play time to end the game. Didn't make a difference in the score, but surely kept the Copps Coliseum holding their collective breath. The game was otherwise even, as neither team scored a power-play goal, their power-play chances were nearly the same (four for Hamilton, five for Hershey), and their shot totals were almost identical, finishing up at 22 and 21 shots apiece. The win for Passmore and loss for Labbe also gave the goaltenders identical playoff records of 12-8.

Game Four: Hershey 4, Hamilton 2
(Hershey leads series 3-1)
Game Four kicked off with first-puck-drop from the Papa Great One Walter Gretzky but that was the best the Hamilton crowd was going to get, as the Bulldogs outshot and outplayed the Hershey Bears and still lost the game to face elimination. As has been Hershey's wont of late, Bears captain Mike McHugh started the game's scoring with a short-handed breakaway early in the second period and the Bears would never trail. Ralph Intranuovo evened the score ten minutes later but that was the last time Hamilton would be even in the game, as Hershey scored again at 15:35 when Josef Marha took advantage of a power-play pileup in front of Steve Passmore to put Hershey ahead for good. Given the importance of the game to the Bulldogs, it was somewhat surprising that the second period concluded with what had been brewing since Game Two - a genuine heavyweight matchup between Hamilton tough guy Dennis Bonvie (he who set a new record for penalty minutes in a season this year) and the Bears' Wade Belak. No word on who got the decision in that one.

Josef Marha
Photo by Kevin Fischer

The third period was half over before another score, this time Hershey's Steffon Walby picked up the Bears' second power-play goal of the night to put Hershey up 3-1 (Walby was Hershey's lone two-point man, having acquired an assist on Marha's goal). But Hamilton wasn't done yet; Marha's goal was largely the result of a lousy play by Scott Ferguson in front of his own net and Ferguson sought redemption by scoring his own power-play goal at 12:18 in the third, bringing the Bulldogs back within one goal. But Ferguson also landed himself right back into the Bulldoghouse by taking a penalty late in the third and Hershey would go on to pick up an empty-net goal from Pascal Trepanier with 17 seconds remaining in the game. Besides Walby, only Hamilton's Steve Kelly managed more than one point out of the game, although Bonvie managed to tally up 17 penalty minutes, a considerable number for a playoff game but par for the course with Bonvie. Hershey once again made full use of their power play opportunities, lighting the lamp with an extra man twice this time. Hamilton has had difficulty keeping players out of the penalty box all season and they're paying the piper now, as the Bears, unlike many of Hamilton's other opponents, will take advantage of their chances.

Game Five: Hershey 4, Hamilton 1
(Hershey wins the Cup 4-1)
Last chance for Hamilton - and they blew it. The Hershey Bears won their eighth Calder Cup Championship in 59 years of existence, and their first one since 1988, over the upstart Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum.
Hamilton struck first when Barrie Moore scored early in the first period, but the Bears' Doug Friedman evened things out later in the period with an unassisted, short-handed goal while Paul Jerrard sat in the box. The Bears added goals from Christian Matte and Eric Messier in the first half of the second period; Messier's goal came on a power play which resulted when Bulldogs' goaltender Steve Passmore took a roughing penalty, something he could have been called for a half dozen times a game but largely got away with until that point. Shortly afterwards, Hamilton team captain Terran Sandwith was ejected from the game for an elbowing major.

Steve Passmore
Photo by Art Ward

Hershey's Cory Banika finished the scoring in the third period with another power-play tally, the goal being assisted by both Messier and Pascal Trepanier who each had two points on the night. Hamilton never got another chance, as they spent much of the late third period killing penalties for goaltender interference. Passmore stopped 23 of 27 shots, as the Bears continued their special teams domination and were 2 for 8 on the power play. JF Labbe stopped 24 of 25 and won 14 games overall in the Calder Cup series; Passmore won 12. Hamilton did manage a full house for this game with just under 8,500 in attendance.
The Hershey Bears already held the record for most appearances in the Calder Cup finals, as this was their eighteenth trip; the eighth Cup puts them second on the all-time list, as the Cleveland Barons won nine Cups between 1939 and 1964. The Bears are also the first team affiliated with Quebec or Colorado to win a championship.

The Calder Cup
Photo by Tricia McMillan

The Most Valuable Player of the Calder Cup playoffs? JF Labbe may have been the man in the regular season, but he was shaky enough in the playoffs that he nearly derailed the Bears' efforts. Blair Atcheynum was easily the MVP of the first two rounds, but injury kept him out of the last two rounds and out of consideration. My own thought was the award might go to the losing team and Steve Passmore, without whom Hamilton would never have left the first round. But the award went to the player who almost singlehandedly carried the Bears through the last two rounds and was integral to the first two rounds and the regular season; he was integral enough to receive the captain's 'C' after Mike Hartman was through for the season. The Jack A. Butterfield trophy went to left wing Mike McHugh, who scored nine goals, including two overtime game-winners and a hat trick in Game 2, to rescue the Bears from a hole against Springfield and never let them into one against Hamilton. McHugh, 31, also had seven assists and finished sixth overall in playoff scoring, and provided able leadership to boot. By the way - he's a free agent now.
Stuff: Hamilton's Barrie Moore was trying to become the tenth player in AHL history to win the Calder Cup in consecutive years with different teams; he played for Rochester last season...
Although it took Marc Denis four games to amass just 55 minutes in playing time, he was 1-0 with a 1.08 GAA when he did play...
The Bulldogs had a league-high four short-handed goals in the Calder Cup playoffs...
Joe Hulbig led rookie scorers in the playoffs, with six goals, 10 assists and 16 points in 13 games...

Dennis Bonvie
Photo by Art Ward

As he did in the regular season, Dennis Bonvie topped everyone in playoff penalty minutes with 72 in 19 games...
The Bears are 4-1 in overtime games; the Bulldogs are 2-2. There were a total of 14 overtime playoff games this year...
The Bulldogs averaged 6,643 fans per game in the playoffs, almost twice their regular season average...
Josef Marha and Eric Veilleux were tied for second in playoff scoring with 21 points each, difference being Veilleux has played four more games than Marha. Then again, Veilleux has 11 goals to Marha's six...
The Bears set a new franchise record with five power-play goals in Game 2...

NEWS: A third AHL team broke loose from its moorings and this one was unexpected, as the team had another year on its lease. The Binghamton Rangers are no more, as the parent Rangers cancelled their affiliation agreement with Binghamton, bought out the franchise from its local ownership and moved the franchise into the vacant Hartford Civic Center. Binghamton could still acquire another team, as the Penguins are still searching for a place to put their franchise, and I for one certainly hope they acquire another team as the Broome County Arena remains my favorite place to see a hockey game (not to mention that their front office is very amenable to both fans and the media, an increasingly rare characteristic for a professional sports team). Both the East Coast and Colonial leagues have inquired about Binghamton's availability in the past and the team remains a viable AHL location. Meanwhile the emergence of a Hartford team literally swamps New England with AHL teams, bringing the total number of teams in the region to six, plus the Lowell franchise to be added next season.
Another AHL city may lose its team to what can only be called a highly unusual situation. The Albany River Rats were originally located in Troy, New York and were called the Capital District Islanders (wonder who they were affiliated with?) until 1993. During their stay in Troy, the city loaned the franchise some $1.5 million. Seems Troy city attorney Patrick Greene has decided to call in this loan. Problem being that the Rats' owners, Capital District Sports, Inc., doesn't exactly have that kind of money available in petty cash, unless of course they sell the team back to the city of Troy. The Rats are insistent the team will not be sold and Troy is equally insistent they want the money, NOW, to the extent there is a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court. Stay tuned on this one.
Last but not least, the move of the Carolina Monarchs to New Haven, Connecticut became final on June 9, as the league and the city held a celebratory press conference. As stated earlier, the Monarchs will move to New Haven for two years to allow the Carolina Hurricanes to use the Greensboro Coliseum and also as a trial run for bringing a permanent franchise to New Haven. The team will play in the New Haven Memorial Arena, which holds 9,000 people, and will be a dual affiliation of Carolina and the Florida Panthers.
Hey Coach!: The Montreal Canadiens wasted no time naming a replacement for departed Fredericton head coach Paulin Bordeleau, naming Michel Therrien to the post barely a week after firing Bordeleau. Therrien inherits a team with a brand new dual affiliation with the Los Angeles Kings. Have fun, eh?
Graduating Class: AHL graduates were everywhere in the Stanley Cup finals, including skating around with the Conn Smythe Trophy. Detroit goalie Mike Vernon was one of the Red Wings to have previously played in the AHL, but he had company as two-thirds of Detroit's roster had been in the AHL at some point in their careers. The better part of Philadelphia's roster has played in the AHL, as well.
The Lineup: The AHL appears to believe all the changes that are going to be made have been and therefore it's time to realign the divisions and conferences. The league will continue to go with the same two conference, four division lineup, however, a few teams are moving around.
          Eastern Conference            Western Conference

          Atlantic Division             Empire Division

          Fredericton Canadiens         Adirondack Red Wings
          Portland Pirates              Albany River Rats
          Saint John Flames             Hamilton Bulldogs
          St. John's Maple Leafs        Rochester Americans
                                        Syracuse Crunch

          New England Division          Mid-Atlantic Division

          Hartford                      Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
          New Haven                     Hershey Bears
          Providence Bruins             Kentucky Thoroughblades
          Springfield Falcons           Philadelphia Phantoms
          Worcester IceCats 
This is the final edition of the AHL column for the 96-97 season. Pending the amount of news available, occasional appearances on the Web Extra are possible. I would like to be back in September, but as three of the five AHL teams within reasonable driving distance of me have ceased to exist, well, we'll have to see. I will at the least be back in September with a complete wrapup of which teams landed where and with what affiliation. Meanwhile I would like to thank the following for their assistance in my AHL coverage over the past season:
Kevin Fischer, photographer dude
Art Ward, Hamilton Booster Club
Jim Konkel, stat supplier
Dave Mishkin, Hershey Bears
Bob Crawford, Binghamton Rangers