INSIDE HOCKEY

ProHockeyNews.com's Robert Sullivan assisted Brian Jennings in putting together this AHL Playoff Preview… The AHL playoff schedule has been set with the Calder Cup shining brightly at the end of this season-long journey. Which team wants it the most? The AHL’s defending champions, the Hershey Bears, won a franchise-record 51 games this season and appear primed for another cup run with home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The Milwaukee Admirals would like to avenge their finals loss from last year, but will have to get past the Chicago Wolves, runner-up two years ago. Statistically speaking, no clear-cut favorite exists to hoist the trophy. While the Bears finished the season with the most points in the AHL with 114, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Manchester Monarchs matched the Bears with 51 wins each. However, none of those three teams have a player in the Top 10 in points for the season. One must go all the way to 18th before Hershey’s Alexandre Giroux appears in the top 20 with his 70 points (42 goals, 28 assists). The Chicago Wolves, on the other hand, have four players in the Top 10, including Darren Haydar, who leads all players with 122 points (41 goals, 81 assists), and the Norfolk Admirals boast three in the top 10. The Bears have eight of the Top 20 players in the plus/minus category. In addition, the Wolves scored a league-high 331 goals, but came three wins shy of Omaha’s division-leading 49 to capture the West Division. The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights hold a numbers advantage as Curtis McElhinney led all playoff-bound goalies with a 2.13 goals-against-average and seven shutouts. Manchester Monarchs goaltender Jason LaBarbera led all netminders in wins with 39 and a save percentage of .933. Here is a look at each playoff series. All series is a best-of-seven series. EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC DIVISION SEMIFINALS A1-Manchester Monarchs vs. A4-Worcester Sharks Jason Labarbera lead the lead in league in save percentage (.933) and was named goaltender of the year in the AHL. Worchester should begin the series with rookie Thomas Greiss. The Monarchs did not have a player in the top 20 in points, while the Sharks Mathieu Darche finished seventh with 35 goals and 45 assists. Manchester holds a slight edge over the Worchester Sharks, but the Sharks outscored the Monarchs 247 to 242 during the season. The season series went to Manchester 6-4 with all but two games being decided by two goals or less. The series should go at least six games. A2-Hartford Wolf Pack vs. A3-Providence Bruins Like Manchester, Hartford did not have a have a player in the top 20 in points. Providence was led by rookie David Krejci with 31 goals and 43 assists, good for 13th in the league. Al Montoya had a great season finishing fifth in both save percentage and goals against. Hannu Toivonen wasn’t too shabby either finishing ninth in both categories. Providence had the team scoring, 252-231. The home team in the series held a 6-4 season advantage, but only with a 24-21 goals lead. Montoya should be the difference maker in the series. EAST DIVISION SEMIFINALS E1-Hershey Bears vs. E4-Albany River Rats The Bears will begin defense of the Cup against the Albany River Rats. The season series heavily favors the Bears, who beat the Rats 7-1 and held a 35-17 scoring edge. The Bears had a team record 51 wins and for the first time in team history had two goaltenders with over 20 wins on the season. Last year's playoff MVP, Frederic Cassivi, ranked seventh in goals against and fifth in save percentage. Washington Capitols prospect Maxime Daigneault came back strong after a rough first season in the AHL last season, finishing 19th in goals against and 16th in save percentage. Despite only having one player to finish in the Top 20 in scoring, there will be no shortage of offense for the Bears as 11 players had ten or more goals, seven had over 20, and Joey Tenute had over 30. Giroux was the only 40-plus goal scorer. The good news for Albany is they had ten players score more than ten goals, and four players scored more than 20. Only one of those players is currently not on the roster. The bad news is the River Rats had no goaltender rank above 32nd in goals against average or higher than 26th in save percentage. Tyler Weiman should get the nod over Justin Peters when the series begins. Overall, this should be an easy series for the reigning champs. But don’t discount veterans like Keith Aucoin, ranked second in AHL points with 99 this year (27 goals, 72 assists). For More Info: AHL Playoff Road Leads Through Hershey E2-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. E3-Norfolk Admirals Nolan Schaefer and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers shared goaltending duties for the baby Pens during the season. Both were solid during the regular season, while Norfolk will go with Cory Crawford in net. Blindly throw darts to pick this one, as both teams ended the season with 108 points. The edge may go to the Pens, but the Admirals outscored the Pens 301-276 overall, but they also allowed almost 40 more goals (221-257). While the Admirals have the league’s third ranked goal scorer in Troy Brouwer (41), they were outplayed in head-to-head competition with the Pens this year, 7-3. The other glaring factor in this series is that Norfolk has not won in Wilkes-Barre in over three years. WESTERN CONFERENCE NORTH DIVISION SEMIFINALS N1-Manitoba Moose vs. N4-Grand Rapids Griffins Jason Jaffray will lead the Moose on offense along with Brad Moran as both were in the top 20 in scoring (sixth and 16th). The Griffins were led by Kip Miller (17th), but no other teammate finished the season in the top 40. Manitoba (45-32-7-5) will be the favorite over Grand Rapids (37-32-6-5). The Moose hold a commanding 6-2 season series edge and will have Drew MacIntyre in net. Macintyre finished the season near the top of the league finishing third in goals against and fourth in save percentage, and will face former teammate and Red Wings prospect Jimmy Howard, who finished 23rd in goals against. N2-Rochester Americans vs. N3-Hamilton Bulldogs Jaroslav Halak led the Bulldogs, along with the rest of the AHL in goals against (2.00), and finished second in save percentage (.932). Craig Anderson finished 15th and ninth in both. Neither team had a scorer in top 20, so look for this to be a low scoring series. Only three points separated the two at season's end, while Rochester scored more goals (269-243); the Bulldogs allowed fewer goals (208-250). This series should go the distance unless Rochester gets down early in the series. WEST DIVISION SEMIFINALS W1-Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights vs. W4-Iowa Stars Like the Rochester/Hamilton series, neither team had a scorer in top 20 so this should also be a low scoring series as well. The bad news gets worse for the Stars as they did not have a goaltender that finished in the top 20 in either goaltending category. Curtis McElhinney was not a problem in the net for the Knights as he finished second in goals against and tenth in save percentage. The Stars outscored the Knights 221-214, but lost the season series 8-4; go figure. W2-Chicago Wolves vs. W3-Milwaukee Admirals The Wolves, a high-powered offensive team, registered 331 goals on the season, most in the AHL. The two teams squared off 12 times in the regular season, with each team walking away with six wins apiece. League MVP Darren Haydar will lead the offense for Chicago while Rich Peverley finished as the only Admiral to finish in the top 20 in scoring. Chicago, by the way, had four players in the top 20. Still if Pekka Rinne can keep the Wolves at bay, the Admirals might stand a chance against the explosive Wolves. This is Chicago’s series to lose. So sit back and enjoy this crazy playoff ride; it should interesting. For fans whose teams did not make the show, take solace in that fact that you won’t lose a playoff game this year. Brian Jennings and Robert Sullivan can also be found at ProHockeyNews.com.