Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Maybe what the Springfield Thunderbirds put the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins through will prove to be a blessing.
After winning Game 1 and taking a 3-0 lead in the third period of Game 2, Springfield turned the series on its head against the Penguins. The Thunderbirds responded with four goals in the overtime victory. Heading to Springfield, the Penguins pulled out a narrow victory in Game 3, giving themselves two chances to defeat an opponent that had already eliminated the Charlotte Checkers and Providence Bruins.
The Penguins blew their first chance in Game 4, putting themselves on the line for elimination from the playoffs for the first time. But they certainly won’t miss the next opportunity. They returned home for Game 5 and defeated the Thunderbirds 8-1 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
It was an unsparing statement from a team that had worked hard to finish third in the AHL regular season and didn’t want to see its efforts go to waste.
Springfield finally fell behind the Penguins, who host Toronto in their first game tonight at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Place. This will be Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s deepest attempt at the Calder Cup playoffs since 2014.
Their matchup against the Marlies was a team made up of two key components. They had a goaltender and had the test they needed to ultimately win the Calder Cup.
Started with Sergei MurashovGoaltending dominance in the playoffs. Take a look around at the four teams still in the Calder Cup playoffs. Having a dominant goaltender is a must, and the Penguins certainly have one.
The goaltender won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy six straight years earlier this century and was the Calder Cup playoff MVP. This is a group that includes members of the AHL Hall of Fame frederick cassvi also Carey Pricethen a rookie, went on to become a legend with the Montreal Canadiens. recent, Artus Silovs Won the award last year with the Abbotsford Canucks and The Hershey Company Hunter Shepard 2023 did the same thing.
The 22-year-old Murashov is 6-3 with a 1.74 GAA and .943 save percentage. His stellar regular season performance has already made him a strong candidate for promotion to the Pittsburgh Penguins next season.
Even though the Penguins are very young, they’ve had some necessary playoff scares. Thank the Thunderbirds for that. The last team to win the Calder Cup and go undefeated was the Hershey Bears, but that was 38 years ago and the playoff schedule was shorter. Winning the Calder Cup in this era means being able to take some setbacks, even very painful ones, get over them and move on.
This is a young group of people. Newcomer Bill ZononThe 19-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2025 first-round pick has quickly shown he’s ready for the Calder Cup playoffs. The same goes for another Canadian Hockey League addition, defenseman Harrison Brunicknow a regular customer. Rutger McGroarty, koivuning town, Atlee Calvert, Gabe Klaassen, Owen Pickering, Tanner Howe and Finn Harding All aged 22 or below Kirk McDonaldlist.
when Kyle DubasMaris, who won the Calder Trophy as the Marlies’ general manager in 2018, comes to Pittsburgh in 2023 and inherits a team that has made a heavy push for the Stanley Cup over the years. Those efforts paid off as they won Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016 and 2017. But that means road picks over the years.
But the draft pick Dubas inherited paid off this spring. Murashov and Pickering are from the 2022 draft class. Tristan BrozThe team’s leading scorer this postseason is the 2021 rookie. They already have four 2024 draft picks on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster in Brunik, Harding, Howe and linebacker Chase Pitila. Pittsburgh made 13 draft picks last year, led by Zonnon.
These players are now eight wins away from the Calder Cup. If they’re not in McDonald’s lineup, they’ll at least be on standby to spring into action if necessary. They skated every day until late May and June. They were basking in the atmosphere of a playoff win.
The Calder Cup playoffs are not a linear, stress-free experience. There were also heartbreaking nights.
Nothing is guaranteed except for a professional hockey education.
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
