Stars on The Rock: What you Need to Know for the Calder Cup Final

 

  Tonight; for just the second time in history, a team from St. John’s, Newfoundland will play for the Calder Cup! It was way back in 1992 when the Baby Leafs; in their inaugural season, went all the way to the finals before bowing out at the hands of the Adirondack Red Wings in 7 games. I wasn’t quite 3 at the time and needless to say had no idea that this was taking place but I hope those hockey fans that did, took the time to appreciate the moment. If not, over the past 22 years they’ve learned the hard way that a trip back to the dance doesn’t happen every year! Since that last trip to the Calder Cup finals, in St. John’s there have been poor seasons, heart breaking losses, teams moved out and teams moved in. As is the case in most professional sports, you never know if you’ll ever get the chance again. St. John’s finally gets a second chance as this year’s IceCaps have made it to the championship series to take on the Texas Stars in what should be a hard fought, long series. With the series kicking off later tonight and moving back to the Rock for Game Three on Wednesday; here are a few things you need to know:

  *Texas finished the regular season with the most points in the AHL at 106, thus explaining their home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The IceCaps finished with 99 points which was the 3rd highest total in the Eastern Conference.

  *With 274 goals in the regular season, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Stars know how to find the back of the net. The IceCaps scored 258 and showed similar scoring depth to the Stars. During the playoffs the Stars continue to slightly edge the IceCaps in goals for but unlike the regular season, the IceCaps and Michael Hutchinson are allowing fewer goals against.

  *Special teams of course are always an important part of playoff hockey and will likely play a huge role in the outcome of this series. Both powerplays have been converting at a very similar rate but it should be noted that after a fairly dismal powerplay earlier on in the postseason, the IceCaps have executed much better over the past 4 games and the results speak to that success. The Stars penalty kill was the third best in the league in the regular season but has taken a couple steps back in these playoffs while the IceCaps have the top penalty kill of the playoffs and didn’t allow a single powerplay goal against Wilkes Barre.

  *Key Players for Texas: 2014 AHL MVP Travis Morin has no trouble creating offence and has continued to produce another 15 points so far these playoffs. Tied with Morin for the team lead in points is Mike Hedden who has been a scoring threat throughout the year and should continue to be in this series. IceCap fans should be familiar with Stars Defenseman Derek Meech who was a large part of our strong playoff two years ago. He’s doing the same for Texas this year; bringing offense, defense and huge amounts of leadership and experience. In goal for the Stars for will be the undrafted Chris Nilstorp of Sweden who has been stellar all season and playoff long.

  *Key players for St. John’s: Personally I think THE key player for the IceCaps in this series is Michael Hutchinson who has been a top MVP candidate thus far! The Stars will get a lot of pucks to the net and he will need to continue his strong play. Maybe number two after “Hutch” is Andrew Gordon who leads the Caps in playoff scoring and has been huge in these playoffs. He was signed in the offseason for his ability to be a big game player and he is living up to that contract. Another summer acquisition who the IceCaps had similar hopes for was Jerome Samson. Samson scored 27 goals in the regular season but has struggled a little in the playoffs and even found himself as a healthy scratch. However, he looked good in game 6 of the East Final and may very well prove to be an impact player before this is all said and done. On the blue line; Ben Chiarot, Zach Redmond and Will O’Neill will be heavily relied upon to shut down the Stars’ snipers while also helping kick start their own team’s offence.

  All in All, the possibility of the Calder Cup coming to St. John’s is a distinct possibility! However, for this to happen the Caps must continue to get rock solid goaltending from Hutchinson, scoring from every line (17 IceCap skaters have scored at least one goal in these playoffs; 14 have scored for the Stars), success on the special teams and winning the majority of the puck battles. Also, they’ll need to slow down League MVP Morin and the rest of the Stars forwards, keep the pressure on the Stars defense with hopes of wearing them down and get pucks out of their own end quick and simply. Expect John Albert to breakout of a little scoring drought in this series and also expect good things from Josh Morrissey who has been getting better and gaining confidence as this spring has rolled on.

Any way you shake it, this is the first time the Calder Cup has been in St. John’s in 22 years and it should be an amazing ride! Take it all in, enjoy, be loud, wear your white shirt, wave your towel and remember you never know when this will come around again!

 

@poleary19

IceCap Fans: It’s Time to Rant and Roar like True Newfoundlanders

  Energy conservation has been the hot topic in this province over the past few weeks; many doing their part to help lessen the demand and minimize the problem. Even during hockey games at Mile One Centre; less lights were used, signs were turned off, and the “big screens” black in an effort to conserve. Saturday night, as I sat watching the game against the Toronto Marlies, I couldn’t help but think the energy conservation had been taken too far. I was watching a hockey game featuring our home team and the hometown darling Toronto Maple Leaf affiliate which consisted of 5 fights, 8 goals, numerous hits, great saves and a shootout. If I had made a checklist of things I wanted to see prior to going to the game, what I witnessed would have exceeded any expectations I could have even put on the list! It was everything anyone would want in a hockey game, right? Based on the amount of noise and enthusiasm in the building, wrong! It wasn’t just Saturday night though; despite having one of the top attendances in the American Hockey League and ultimately selling out every home game, you can hear a pin drop during the play, game in and game out. You will only hear noise for a goal, fight or when a video on the big screen asks for it. Even for goals, it’s far from deafening and if you look around few people bother getting out of their seat.

  As a fan, it is highly disappointing when such a strong fan base fails to utilize perhaps the most key component of the “home ice advantage.” Yes, the IceCaps get last change when they play at Mile One, but what would really help is if the fans made the stadium a tough one to play in for road teams. We are in a similar situation to our parent team in Winnipeg in that we have a small barn that is often filled to capacity. However, the difference between the two is that at the MTS Centre it is difficult to hear what the person sat next to you is saying; at Mile One you can hear what the players are saying to each other.

  Sport is energy driven and an athlete who plays 75 plus games in a season can only get themselves fired up so much over the course of a season. Feeding off the energy of a hometown crowd is what helps get players fired up to another level, a level that gives them an advantage over their opponent. For visiting teams, there is an intimidation factor that comes with playing in a hostile environment and seeing how it energizes the home team. Right across the board; from basketball to football to hockey, teams typically have better records at home than on the road. Players perform at their best when playing in front of people who are showing support for them. We need to get back to the environment seen at Mile One during the 2012 Calder Cup playoffs; where a boisterous hometown crowd helped push the team to the conference finals.

  I can only imagine how discouraging it is for a team to play in front of such quiet crowds as those that have been at Mile One as of late. Too few fans are doing what they can to give the hometown players something they can feed off. Yes, some kids chant, there is the rare vocal adult (who gets “looks”) and game crew that really tries to up the volume but there has to be more! The players effort on the ice has been about as good as it gets and it would only be fair for the effort off the ice to be just as good. As shown Saturday; this team skates hard, hits hard and works hard at both ends of the ice. Win or lose, all a fan can ask of their team is their best effort and the IceCaps have given us that over their 18 home games thus far this season. Of those 18 games, 10 have been wins and just two were losses by more than one goal. We are left to imagine how good that record could be if there was more energy in the building for players to build off.

  The IceCaps have a great fan base here which is proven by attendance over the past three years. However, it is important to remember; if the players weren’t putting the effort in, we would be the first ones to complain about it. It’s time we start giving back to our team what we expect from them and they deserve from us. This is a challenge from one fan to others:  IceCap fans, starting Friday night lets leave the energy conservation at home, clap our hands, stomp our feet, and lose our voices. It’s time for a power surge at Mile One Centre!