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AHL's
Sweet Sixteen Set
Calder Cup conference quarterfinals get underway.
4/14/03
- With the qualifying series decided, the stage is set for the round of
16 in the Calder Cup 2003 Playoffs.
In the Eastern Conference, Marty McSorley's Springfield Falcons and Stan
Smyl's Manitoba Moose hit the road and upset their higher-seeded hosts.
The Falcons (#10) went down Interstate 91 and stunned the rival Hartford Wolf Pack in a two-game sweep, their first series victory since 1997.
Meanwhile, history repeated itself for the Moose, who advanced as the ninth
seed for the second year in a row, this time knocking off Portland in the
deciding Game 3 on Sunday.
Springfield will face off against league-leading Hamilton in the conference
quarterfinals, while the Moose have a date with Providence.
Over in the Western Conference, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton disposed of Utah in
two games, while Milwaukee rolled to a 6-1 win in Game 3 to get past Rochester.
The Penguins draw Grand Rapids in a best-of-five series, and the Admirals
will take on Houston.
The round of 16 actually became 15 on Sunday, when Norfolk became the first
team to reach the conference semifinals with a 3-1 win in San Antonio, completing
an efficient three-game sweep of the Rampage.
Norfolk
must now wait for the results of the other Western Conference quarterfinals
to learn their next opponent.
East Division rivals Binghamton and Bridgeport have raced out to 2-0 series
leads in their respective conference quarterfinal matchups.
The Senators took a pair of decisions from Worcester last week, while the
defending conference champion Sound Tigers went into Manchester and beat
the Monarchs by scores of 2-1 and 6-3. Game 3 of both series will be Friday
night.
Chicago opened its Calder Cup title defense with a 3-2 win over Hershey
on Sunday, its 10th consecutive home playoff victory. The Wolves are trying
to become the first team in 12 years to repeat as AHL champions.
