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2003 Calder
Cup Finals Set
Hamilton, Houston capture AHL conference championships.
05.23.03 - The Calder Cup 2003 Finals will pit the Hamilton Bulldogs against
the Houston Aeros in a best-of-seven series, beginning Wednesday night at
Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ont.
In their second year of competition in the American Hockey League, the Houston
Aeros have advanced to the Calder Cup Final with a 2-1 victory over the
Grand Rapids Griffins in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals at Grand
Rapids' Van Andel Arena.
It was the sixth one-goal game of the series; Game 2 was decided by one goal plus an empty-netter.
The first period of game seven was a scoreless affair with both Aeros' goalie Johan Holmqvist and the Grifffins netminder Marc Lamothe making great saves.
Midway through the second period, Marc Cavosie tallied to give Houston a
1-0 lead.
At the 5:54 mark of the third, Houston did what they could not in Game Six,
take a two goal lead.
It was Cavosie again, off a feed from Tony Tuzzolino and Jeff Hoggan. Grand Rapids fought back and Hugo Boisvert scored a goal off a rebound to make the game close. Houston held on to post a 2-1 win.
Holmqvist stopped 25 of 26 shots for the win. Lamothe turned aside 26 of 28 in the lost. The power play struggles continued for Houston as they were 0 for 3. Grand Rapids was 0 for 4.
Houston, the top affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild, finished the 2002-03 regular season with a record of 47-23-7-3, good for 104 points and the West Division championship under 36-year-old head coach Todd McLellan.
As the number two seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Aeros defeated
#7 Milwaukee in the conference quarterfinals (3-0) and #3 Norfolk in the
conference semifinals (4-2) before eliminating the top-seeded Griffins.
See AHL
playoff bracket here.
The Hamilton Bulldogs earned their second trip in franchise history to the
Calder Cup Finals with a convincing victory over the Binghamton Senators.
The Bulldogs defeated the Senators 8-3 in front of 5,460 fans at Copps Coliseum in Game #5 of the AHL Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night. Hamilton won the best of seven series 4-1.
The eight goals scored in the contest is a Bulldogs franchise playoff record.
Scoring goals for the Bulldogs were Jason Ward (2), Ron Hainsey, Tony Salmelainen, Mike Bishai, Jarret Stoll, Michael Ryder and Raffi Torres.
The goal scored by Stoll was earned just four seconds into the third period, which sets a new AHL playoff record. The previous record for fastest goal to start a period was six seconds and was recorded by Bill McComb in the 1945-46 season.
Scoring for the Senators were Brian Pothier, Brad Smyth and Radim Bicanek.
The Bulldogs recorded a playoff high three power play goals on seven opportunities. The Senators were 1 for 4 with the man-advantage.
In goal Bulldogs goaltender Ty Conklin picked up the win by making 25 saves. Binghamton goaltender Ray Emery stopped 33 shots for the Senators.
The Bulldogs, top affiliate of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers, were the top team in the AHL during the regular season with a record of 49-19-8-4 (110 points).
Led by head coach Geoff Ward and league MVP Jason Ward, Hamilton defeated #10 Springfield in the conference quarterfinals (3-1) and #9 Manitoba in the conference semis (4-3) before ousting the Senators. See AHL playoff bracket here.
The Calder Cup Final marks the first ever meeting between the two teams, and will begin in Hamilton on May 28.
Calder Cup
2003 Finals (best-of-seven)
Game 1 - Wed., 5/28 at Hamilton, 7:00 ET
Game 2 - Fri., 5/30 at Hamilton, 7:00 ET
Game 3 - Wed., 6/4 at Houston, 7:00 CT
Game 4 - Fri., 6/6 at Houston, 7:30 CT
Game 5 - Sat., 6/7 at Houston, 7:30 CT (if necessary)
Game 6 - TBA at Hamilton (if necessary)
Game 7 - TBA at Hamilton (if necessary)
Click for past AHL Calder Cup Playoff Updates:
