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Houston...We
Have A Title
The Aeros' are flying high after winning the AHL Championship.
06.15.03 - The Hamilton Bulldogs had to feel the odds were in their favor.
The largest crowd to see a playoff game in the history of AHL, 17,428 rowdy and wild hockey fans, showed up and screamed their heads off in full support of the Bulldogs.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, their seventh-man could not carry the Bulldogs to victory in the seventh game of the 2003 Calder Cup Finals.
Houston goalie Johan Holmqvist was too strong between the pipes, recording his first shutout of the playoffs in the Aeros' 3-0 victory.
The win gives Houston it's first AHL Championship, four games to three over Hamilton, in what is already being hailed as a classic Calder Cup Final.
Four of the seven games were decided by one goal and two games were decided in sudden-death OT, including a seven-period marathon in game 2.
Hamilton faced elimination in game six, but rallied to give their fans one more home game.
Despite the large crowd's overwhelming energy spurring them on in the last game of the season, the Bulldogs could not seem to feed off it.
"Our guys came out tight tonight," said Bulldogs head coach Geoff
Ward. "We couldn't establish anything. Our puck support was bad and
we didn't make good second passes."
The evidence backs Ward's claims. The Bulldogs allowed Houston to get on the board first, for only the second time in the series, when Rickard Wallin tallied while the teams skated four-on-four at 13:12 of the first period.
Stephane Veilleux put the Aeros up by a pair late in the second stanza when he picked up a loose puck in front of Hamilton goalie Ty Conklin and roofed a backhand. The goal was undeniably spectacular, even earning a spot on Sportscenter's top ten plays.
Rastislav Pavlikovsky made it 3-0 with a power play goal at the 14:38 mark of the third, and cemented the victory for the Aeros.
"It's a really tough feeling right now," Bulldog's defenseman Mike Komisarek admitted. "Give credit to them, they never really let us play the game we played all year."
The few scoring opportunities the Bulldogs had were all gloved by Aeros' netminder, Johan Holmqvist.
Holmqvist, 25, was named MVP of the Calder Cup 2003 Playoffs, after tying AHL playoff records for wins (15) and appearances (23) in a single postseason, and setting a new standard with 1,498 minutes played.
The native of Tolfta, Sweden, was acquired by Minnesota from the New York Rangers at the Mar. 11 trade deadline. He posted a 2.00 goals against average and .928 save percentage in the Calder Cup Playoffs, along with a 31-save performance in the championship clincher against Hamilton, only the second road shutout ever in a Calder Cup Playoff Game 7.
"Right now I'm just so happy," said Holmqvist. "It's been a long year for me, being traded from the New York Rangers to Houston. This couldn't be better for me."
Hamilton may hope their steady progression continues, as they made it all the way to the Finals this year after being knocked out in the Conference Finals last season.
"It's tough now but when you look back on this year we did a lot of good things, we have nothing to be ashamed of," said Bulldog Mike Komisarek.
The Bulldogs concluded the 2002-03 season as the regular season point leader, and the number-one seed in the playoffs, but alas, came up one game short in their quest for an AHL title.