After a five year absence from the playoff picture, the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL club will compete for the Calder Cup. In the Habs affiliate’s final year of hockey in St. John’s, the IceCaps qualified after a 4-1 home ice victory over the Toronto Marlies.
C L I N C H E D.#RallyInRed pic.twitter.com/chjJ173ncc
— St. John’s IceCaps (@IceCapsAHL) April 16, 2017
In their last season on the Rock, the @IceCapsAHL are headed to the Calder Cup playoffs! pic.twitter.com/6BOUsM8PiU
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) April 16, 2017
Chris Terry scored twice, setting a new IceCaps goal-scoring record, and Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves.
Despite missing Michael McCarron for most of the season and losing Lindgren to a call up late in the year, the IceCaps persevered through a crucial three game weekend last week before splitting with the Marlies this weekend.
Zach Fucale’s shutout win over Binghamton coupled with a Lindgren shutout the following night over Utica gave St. John’s the cushion needed heading into the final weekend.
If the final season in St. John’s including the playoffs wasn’t exciting enough, the IceCaps will face the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa Bay’s affiliate, in the best-of-five first round.
(Update: Syracuse won their game and clinched top spot)
Given some of the thrilling games that have taken place between the two teams, the first round should yield an overabundance of exciting hockey.
