Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
Playoff hockey within the metropolis of Toronto is particular. It’s additionally nearly been a given for the previous decade.
There are the Maple Leafs, in fact, who’ve reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs for 9 consecutive seasons. Stanley Cup hopes are excessive once more in Toronto, as they often are.
And there are the Marlies, the Leafs’ AHL affiliate. They’ve been on their very own postseason run, too, qualifying for the Calder Cup Playoffs 11 occasions in 12 tries 10 occasions since 2012 (the Calder Cup Playoffs weren’t held in 2020 or 2021). Celebrating their twentieth season this yr, the Marlies have reached six convention finals, had been Calder Cup runners-up in 2012 and gained the championship in 2018.
A late-season slide threatened their postseason hopes. However a fair later-season run received them into the playoff get together.
“When it got here all the way down to trying on the standings, we would have liked to win or we wouldn’t have been in,” captain Logan Shaw mentioned throughout media availability on Wednesday. “It’s not all the time the way in which you need it to be, however guys stepped up, which is an effective factor. Coming into playoffs, we all know that when it actually issues, guys are going to indicate up and be there.”
If this spring is to go anyplace for the Marlies, it must begin by determining the Cleveland Monsters. Toronto has misplaced 18 of its final 19 conferences with the Monsters, who’ve gotten goaltender Jet Greaves and defenseman Denton Mateychuk again from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Cleveland completed fifth within the division in 2024-25, however received inside a objective of reaching the Calder Cup Finals final spring.
Sport 1 of the best-of-three collection between the groups is tonight in Cleveland. The Marlies will host Sport 2 on Saturday and Sport 3, if crucial, on Sunday afternoon. That’s doubtlessly three video games in lower than 72 hours, with a 300-mile bus journey within the center. For both group, lose tonight and Sport 2 turns into a must-win. The Marlies couldn’t survive the primary spherical final yr, dropping a decisive Sport 3 to Belleville in additional time. Cleveland has by no means performed a best-of-three collection.
Whereas Artur Akhtyamov serves because the third goaltender with the mum or dad Leafs, the Marlies have two-time AHL All-Star Dennis Hildeby and two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray, the form of goaltending depth that may transfer a group via the postseason.
Toronto misplaced 10 of 15 video games, going 5-8-1-1, between Mar. 5 and Apr. 5, a stretch that introduced them far nearer to the North Division playoff line than could have as soon as appeared potential. There was a house loss to Bridgeport wherein the Marlies coughed up a 4-1 second-period lead. An additional time loss, additionally on house ice, to the Utica Comets, one other last-place group.
However the Marlies earned factors in every of their final six video games (4-0-0-2), together with a home-and-home sweep of Rochester to shut out the common season. March’s struggles had made for a dicey April, however the Marlies steeled themselves via these pressure-packed video games to lastly pull down a playoff spot on the next-to-last day of their season.
“We’d been speaking about that for a month or so now,” ahead Joseph Blandisi mentioned of the Marlies choosing up their late-season play. “We needed to actually dial in coming down the playoff stretch. I feel coming into this spherical in opposition to Cleveland, we’re feeling fairly good about our sport, and we’re proud of the way in which we completed the season.”
There’s hope across the Marlies, a sense each of their dressing room and supported by their play. They’ve gotten via a few of these tough occasions. And extra of these moments are forward, however this group is aware of that it might solidify when these occasions arrive.
“I feel we turned the tables,” head coach John Gruden mentioned. “The blokes ought to really feel fairly good about their sport main into playoffs.”
On the American Hockey League beat for 20 years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally presently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is an everyday contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
