The 2002 Calder Cup playoffs of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

began on April 9, 2002. Twenty teams, the top ten from each conference, qualified for the playoffs. The seventh-, eighth-, ninth-, and tenth-placed teams in each conference played best-of-three series in the qualifying round. The four winners, in addition to the other twelve teams that qualified, played best-of-five series for conference quarterfinals. The remaining 8 teams played best-of-seven series for conference semifinals and conference finals.2002 Calder Cup Playoffs
''caldercup.com''. Retrieved on April 28, 2008 The conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...

. The Calder Cup Final ended on June 3, 2002 with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

defeating the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders (previously known as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL). They are the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the f ...

four games to one to win the first Calder Cup in team history. Chicago's Pasi Nurminen won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as AHL playoff

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. Teammate Rob Brown recorded 26 assists, tying an AHL playoff record. The Chicago Wolves as a team also set three AHL playoff records during their Calder Cup run by playing 25 games, winning 17 games in one playoff, and winning 12 home games in one playoff.

Playoff seeds

After the 2001–02 AHL regular season, 20 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top ten teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs. The

were the Eastern Conference regular season champions as well as the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners with the best overall regular season record. The Syracuse Crunch were the Western Conference regular season champions. Division champions were automatically ranked 1-3.

Eastern Conference

– East Division and Eastern Conference regular season champions; Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners, 98 points #

Lowell Lock Monsters The Lowell Devils were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League playing in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Tsongas Center. As their name implied, they were the top minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey L ...

– North Division champions, 96 points #

Quebec Citadelles The Quebec Citadelles (French: ''Citadelles de Québec'') were a Minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada at the Colisée Pepsi. The name refers to the Citadelle of Quebec, a landmark fortif ...

– Canadian Division champions, 88 points # Hartford Wolf Pack – 95 points # Manchester Monarchs – 90 points #

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Centre. They were purcha ...

– 87 points #

St. John's Maple Leafs The St. John's Maple Leafs were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, at Memorial Stadium from 1991 to 2001, and at Mile One Stadium from 2001 to 2005. The team was ...

– 87 points #

Worcester IceCats The Worcester IceCats were a US ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the Worcester Centrum. In 2005 the team was renamed the Peoria Rivermen and moved to Peoria, Illinois. History The IceCats ...

– 86 points #

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a member of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre, the home arena of its parent club, Winnipeg Jets ...

– 86 points # Providence Bruins – 82 points

Western Conference

# Syracuse Crunch – Central Division and Western Conference regular season champions, 96 points #

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey Leag ...

– West Division champions, 95 points #

Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises: * Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015 *Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hock ...

– South Division champions, 92 points # Houston Aeros – 93 points #

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Star ...

– 91 points #

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...

– 89 points #

– 86 points #

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum. During schedule ...

– 86 points #

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...

– 82 points #

Cincinnati Mighty Ducks The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks were a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were members of the American Hockey League, and played their home games at the Cincinnati Gardens. Throughout their existence they were the primar ...

– 80 points

Bracket

The top 6 teams in each conference receive byes to the Conference Quarterfinals. In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In the qualification round, all games are played at the arena of the higher seed. In each round the higher seed receives home ice advantage, meaning they receive the "extra" game on home-ice if the series reaches the maximum number of games. There is no set series format for each series after the Qualification Round due to arena scheduling conflicts and travel considerations.Frequently asked questions
''theahl.com''. Retrieved on May 12, 2008.

Conference Qualifiers

:Note 1: ''All times are in

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

( UTC−4).'' :Note 2: ''Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.'' :Note 3: ''Home team is listed first.''

Eastern Conference

(7) St. John's Maple Leafs vs. (10) Providence Bruins

¹ – at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

² – at

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

Playoff seeds

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Bracket

Conference Qualifiers

Eastern Conference

(7) St. John's Maple Leafs vs. (10) Providence Bruins

(8) Worcester IceCats vs. (9) Manitoba Moose

Western Conference

(7) Chicago Wolves vs. (10) Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

(8) Philadelphia Phantoms vs. (9) Rochester Americans

Conference Quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

(1) Bridgeport Sound Tigers vs. (9) Manitoba Moose

(2) Lowell Lock Monsters vs. (7) St. John's Maple Leafs

(3) Quebec Citadelles vs. (6) Hamilton Bulldogs

(4) Hartford Wolf Pack vs. (5) Manchester Monarchs

Western Conference

(1) Syracuse Crunch vs. (8) Philadelphia Phantoms

(2) Grand Rapids Griffins vs. (7) Chicago Wolves

(3) Norfolk Admirals vs. (6) Hershey Bears

(4) Houston Aeros vs. (5) Utah Grizzlies

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference

(1) Bridgeport Sound Tigers vs. (7) St. John's Maple Leafs

(4) Hartford Wolf Pack vs. (6) Hamilton Bulldogs

Western Conference

(1) Syracuse Crunch vs. (7) Chicago Wolves

(4) Houston Aeros vs. (6) Hershey Bears

Conference finals

Eastern Conference

(1) Bridgeport Sound Tigers vs. (6) Hamilton Bulldogs

Western Conference

(4) Houston Aeros vs. (7) Chicago Wolves

Calder Cup Final

(E1) Bridgeport Sound Tigers vs. (W7) Chicago Wolves

See also

References