The 2003 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, 2003. 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.2003 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 12, 2003 with the Houston Aeros defeating the

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 ...

four games to three to win the first Calder Cup in team history. Houston's

Johan Holmqvist Johan Erik Daniel Holmqvist (born May 24, 1978) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender, he most notably played in the National Hockey League and the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Playing career He started his career in the Elitse ...

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 ...

and also set a record for most minutes played by a goaltender in a single playoff with 1498.Calder Cup record book: Players
''caldercup.com''. Retrieved on May 6, 2008

Jarret Stoll Jarret Lee Stoll (born June 24, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Stoll has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. He is a two-time St ...

of the Hamilton Bulldogs set an AHL playoff record for the fastest goal from the start of a period by scoring 4 seconds into the 3rd period on May 22, 2003 against

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. Hamilton's Michael Ryder ended the longest game in AHL history when he scored at 14:56 of the fourth overtime in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Final. However, this record was eclipsed during the 2008 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Playoff seeds

After the 2002–03 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

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 ...

were the Western Conference regular season champions. Division champions were automatically ranked 1-3.

Eastern Conference

– Canadian Division and Eastern Conference regular season champions; Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners, 110 points # Providence Bruins – North Division champions, 104 points # Binghamton Senators – East Division champions, 97 points # Manchester Monarchs – 97 points #

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 ...

– 94 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 ...

– 88 points # Hartford Wolf Pack – 86 points # Portland Pirates – 85 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 ...

– 84 points # Springfield Falcons – 76 points

Western Conference

– Central Division and Western Conference regular season champions, 106 points # Houston Aeros – West Division champions, 104 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, 91 points #

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 ...

– 98 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 #

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

– 87 points #

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

– 85 points #

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barr ...

– 84 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 ...

– 83 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, ...

– 81 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.''

Playoff seeds

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Bracket

Conference Qualifiers

Eastern Conference

(7) Hartford Wolf Pack vs. (10) Springfield Falcons

(8) Portland Pirates vs. (9) Manitoba Moose

Western Conference

(7) Milwaukee Admirals vs. (10) Rochester Americans

(8) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. (9) Utah Grizzlies

Conference Quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

(1) Hamilton Bulldogs vs. (10) Springfield Falcons

(2) Providence Bruins vs. (9) Manitoba Moose

(3) Binghamton Senators vs. (6) Worcester IceCats

(4) Manchester Monarchs vs. (5) Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Western Conference

(1) Grand Rapids Griffins vs. (8) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

(2) Houston Aeros vs. (7) Milwaukee Admirals

(3) Norfolk Admirals vs. (6) San Antonio Rampage

(4) Chicago Wolves vs. (5) Hershey Bears

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference

(1) Hamilton Bulldogs vs. (9) Manitoba Moose

(3) Binghamton Senators vs. (5) Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Western Conference

(1) Grand Rapids Griffins vs. (4) Chicago Wolves

(2) Houston Aeros vs. (3) Norfolk Admirals

Conference finals

Eastern Conference

(1) Hamilton Bulldogs vs. (3) Binghamton Senators

Western Conference

(1) Grand Rapids Griffins vs. (2) Houston Aeros

Calder Cup Final

(E1) Hamilton Bulldogs vs. (W2) Houston Aeros

See also

References