The 2018 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

began on April 19, 2018, with the playoff format that was introduced in 2016. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-five series in the division semifinals, with the playoffs continuing with best-of-seven series for the division finals, conference finals, and

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 curr ...

finals. A Division finals game between the

Lehigh Valley Phantoms The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey Lea ...

and the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affi ...

became the longest game in AHL history by going 86:48 into overtime when Alex Krushelnyski of the Phantoms scored the winning 2–1 goal. The game started at 7:03 pm on May 9 and ended at 1:09 am on May 10. The Checkers had 95 shots on goal and Alex Lyon would finish with 94 saves, while

Alex Nedeljkovic Alexander Nedeljkovic ( ', born January 7, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nedeljkovic was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round (37th over ...

would finish with 51 saves on 53 shots. The previous record of 82:58 into overtime was set in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, also between the AHL affiliates of the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

and the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

. The

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies is owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

won their first Calder Cup, beating the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the ...

four games to three in the finals.

Playoff seeds

After the 2017–18 AHL regular season, 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top four teams in each division ranked by points percentage (points earned divided by points available) qualify for the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs. The

were the first team to clinch a playoff spot and went on to claim the regular season title with four games remaining.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

– 104 points (.684) #

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-Barre ...

– 99 points (.651) #

– 96 points (.632) #

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rh ...

– 95 points (.625)

North Division

– 112 points (.737) #

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa ...

– 100 points (.658) #

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, a ...

– 91 points (.599) #

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York, with home games at the Adirondack Bank Center. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated wit ...

– 88 points (.579)

Western Conference

Central Division

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 ...

– 95 points (.625) #

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey, 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 H ...

– 93 points (.612) #

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 o ...

– 92 points (.605) #

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

– 88 points (.579)

Pacific Division

Tucson Roadrunners The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays i ...

– 90 points (.662) #

– 90 points (.592) #

Ontario Reign The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Ontario, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, the team plays i ...

– 79 points (.581) #

San Jose Barracuda The San Jose Barracuda are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. The team will play at Tech CU Arena beginning in the 2022-23 season. The Barracuda is a relocation of the ...

– 76 points (.559), 33

Bracket

Division semifinals

:Note 1: ''Home team is listed first.'' :Note 2: ''Higher-seeded team had the choice of games 1, 2, and 5 at home or games 3, 4, and 5 at home.''

Eastern Conference

(A1) Lehigh Valley Phantoms vs. (A4) Providence Bruins

(A2) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. (A3) Charlotte Checkers

(N1) Toronto Marlies vs. (N4) Utica Comets

(N2) Syracuse Crunch vs. (N3) Rochester Americans

Western Conference

(C1) Chicago Wolves vs. (C4) Rockford IceHogs

(C2) Grand Rapids Griffins vs. (C3) Manitoba Moose

(P1) Tucson Roadrunners vs. (P4) San Jose Barracuda

(P2) Texas Stars vs. (P3) Ontario Reign

Division finals

:Note: ''Home team is listed first.''

Eastern Conference

(A1) Lehigh Valley Phantoms vs. (A3) Charlotte Checkers

(N1) Toronto Marlies vs. (N2) Syracuse Crunch

Western Conference

(C3) Manitoba Moose vs. (C4) Rockford IceHogs

(P1) Tucson Roadrunners vs. (P2) Texas Stars

Conference finals

:Note: ''Home team is listed first.''

Eastern Conference

(N1) Toronto Marlies vs. (A1) Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Western Conference

(P2) Texas Stars vs. (C4) Rockford IceHogs

Calder Cup Finals

:Note: ''Home team is listed first.''

(N1) Toronto Marlies vs. (P2) Texas Stars

Playoff statistical leaders

Leading skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points. If there is a tie in points, goals take precedence over assists. ''GP = Games played; G =

Goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

s; A =

Assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

s; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM =

Penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...

Leading goaltenders

This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

and the top five goaltenders based on

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

with at least 240 minutes played. The table is initially sorted by goals against average, with the criterion for inclusion in bold. ''GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes)''

References

External links

AHL official site
{{AHL Calder Cup playoffs

Calder Cup Playoffs Calder is a Scottish name and may refer to: People *Calder (surname) * Calder baronets, two baronetcies created for people with the surname Calder *Alexander Calder (1898-1976), the American sculptor known for his mobiles, son of Alexander Stirli ...