1997 Calder Cup playoffs

North American ice hockey tournament August 2023 Calder Cup playoffs 1997 April 18 – June 13, 1997 16 Hershey Bears Hamilton Bulldogs 1996 1998 The 1997 Calder Cup playoffs of the American Hockey League began on April 18, 1997.1997 Calder Cup Playoffs caldercup.com. Retrieved on May 2, 2008. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-five series for division semifinals and best-of-seven series for division finals and conference finals. The conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the Calder Cup. The Calder Cup Final ended on June 13, 1997, with the Hershey Bears defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs four games to one to win the eighth Calder Cup in team history.Calder Cup Finals open tonight , caldercup.com, June 2, 2006. Retrieved on May 2, 2008. Hershey's Mike McHugh won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as AHL playoff MVP. Jack A. Butterfield Trophy https://web.archive.org/web/20080917211247/http://www.ahlhalloffame.com/pagebank/index.html?id=146 2008-09-17 ahlhalloffame.com. Retrieved on May 6, 2008. Hershey set an AHL playoff record by scoring 35 powerplay goals during the 1997 Calder Cup playoffs. Furthermore, Game 2 of the Mid-Atlantic Division final between Hershey and Philadelphia set an AHL playoff record for the most penalty minutes in one game by both teams with 350 (Hershey, 179; Philadelphia, 171).Calder Cup record book: Teams https://web.archive.org/web/20080419122656/http://www.caldercup.com/cup/teamrec/ April 19, 2008 caldercup.com. Retrieved on May 6, 2008. In addition, Hershey's Jean-François Labbé set an AHL playoff record for goaltenders by playing in 23 games in one playoff.Calder Cup record book: Players caldercup.com. Retrieved on May 6, 2008. Playoff seeds After the 1996–97 AHL regular season, 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. However, due to the uneven number of teams in the each conference, it was possible for the fifth-placed team in the five team divisions to crossover to the playoffs for the four team divisions. This could only happen if the fifth-placed team in a five team division earned more points than the fourth-placed team in the four team division in the same conference. In this case, the fifth-placed team from the five team division would play in place of the fourth-placed team from the four team division in that part of the playoff bracket. The Philadelphia Phantoms were the Southern Conference regular season champions and also had the best overall regular season record. The Rochester Americans were the Northern Conference regular season champions.1996-97 AHL Standings The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved on May 2, 2008. Northern Conference Canadian Division St. John's Maple Leafs – 88 points Saint John Flames – 72 points Hamilton Bulldogs – 69 points Empire State Division Rochester Americans – Northern Conference regular season champions, 90 points Adirondack Red Wings – 90 points Albany River Rats – 90 points Syracuse Crunch – 74 points Binghamton Rangers – 69 points (Played in the Canadian Division bracket by virtue of earning more points than the fourth-placed team in that division) Southern Conference New England Division Worcester IceCats – 100 points Springfield Falcons – 96 points Portland Pirates – 91 points Providence Bruins – 75 points Mid-Atlantic Division Philadelphia Phantoms – Southern Conference regular season champions; Best overall regular season record, 111 points Hershey Bears – 101 points Kentucky Thoroughblades – 81 points Baltimore Bandits – 73 points Bracket Division Semifinals Division Finals Conference Finals Calder Cup Final Northern Conference Southern Conference Canadian Division Empire State Division New England Division Mid-Atlantic Division C1 St. John's E5 Binghamton 3 1 C2 Saint John C3 Hamilton 2 3 E1 Rochester E4 Syracuse 3 0 E2 Adirondack E3 Albany 1 3 N1 Worcester N4 Providence 2 3 N2 Springfield N3 Portland 3 2 M1 Philadelphia M4 Baltimore 3 0 M2 Hershey M3 Kentucky 3 1 C1 St. John's C3 Hamilton 3 4 E1 Rochester E3 Albany 3 4 N4 Providence N2 Springfield 1 4 M1 Philadelphia M2 Hershey 3 4 C3 Hamilton E3 Albany 4 1 N2 Springfield M2 Hershey 3 4 C3 Hamilton M2 Hershey 1 4 In each round the team that earned more points during the regular season 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 due to arena scheduling conflicts and travel considerations.Frequently asked questions https://web.archive.org/web/20080509062308/http://www.theahl.com/theahl/faqs/ 2008-05-09 theahl.com. Retrieved on May 12, 2008. Division Semifinals Note 1: All times are in Eastern Time (UTC−4). Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary. Note 3: Home team is listed first. Northern Conference Canadian Division (C1) St. John's Maple Leafs vs. (E5) Binghamton Rangers St. John's Maple Leafs Binghamton Rangers Memorial Stadium Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena April 18 5 – 2 1 April 20 2 – 3 2 April 23 2 – 3 1 April 25 2 – 4 1 St. John's won series 3 – 1 (C2) Saint John Flames vs. (C3) Hamilton Bulldogs Saint John Flames Hamilton Bulldogs Harbour Station Copps Coliseum April 18 4 – 5 2 April 20 3 – 2 1 April 23 2 – 1 2 April 25 4 – 5 OT 1 April 28 1 – 3 2 Hamilton won series 3 – 2 Empire State Division (E1) Rochester Americans vs. (E4) Syracuse Crunch Rochester Americans Syracuse Crunch Rochester Community War Memorial Onondaga War Memorial April 18 7 – 4 1 April 19 6 – 2 1 April 23 2 – 3 1 Rochester won series 3 – 0 (E2) Adirondack Red Wings vs. (E3) Albany River Rats Adirondack Red Wings Albany River Rats Glens Falls Civic Center Pepsi Arena April 19 2 2 – 0 2 April 20 2 2 – 3 1 April 22 1 7 – 3 1 April 24 1 4 – 1 1 Albany won series 3 – 1 Southern Conference New England Division (N1) Worcester IceCats vs. (N4) Providence Bruins Worcester IceCats Providence Bruins Worcester Centrum Providence Civic Center April 18 5 – 4 1 April 19 2 4 – 5 1 April 23 1 2 – 4 2 April 24 5 – 4 2OT 2 April 26 2 – 3 2 Providence won series 3 – 2 (N2) Springfield Falcons vs. (N3) Portland Pirates Springfield Falcons Portland Pirates Springfield Civic Center Cumberland County Civic Center April 18 3 – 4 2 April 19 2 5 – 2 2 April 23 1 3 – 2 OT 1 April 26 3 – 4 1 April 27 1 – 0 OT 1 Springfield won series 3 – 2 Mid-Atlantic Division (M1) Philadelphia Phantoms vs. (M4) Baltimore Bandits Philadelphia Phantoms Baltimore Bandits CoreStates Center Baltimore Arena April 19 4 – 2 1 April 20 7 – 1 1 April 23 2 – 4 1 Philadelphia won series 3 – 0 (M2) Hershey Bears vs. (M3) Kentucky Thoroughblades Hershey Bears Kentucky Thoroughblades Hersheypark Arena Rupp Arena April 18 4 – 3 2OT 1 April 21 3 – 0 1 April 23 4 – 2 2 April 25 2 – 5 1 Hershey won series 3 – 1 Division Finals Northern Conference Canadian Division (C1) St. John's Maple Leafs vs. (C3) Hamilton Bulldogs St. John's Maple Leafs Hamilton Bulldogs Memorial Stadium Copps Coliseum May 1 2 3 – 2 2 May 3 2 2 – 4 1 May 5 1 3 – 1 1 May 7 1 3 – 4 2 May 9 5 – 2 1 May 11 4 – 3 OT 2 May 13 0 – 3 2 Hamilton won series 4 – 3 Empire State Division (E1) Rochester Americans vs. (E3) Albany River Rats Rochester Americans Albany River Rats Rochester Community War Memorial Pepsi Arena April 30 2 – 3 OT 2 May 2 3 – 5 2 May 4 2 – 5 1 May 7 3 – 2 OT 2 May 9 4 – 2 1 May 11 2 – 6 1 May 14 2 – 6 2 Albany won series 4 – 3 Southern Conference New England Division (N2) Springfield Falcons vs. (N4) Providence Bruins Springfield Falcons Providence Bruins Springfield Civic Center Providence Civic Center May 2 4 – 1 1 May 3 2 – 0 1 May 6 3 – 4 OT 1 May 9 2 – 1 2 May 10 3 – 1 1 Springfield won series 4 – 1 Mid-Atlantic Division (M1) Philadelphia Phantoms vs. (M2) Hershey Bears Philadelphia Phantoms Hershey Bears CoreStates Spectrum Hersheypark Arena May 1 3 – 5 2 May 3 7 – 4 1 May 4 4 – 2 2 May 7 2 – 3 OT 1 May 10 3 – 0 1 May 11 3 – 2 3OT 2 May 14 2 – 3 2 Hershey won series 4 – 3 Conference finals Northern Conference (E3) Albany River Rats vs. (C3) Hamilton Bulldogs Albany River Rats Hamilton Bulldogs Pepsi Arena Copps Coliseum May 17 1 – 2 OT 2 May 20 3 – 4 2 May 23 2 – 0 2 May 25 3 – 5 1 May 27 2 7 – 3 2 Hamilton won series 4 – 1 Southern Conference (M2) Hershey Bears vs. (N2) Springfield Falcons Hershey Bears Springfield Falcons Hersheypark Arena Springfield Civic Center May 18 2 – 6 2 May 19 3 – 5 2 May 21 3 – 4 OT 1 May 23 4 – 3 2 May 24 2 1 – 4 1 May 29 1 4 – 1 1 May 31 3 – 1 1 Hershey won series 4 – 3 Calder Cup Final (M2) Hershey Bears vs. (C3) Hamilton Bulldogs Hershey Bears Hamilton Bulldogs Hersheypark Arena Copps Coliseum June 4 4 – 2 1 June 7 6 – 5 OT 1 June 9 2 – 1 2 June 11 2 – 4 1 June 13 2 1 – 4 1 Hershey won series 4 – 1 See also 1996–97 AHL season List of AHL seasons References 1996 Calder Cup playoffs 1998 Calder Cup playoffs Calder Cup playoffs 1997 Calder Cup Category:Calder Cup playoffs