When the Rochester Americans started the AHL finals, they were looking to
add to their sixth Calder Cup banner to the ceiling. To get to this feat, they would
have to go through the Portland Pirates. For teams making the playoffs, all teams
start fresh and every team has a shot to win it all. This year’s finals, is true of that
last sentence because both teams had losing records for the regular season. When
the playoffs arrive, that’s the sign that the best hockey is yet to be played.
When the Rochester Americans skated into the first two games on home ice,
they had a chance to leave Rochester with a two game to none lead. They won the
important first game 5-3 and won the second game of the series 5-1, taking a 2-0
lead into Portland. Portland had the same chance that Rochester had in winning
the first two games on home ice and they sure did that. They won game three, 3-2
and also won game four, 5-4 tying the series at 2. Since the series is tied at 2, the
AHL final is now a best of three games. The next game is critical for both teams
because the winner of game five has to win only 1 game while the losing team has
to win both of the games to win the championship.
Now that the series is tied at 2, the teams will play game five in Portland and
then travel to Rochester to play the remainder of the games until the champions
are crowned. For most of the game, Portland lead at the end of the 1st period and
2nd period. That’s when Rochester decided to take over the 3rd period by scoring
the only goal and setting the stage for overtime. Whoever scores the first goal, wins
game five and has to win just one more game to win the championship. In
overtime, Rochester’s Scott Nichol scored at the 4:17 mark of overtime to win game
five. Now all Rochester has to do is win game six or seven to add to their
championship banners.
For the rest of the series, the teams would travel to Rochester for games six
and seven. With Rochester leading 3-2, the fans of the Americans fled to the War
Memorial in a flurry. The game itself was very interesting for both teams because
the only team showing up to rink to play was the Portland team. With that in mind,
many Rochester fans had visions of a win but Portland decided to ruin the
celebration by winning game six, 5-1 and sending it to game seven. Many Rochester
fans were disappointed because they wanted their team to win the league
championship.
Since the Portland Pirates won game six, some of the fans at the game stayed
at the rink to assure them of a ticket to game seven. That’s when the city of
Rochester got excited and many more fans showed up to buy tickets to the final
game in North America. When comparing the line of fans wanting tickets to game
seven was nothing compared to game six. The difference in the two lines was
probably the distance. The closer you were to the box office, the better chance you
had of attending game seven. When Portland won game six at the hockey rink, they
had Rochester fans scurrying for tickets the next day.
The last game of the series was the most important to any player. Game
seven was a very memorable hockey game for the fans in Rochester. After the first
period, the Pirates had a 1-0 lead and looking to increase it during the second. In
the second period, the momentum changed with Rochester scoring the only goal in
the period. With the score tied at 1, the third period would be the most important
period of the entire season. In that 3rd period, only one goal was scored and that
goal was scored by Rochester’s Brian Holzinger at the 2:34 mark. That goal was the
one that captured the franchises sixth Calder Cup championship banner. Looking
back on the AHL finals, who would’ve been able to tell that both teams had losing
records during the regular season.
When the Rochester Americans won game seven, that victory granted the
Americans a chance to raise their sixth Calder Cup banner. For the players, it
means a lot for winning the league championship for the season. The first reason
being that many players on the winning team will collect money for winning the
championship. The second reason is the championship rings, physically tell many
people that you won a championship. Finally the last reason and probably the most
important, each player is a champion and no one can take that away from them.
Whenever a team wins the championship of any league, many teams will be looking
for you, when your contract has expired with that winning team.
