The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the top regular-season team in the Eastern Conference will meet the first-place finisher from the Western Conference in the Calder Cup Finals when the American Hockey League's 73rd championship series gets underway on Saturday night. After posting a record of 49-23-2-6 (106 points) in the regular season, the Hershey Bears won the Richard F. Canning Trophy and the Eastern Conference playoff crown with series wins over Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence. The Bears, featuring 2008-09 AHL MVP and regular-season scoring champion Alexandre Giroux, are the sixth consecutive East Division representative Ð and the sixth straight from the state of Pennsylvania Ð in the Calder Cup Finals and will be making their 21st appearance in the championship series, looking for the franchise's 10th Cup win. The Manitoba Moose captured the Robert W. Clarke Trophy and the Western Conference crown by knocking off Toronto, Grand Rapids and Houston in the postseason after putting up a league-best record of 50-23-1-6 (107 points) in the regular season. The Moose boast the AHL's outstanding goaltender for 2008-09 in Cory Schneider and its coach of the year in Scott Arniel, and will put their top-ranked defense up against Hershey's number-one offense in an attempt to bring Winnipeg its first professional hockey championship in 30 years.
