The Puck Stops Here

The first round of the AHL playoffs have completed are here is an update.

Manchester defeated Worchester 4 games to 2 Manchester, the LA Kings affiliate won with top goaltending from should be NHLer Jason LaBarbera, with Oleg Tverdovsky, Patrick O'Sullivan and Brian Boyle leading the way offensively. Worchester, the San Jose affiliate also had good goaltending from Dmitri Patzold, but their offence lead by Mike Iggulden and Graham Mink was not as strong.

Providence defeated Hartford 4 games to 3 A hard fought offensive series where Providence, the Boston affiliate, won with some offence from David Kredjci and Ben Walter and despite a lacklustre goaltending show from Hannu Toivonen. Hartford, the New York Ranger affiliate has the two top scorers in the first round in Nigel Dawes and Alex Bourret as well as Jarkko Immonen, but lost when goalie Al Montoya managed to play even worse than Toivonen (Montoya put up an .873 saves percentage).

Hershey beat Albany 4 games to 1 Hershey, the Washington affiliate were led by Scott Barney and Kyle Wilson as they easily beat Albany, a joint Carolina and Colorado affiliate who was led by Matt Murley and Ryan Bayda.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton beat Norfolk 4 games to 2 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are the Pittsburgh affiliate, but they were led by Edmonton Oiler farmhands Robert Nilsson and Tom Gilbert as well as Micki DuPont. Nolan Schaeffer provided strong goaltending. Norfolk, the Chicago affiliate, was lead by Jonas Nordqvist offensively.

Mantoba Moose beat Grand Rapids Griffins 4 games to 3 This was a hard fought seven game series. Manitoba, the Vancouver affiliate, was led offensively by Jason Jaffray and Brad Moran. Drew McIntyre played an outstanding series in goal. While Grand Rapids, the Detroit affiliate, was led by Matt Ellis and Jimmy Howard in goal.

Hamilton Bulldogs beat Rochester Americans 4 games to 2 Hamilton, the Montreal affiliate, was led offensively by Corey Locke and in goal by Carey Price. Rochester, a shared Buffalo and Florida affiliate, was led by Clark Macarthur and Mark Mancari.

Iowa Stars beat Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights 4 games to 2 Iowa, the Dallas affiliate, was led by the goaltending of Dan Ellis as well as Joel Lundqvist ad Junior Lessard. Omaha, the Calgary affiliate, was led by goaltending of Curtis McElhinney, but had troubles getting their offence going.

Chicago Wolves beat Milwaukee Admirals in four straight Chicago, the Atlanta affiliate, was dominant behind the goaltending of Michael Garnett and the offence of Darren Haydar and Brett Sterling. Milwaukee, a Nashville affiliate with some Edmonton players was outplayed with Pekka Rinne in goal.

The teams have moved on to the second round with Manchester facing Providence, Hershey meeting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Manitoba facing Hamilton and Iowa facing Chicago.