AHL playoffs: Marlies respect Calder Cup just like his buddy Stanley
The quest for the two-foot-tall, 35pound Calder Cup — awarded to the American Hockey League champion since 1938 — begins today for the Toronto Marlies.
“I didn’t really know too much about the Calder (Cup),” forward William Nylander said this week, with the Marlies set to open the AHL playoffs Saturday. “Now we’re here. Now we want to win it.”
For the record, the bowl — 12 inches high — is sterling silver. The base is solid Brazilian mahogany.
The Marlies are the top seeds in the playoffs but open on the road against the Bridgeport (Conn.) Sound Tigers, the top farm team of the New York Islanders, with games Saturday and Sunday before the best-of-five series resumes in Toronto on Thursday.
It’s not the Stanley Cup, but the players are every bit all-in for this.
“To me, it would mean the world,” said veteran Rich Clune. “I actually haven’t won a championship. I’ve been on teams that had high hopes, first-place teams. I’ve come up short every time. I really want to see this through. I want it for the young guys. I want it for everyone.”
In all, 31 cities have won the Calder Cup, but never Toronto. The Marlies have been to the final once, losing to Norfolk in 2012. The last time any Leafs top farm team won it was in 1981-82 — the New Brunswick Hawks, an affiliate they shared with the Chicago Blackhawks. The last full Leaf affiliate to go all the way was the 1967-68 Rochester Americans.
“It would mean everything,” agreed Marlies captain Andrew Campbell. “Every player wants to be a champion. You want that on your resume. You want that to be part of your profile, to be a winner. It helps every guy down here with careers down the road — trying to get to the next level or trying to get a new contract. When you’re a winner, you’re a winner. Everyone sees that.
“To bring it to Toronto would be very special,” added Campbell. “I’ve been a Maple Leafs fan my entire life. For these kids, the future of the Maple Leafs, if they can get that here, it will mean big things for them.”