Our biggest hockey news on this sunny Saturday: the Utica Comets will meet up with the Manchester Monarchs in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals at 3 p.m Pacific time today—and we can watch!
Click here for a series preview from Tyson Giuriato at Canucks.com, including the all-important livestream information:
All games can be streamed free on-line at ahllive.com with code "CALDERCUP"; you can watch on your desktop or laptop through ahllive.com, or download the official AHL Live app from iTunes or Google Play to watch on your mobile device or tablet.
Also mark your calendar for Game 2, which goes Sunday at 2 p.m. PT. The same viewing info will apply.
The AHL final is a battle between the top two teams in each conference. While Utica won the west with 103 points and disposed of the eighth-place Chicago Wolves, sixth-place Oklahoma City Barons and second-place Grand Rapids Griffins en route to the final, the Monarchs were the one team that finished the regular season with more points than Utica (109).
Interestingly enough, Utica and Manchester did not play each other during the regular season, so this will be a brand new experience for both teams.
Manchester's playoffs have gotten easier as they've gone along. They needed all five games to beat the eighth-place Portland Pirates in the first round, then took out the fourth place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by a 4-1 margin and swept the third-place Hartford Wolf Pack.
The Monarchs also boast the AHL's 2014-15 MVP, 27-year-old Brian O'Neill—an undrafted 5'9" centre who led the league in scoring with 80 points during the regular season. He's fourth in the playoffs with 17 points in 14 games, but two of the three players above him in the scoring race are his teammates.
Jordan Weal is a 23-year-old center from North Vancouver who leads all skaters with 19 points. He was drafted by the parent Los Angeles Kings in the third round in 2010. Michael Mersch is right behind with 18 points—a 6'2" 22-year-old left-winger who was drafted in the second round in 2011.
Seems like the Monarchs have another wave of young talent that have tidily filled the skates of graduates like Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli and our own Linden Vey.
Utica's leading scorer through 18 playoff games is Cal O'Reilly with 15 points—all assists. He's followed by Sven Baertschi with 13 points and Alex Grenier with 12.
What the Monarchs don't have, of course, is Jacob Markstrom, who now boasts a 1-87 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 18 playoff games.
Manchester is backstopped by Jean-Francois Berube, a 23-year-old who was a fourth-round pick of the Kings in 2009 and spent two years goaltending at the ECHL level before moving up to the Monarchs two seasons ago. The Monarchs have been doing a good job of protecting him—he has faced a league low 23.6 shots per game in amassing a 2.38 goals-against average and .894 save percentage.
As good as the Kings' prospect development system has been in recent years, this is Manchester's first-ever appearance in the AHL Finals, as well as two-year-old Utica's.
Just like in the NHL, the first goal is crucial. Manchester is 11-0 this postseason when scoring first, and has lost all three games where their opponent has been first on the scoresheet.
I'm really excited to finally get a look at how this team has gelled and see players like Markstrom, Grenier, Virtanen and even Cory Conacher in action. I think I should be able to stream the game off my phone through my Apple TV so I can watch it on my full-size TV.
More on Sweden's Draft Prospects
To wrap up today, a little something extra to chew on after on my thoughts yesterday on the draft prospects coming out of Sweden this year.
Chapin Landvogt is based in Europe and writes for Hockey's Future. I got to know him a bit while I was in Prague for the World Championships.
Click here to read his wrapup on the Swedish league for the year.
Landvogt writes about the two prospects that are ranked close to 23rd, where the Canucks will be picking.
On defenseman Oliver Kylington:
Topping the list is Oliver Kylington, who despite having had a topsy turvy year in which he saw both SHL time with Farjestad and Allsvenskan time with AIK Stockholm, is still considered Sweden’s top prospect in this summer’s draft, and a likely late first rounder. Blessed with incredible skating and athletic ability, Kylington has shown that he has a flair for the dramatic and loves to get involved on the offensive side of things. Still, like a wild stallion in need of training, his bevy of talent still needs some heavy fostering, something also seen at the U18 where his talents could do little to right Sweden’s ship.
And on forward Joel Eriksson Ek:
More promising is Sweden’s second highest ranked pick, the 6’2”, 183-pound Joel Eriksson Ek, who turned 18 in January and played his way into the Farjestad lineup and ended up putting up six points in 37 games. He saw time in three playoff games and then put up five goals and six points for Sweden at the U18 World Championship. Some feel he’ll be a first rounder this summer and will likely see his ice time pick up dramatically next winter, as he’s a kid who simply has all the tools and is only seasoning and experience away from being a big-time player.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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