Bob Duff: The myth of the Calder Cup
There is little correlation between AHL Calder Cup success and team success at the NHL level, so to suggest that the 2016-17 Calder Cup win by the Grand Rapids Griffins means greatness is ahead for the parent Detroit Red Wings is pure folly.
No one thinks that. No one would ever think that. - ezekial
Seriously.
I feel like it's common knowledge that championship-caliber AHL teams are good mostly because they tend to be loaded with experienced pros who were never quite good enough to crack an NHL lineup full time, not because they're loaded with future NHL stars. For the most part players with genuine star potential skip the AHL level entirely.