The AHL will only have a postseason in one of the five divisions this season, meaning the Calder Cup will not be awarded. Instead, the Pacific Division will be battling to take home the John D. Chick Trophy in an interesting tournament-style playoff.
All seven teams in the Pacific will compete, but the bottom four—likely the San Jose Barracuda, Colorado Eagles, Ontario Reign and Tucson Roadrunners—will play a single-elimination play-in to determine which one team joins the top three for the best-of-three semifinals. The finals will also be a best-of-three format. The play-in will be held May 18-19, with the semi-final round concluding by May 24. The division finals will conclude by May 29, meaning the trophy is going to be handed out this month. The full breakdown looks like this:
Play-In Series (May 18-19)
Game 1 – Tue., May 18 – #4 vs. #7, 1:00 PT (at Irvine, Calif.)
Game 2 – Tue., May 18 – #5 vs. #6, 7:30 PT (at Irvine, Calif.)
Game 3 – Wed., May 19 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7:00 PT (at Irvine, Calif.)
Semifinal “A” (best-of-3; to conclude by May 24)
Game 1 – #1 vs. Play-In winner (at higher seed)
Game 2 – #1 vs. Play-In winner (at higher seed)
*Game 3 – #1 vs. Play-In winner (at higher seed)
Semifinal “B” (best-of-3; to conclude by May 24)
Game 1 – #2 vs. #3 (at higher seed)
Game 2 – #2 vs. #3 (at higher seed)
*Game 3 – #2 vs. #3 (at higher seed)
Pacific Division Finals (best-of-3; to conclude by May 29)
Game 1 – Semifinal winners (at higher seed)
Game 2 – Semifinal winners (at higher seed)
*Game 3 – Semifinal winners (at higher seed)
*if necessary
The other four divisions decided not to hold playoffs this season, meaning their schedules are coming to an end soon (if not already). The AHL plans on holding a full schedule in 2021-22, starting on October 15.
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