Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Alums to Battle for Calder Cup
Twelve schools have former stars in contention for the AHL championship.
The Manchester Monarchs and Utica Comets, top affiliates of the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks, respectively, open the Calder Cup Final Saturday with 16 former NCAA stars vying for the AHL championship.
Nine Monarchs and seven Comets developed in NCAA hockey and combined they represent 12 schools. Seven of Manchester’s top nine scorers in the playoffs are NCAA alums, as are the top-scoring defensemen on each team.
Wisconsin alum Michael Mersch leads all AHL rookies in playoff goals (11) and points (18) for the Monarchs. He is trailed closely on the team’s scoring list by former Yale teammates Brian O’Neill – the AHL’s regular-season MVP – and Sean Backman.
Former Boston University star Adam Clendening leads a Utica defense with a heavy college flavor. Two ECAC alums – Alex Biega (Harvard) and Kent Huskins (Clarkson) – also patrol the blueline for the Comets.
All games in the Calder Cup Final are available for viewing at AHLLive.com for no charge using the promo code CALDERCUP.
Former NCAA Players in the Calder Cup Final
| Manchester Monarchs | Utica Comets | |||
| Sean Backman | Yale | Will Acton | Lake Superior State | |
| Nic Dowd | St. Cloud State | Alex Biega | Harvard | |
| Derek Forbort | North Dakota | Adam Clendening | Boston University | |
| Kevin Gravel | St. Cloud State | Cory Conacher | Canisius | |
| Vincent LoVerde | Miami | Brandon DeFazio | Clarkson | |
| Michael Mersch | Wisconsin | Kent Huskins | Clarkson | |
| Brian O’Neill | Yale | Mike Zalewski | Rensselaer | |
| Nick Shore | Denver | |||
| David Van der Gulik | Boston University | |||
Includes all players who have appeared in the 2015 Calder Cup playoffs