My Stars forced a seventh game against the Toronto Marlies which was impressive given how weakly they played in their final Austin-based game. However, they came up short again as the Marlies walk away with the Calder Cup and all we’ll get to hang next Fall is a banner for being Western Conference champs.
Still, I’m impressed with how far they got. Three Calder Cup appearances in nine seasons isn’t something to poo poo given the AHL is a development league, meaning the turnover of talent is much higher than the NHL. The other variable was their disappointing defense in the playoffs, the opposition was given too many scoring opportunities and even the best goalie ever (Martin Brodeur) can only deflect 19 out of 20 on any given day.
Now hockey is officially over for me until September.