After being presented to the AHL champion every year since 1937, the Calder Cup was not awarded in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic.
American Hockey League
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The Calder Cup has been dormant for two years. When it returns in 2022, more teams will compete for it than ever before.
The AHL’s famed trophy will be back on the line next season, the league announced Thursday. And an extra round will be added to the playoffs in 2021-22 with a total of 23 of 31 teams qualifying for the tournament.
That expansion — which is only scheduled for next year at this point — comes on the heels of two seasons without playoffs for the AHL.
The Calder Cup had been awarded to the league champion every year since its inception in 1936-37. But the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2019-20 campaign in March 2020, with the rest of the season and postseason ultimately canceled in May.
It wasn’t until early 2021 that the AHL returned to the ice, playing a limited schedule with some teams opting out and no league-wide playoffs contested.
All 31 squads are set to play when the 2021-22 season opens in October. And all but the two worst teams in each of the four divisions will advance to the postseason. Typically the top four teams in each division would qualify for a 16-team bracket.
For the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, that means needing to finish in the top six in the eight-team Atlantic Division to have a shot at the championship next spring. The top two teams in the Atlantic will receive a first-round bye while No. 3 plays No. 6 and No. 4 plays No. 5 in a best-of-three opening round.
The next two rounds — the divisional semifinals and divisional finals — will be best-of-five series. The conference finals and Calder Cup finals will each be best-of-seven.
AHL president Scott Howson said the expansion was a chance to get more players more games after the league was disrupted so dramatically the last two years.
“Our clubs and their National Hockey League partners recognize the importance of playoff races and postseason experience on overall player development,” Howson said through the league. “Expanding the Calder Cup Playoff field will allow some 150 additional players to play more meaningful games in pursuit of a championship.”
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has plenty of familiar faces in the division this season, competing against rivals Hershey and Lehigh Valley along with Bridgeport, Charlotte, Hartford, Providence and Springfield.
Gone are the familiar trips to Binghamton, as the city doesn’t have an AHL club for 2021-22.
The Penguins will open the season Oct. 16 against Lehigh Valley as part of a three-game homestand. It will be a full 76-game schedule with 56 of those games against Atlantic Division foes.
While six teams from the Atlantic qualify for the playoffs, the North Division and Central Division will have five playoff teams apiece while the Pacific will get seven.
The expanded tournament is expected to finish by June 23.