The Hershey Bears (1-2-0) are back-to-back AHL Calder Cup champions, favorited to ‘three-peat.’
No team has won the Calder Cup in back-to-back-to-back postseasons since the Springfield Indians (1960-1962). Tonight, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-1-0) can end the story for the Bears, eliminating them from the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs with a win at the PPL Center.
“I’m a big believer that there’s no momentum, no carryover from game to game. All games are different. That series could’ve been easily two-one for them [Hershey Bears], and it’s been tight. I’m expecting tight games; physicality [is] probably going to be a part of it. Is it going to go out of hand? Who knows? I don’t think so, but we’ll be ready for anything.” – Ian Laperrière; 5/8/2025
Hershey shut out the Phantoms in Game 1. Then, Lehigh Valley returned the favor in Game 2, 3-1, and Game 3, 4-2. A loss for the Bears doesn’t only mean elimination. It also means Todd Nelson is openly available for NHL head coach interviews, who could be on the radar for Daniel Brière, Keith Jones, Dan Hilferty, and the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Phantoms (-108) closed the gap on Hershey (-105) in the eyes of OddsChecker. Tonight’s game is a toss-up. The Bears, ahead of Game 1, were clear favorites, but now, Lehigh Valley is in the driver’s seat.
When: 5/9/2025; 7:05pm/ET
Where: PPL Center; Allentown, PA
Broadcast Info: FloHockey; Phantoms365 App
Series: 2-1, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Parker Gahagen (3-1-0; 2GAA, 92.9%SV) started Game 3, and Cal Petersen (1-0-0; 100%SV) closed. The combined effort put the Phantoms ahead in the AHL Eastern Conference Division Semifinals. Gahagen exited in the second period, and Petersen relieved perfectly. Petersen will start if Gahagen hasn’t fully recovered.
“I wasn’t worried. He’s [Cal Petersen] one of our leaders here, and I went with Parker [Gahagen] because Parker was hot at the end of the year. He was winning games for us, and to be fair to Parker and the team. Cal was coming back from an injury, and now he’s welcoming the challenge. He went in there, and people got to realize, it’s hard to do. You’ve been sitting on the bench, you haven’t played in a while, you didn’t play against Wilkes-Barre, [and] didn’t play against Hershey, but the guy’s a great pro. He worked in practice, and he was ready when his number was called. He looked great.” – Ian Laperrière; 5/8/2025
Zayde Wisdom (2G, 1A) and Anthony Richard (3G, 3A) solved Hunter Shepard. Each scored a pair of goals in separate games en route to earning an advantage in the series for Lehigh Valley. Wisdom (+6) leads all AHL forwards in the postseason in the plus-minus department. Richard, tied for third in AHL postseason goalscoring and second in point production, also maintains a healthy plus-minus (+4). Jett Luchanko (5A) is tied for the postseason lead in assists and is looking for his first professional goal.
Emil Andrae (4A) leads all AHL postseason defensemen in assists. If Andrae is to score his first goal of this postseason, it’ll help to average more than one shot on goal per game. In addition to Andrae, Helge Grans (1G, 4A; +1) remains steady along the Phantoms’ blue line.
Projected Lineup: Lehigh Valley Phantoms
#15 Olle Lycksell – #56 Jacob Gaucher – #74 Zayde Wisdom
#29 Nikita Grebenkin – #18 Rodrigo Ābols – #90 Anthony Richard
#17 Garrett Wilson – #77 Jett Luchanko – #21 Alex Bump
#43 Oscar Eklind – #91 Elliot Desnoyers – #54 Givani Smith
#19 Hunter McDonald – #7 Louie Belpedio
#6 Emil Andrae – #5 Ethan Samson
#37 Adam Ginning – #3 Helge Grans
#40 Cal Petersen
(#34 Carson Bjarnason)
Projected Lineup: Hershey Bears
#12 Alex Limoges – #29 Hendrix Lapierre – #18 Pierrick Dubé
#19 Mike Vecchione – #65 Garrett Roe – #11 Spencer Smallman
#63 Ivan Miroschnichenko – #39 Luke Philp – #44 Bogdan Trineyev
#45 Matt Strome – #24 Riley Sutter
#27 Aaron Ness – #6 Vincent Iorio
#2 Jake Massie – #22 Chase Priskie
#47 Jon McDonald – #7 Andrew Perrott
#77 Brad Hunt
#30 Hunter Shepard
(#31 Clay Stevenson)
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