The Calder Cup Playoffs are intensifying, with the Cleveland Monsters advancing to the final eight. The Toronto Marlies are poised to join them, while the Syracuse Crunch and Laval Rocket face elimination challenges.
Key points
Cleveland Monsters advance to final eight in Calder Cup Playoffs
Toronto Marlies could join them soon
Syracuse Crunch and Laval Rocket face elimination risks
The Cleveland Monsters are the first team through to the final eight. The Toronto Marlies could join them Tuesday night. One team at the top of the North Division, the Syracuse Crunch, is out. The Laval Rocket might be soon as well if they can’t clean up their penalty troubles and a wobbly penalty kill. If Laval, the North Division regular-season champion, goes out, that would set up a three-four battle between Cleveland and Toronto.
And the Colorado Eagles, Grand Rapids Griffins, Ontario Reign, Providence Bruins, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins – top Calder Cup contenders, all – each find themselves locked in 1-1 series so far.
Let’s examine who is rising, holding, and falling among the remaining Calder Cup Playoff teams.
Rising
Cleveland Monsters
For much of the regular season, the Monsters just king of hung around the North Division standings. While the Laval Rocket and Syracuse Crunch fought it out for first place, the Monsters held a relatively comfortable place. Even slipping in March and losing six of seven games at one point failed to have much impact on Cleveland’s grip on the division’s middle. The main question for head coach Trent Vogelhuber’s club would be whether they might slip to fourth place and be forced to play in the best-of-three round.
They did not. They recovered, put together a solid finish that secured third place, and earned a match-up with Syracuse.
But now they have been through some heat. After winning Game 1 against the Crunch, they got burned by four goals in the opening 13 minutes of Game 2 and had starter Ivan Fedotov chased. They went to overtime in Game 3 at Syracuse, pulling out that win. And in Game 4, they went three overtime periods before solving to take the series.
Q&A
Which teams have advanced in the Calder Cup Playoffs?
The Cleveland Monsters are the first team to advance to the final eight in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
What challenges are the Laval Rocket facing in the playoffs?
The Laval Rocket are struggling with penalty troubles and a weak penalty kill, putting their playoff chances at risk.
How are the Toronto Marlies performing in the Calder Cup Playoffs?
The Toronto Marlies are currently positioned to potentially join the final eight, depending on their performance in upcoming games.
What is the status of the other Calder Cup contenders?
Teams like the Colorado Eagles, Grand Rapids Griffins, Ontario Reign, Providence Bruins, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are all tied in their series at 1-1.
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Toronto MarliesWhile chatter around the Toronto Maple Leafs continues amid a new management regime taking over, the Marlies are just going about their business.
They are getting scoring from all sectors of their playoff roster. Veterans? Vinni Lettieri (4-4-8) leads the Calder Cup Playoffs in scoring. Captain Logan Shaw is at 4-2-6 already. Rookie Easton Cowan has taken quickly to the AHL game after spending most of the season with the Leafs and is 2-4-6. On the back end, William Villeneuve is 1-6-7, tops among AHL blueliners this postseason. In net, Artur Akhtyamov and Dennis Hildeby both sport .929 save percentages.
Add it all up, and the Marlies can put away the Rocket on home ice in Tuesday night’s Game 4. It’s a bright spot at a time of uncertainly for the Leafs organization.
Watch Live
2026 Laval Rocket vs Toronto Marlies
Holding
Henderson Silver KnightsA loss in Game 2 to the Colorado Eagles at home would have put the Silver Knights in deep trouble. Having to win three straight games on the road? Against the Eagles? Well…
The Silver Knights got their win. It took them going to double-overtime and unloading 42 shots on Colorado’s Trent Miner, but the Silver Knights are very much alive going into Game 3 on Wednesday night. Not only does Henderson possess a potent offense, but it is also a relentless one that can wear down even the best opposing defensive structures. Colorado has held Raphael Lavoie, who had 30 goals in 45 regular-season games, without a goal so far. But Lavoie has posted 10 shots in the two games, and it seems only a matter of time before
The task still remains difficult, but it was always going to be. Carl Lindbom, excellent in net, gives Henderson a good chance each night.
Providence BruinsAfter a poor performance in Game 1 against the stubborn Springfield Thunderbirds, the P-Bruins rallied for a Game 2 victory. It was a rather dicey win, though, for the AHL’s regular-season champion that posted 54 wins and 110 points.
Now they go on the road for two more match-ups with the Thunderbirds, a team that struggled just to reach the postseason but did cause Providence more than a few headaches this season.
Early exits have plagued Providence for several years, and the team has not reached the Eastern Conference Finals in nine years. Frankly, anything less than a deep run this spring would be a disappointment for a team that has talent up and down its line-up.
Falling
Laval RocketLaval’s recent results look more like tennis scores, and they have been on the wrong side of them.
Penalty issues plagued the Rocket all season, and they finished second-worst in the league in penalty minutes per game as well as times shorthanded. With an overworked penalty kill that ranked 23rd in the regular season, those are a bad mix.
After a methodical Game 1 win at Place Bell, the Rocket completely fell apart in Game 2. They went shorthanded 10 times and allowed four Toronto power-play goals. The discipline issue improved somewhat in Game 3 at Toronto, where they surrendered five Toronto power-play chances. The problem for Laval was that the first Toronto power play came five seconds into the game, and the Marlies converted six seconds later. It was a disastrous first period in which they went down 4-0 and had starter Kaapo Kähkönen chased.
With back-to-back 6-2 losses, the Rocket face elimination on Tuesday night. Will they learn their lesson in time?
Syracuse CrunchIt’s another early spring in Syracuse.
For the fourth time in five seasons, the Crunch are out in their opening series. Their lone series victory came two years ago when they went the distance with the Rochester Americans. It’s a little too in sync with the parent Tampa Bay Lightning, who just suffered their fourth consecutive first-round exit. This year the organizational sting came in one large dose this past Sunday night; the Crunch were eliminated by Cleveland, and then Tampa Bay’s season ended just a few hours later.
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