The Manitoba Moose were quickly dispatched in the Calder Cup Playoffs this week, getting swept by the Texas Stars in the best-of-three Central Division first-round series.
The series, played entirely in Texas to determine who faces the number-one Central seed in the second round, was not kind to the Winnipeg Jets’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. In Tuesday’s Game 1, the Moose got out to an early 1-0 lead but then allowed four straight and saw their third-period comeback fall short, ultimately falling 6-3.
In Thursday’s Game 2, with their backs against the wall, the Moose fired 41 shots on Stars’ goaltender Remi Poirier, but couldn’t get one past him and lost 2-0.
“The effort was there and there was certainly no quit in them, as they’ve given us all year,” head coach Mark Morrison said after the game. “Proud of them. We just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Moose Had Big Turnaround After Historically-Poor First Half
The AHL’s playoff format is generous, with 23 of 32 teams qualifying. Although the early exit is undeniably disappointing, it was admirable they made it to the dance at all given their historically-poor first half.
Through 36 games of their 72-game schedule, the Moose were dead last in the AHL at 12-23-1 and on pace for the fewest wins in franchise history. They appeared to lack drive, pride, and confidence and saw the wheels fall off in spectacular fashion with a franchise-worst 11-game losing streak — going 0-10-1 in those 11 games — between Dec. 23, 2023 and Jan. 29, 2024.
Related: Manitoba Moose Had Serious Struggles in First Half of AHL Season
Playoffs seemed a pipe dream then, but the Moose dug deep, came together, and found an identity from there. They went 22-12-1-1 in the second half to finish 34-25-2-1 and fifth in the Central.
“After we lost seven, eight, nine, we didn’t deserve to lose 10 and 11. We were a better team by then. We were trying to get out of it, and we worked hard to get out of it,” Morrison told AHL writer Anthony Fusco recently. “I think we became a better team for it. We put a lot of defensive zone coverage work in practice and now you can see the benefit of that. Was the 11-game losing streak nice to happen? No. Did it help our hockey club get better? Yes.”
As a result, the Moose entered the postseason feeling good about their chances of making some noise as an underdog as they’d played desperate, playoff-style hockey for months just to qualify. Their confidence was only bolstered by the fact they beat the Stars twice to end the regular season by a combined score of 12-4. Unfortunately, every mistake is magnified in such a short series, and the Moose didn’t bring their best offensively, on special teams, or in goal.
Jets’ Talented Prospects Took Steps Forward; Veterans Found Success
It’s a great bonus if your AHL team goes deep in the playoffs, which the Moose haven’t done since returning for 2015-16 with just one series win in four postseason appearances. However, farm teams are rightfully at the whims of their parent clubs and exist foremost to mold prospects and youngsters into NHL-ready talents. It was mission accomplished from that standpoint as a number of Jets’ hopefuls took big steps forward in 2023-24 to put themselves in good positions for the future.
“The young guys got better. I thought a lot of our veteran guys had career years. There was a lot of success around this team this year for me, but it’s hard to understand it right now,” Morrison said. “When I say ‘be proud of them,’ yeah. There’s a lot of players there that I’m proud of (who) did a lot of good things.”
2022 first-rounder Brad Lambert — the top prospect on the Moose — led the team in points with 55 (21 goals, 34 assists) and was a consistent threat in his first full pro season, while 2021 second-rounder Nikita Chibrikov — the next-highest touted — finished with 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists.) Both players made their NHL debuts against the Vancouver Canucks on April 18 and both tallied their first big-league points: Lambert with a first-period assist and Chibrikov with a third-period goal that turned out to be the game winner.
Forward Parker Ford, a free-agent signing out of Providence College, posted 41 points (18 goals, 23 assists) while defenseman Ville Heinola returned for the second half after fracturing his ankle during Jets’ preseason and recording 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 41 games.
2023 fifth-rounder Thomas Milic took over the starting goaltender’s role in the second half from Collin Delia and Oskari Salminen, who both struggled mightily. The rookie, as one of the AHL’s youngest goalies (he just turned 21 on April 14), posted a 19-9-2 record, 2.72 goals against average, .900 save percentage, and captured his first professional shutout.
Overall, 16 Jets draft picks suited up for at least one game with the Moose: Lambert, Chibrikov, Heinola, Milic, Simon Lundmark, Chaz Lucius, Henri Nikkanen, Daniel Torgersson, Danny Zhilkin, Tyrel Bauer, Declan Chisholm (now with the Minnesota Wild organization), Colby Barlow, Dmitry Kuzmin, David Gustafsson, Rasmus Kupari, and Connor Levis.
Looking at some veterans, Kyle Capobianco captured the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s outstanding defenseman, leading the league in points by a blue liner with 54 (12 goals, 42 assists.) Power forward Jeff Malott set a new career-high in points with 52 (22 goals, 30 assists) while Kristian Reichel set new career highs in goals with 23 goals and points with 42 en route to being named team MVP. Free-agent signing Jeffrey Viel also proved he was more than an enforcer, setting new career highs in goals with 17 and points with 40.
With their season over, some Moose players will join the Jets, who are currently facing the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as “Black Aces.” A few may return to Jets’ ECHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals in their quest for the Kelly Cup; the Admirals currently lead the Trois-Rivieres Lions 3-1 in their first-round series.