Grand Rapids Griffins advance to AHL Calder Cup Final

By @MichaelCaples –

The Grand Rapids Griffins are heading to the AHL’s Calder Cup Final.

Wit ha 4-2 victory over San Jose tonight, the Griffins are Western Conference champions, punching their ticket to the league finals with a 4-1 series victory.

The Griffins will meet the Syracuse Crunch in the final playoff round – a 2013 Calder Cup Final rematch.

The Griffins prevailed over the Crunch 4-2 in that best-of-seven series that saw Grand Rapids win its first-ever hockey championship.

Grand Rapids will host Games 1 and 2 on Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3, respectively. Then, the series heads to Syracuse for Games 3, 4 and 5, before if-necessary Games 6 and 7 back at Van Andel Arena. Those games would be Tuesday, June 13 and Wednesday, June 14 if they need to be played.

The Crunch have three Michigan natives on the roster – Matt Taormina (Warren), Erik Condra (Trenton) and Kevin Lynch (Grosse Pointe).

Saturday’s victory over San Jose was the seventh straight home win in the postseason for the Griffins.

Grand Rapids seized control of the contest early – really early – when Brian Lashoff scored 24 seconds into the first period. Matthew Ford scored before the first intermission, as well, setting up the Griffins for the win.

Jared Coreau stopped 39 of the 41 shots sent his way, while Matt Lorito scored in both the second and third periods to keep building the Griffins’ lead.

With the win, the Griffins earn the Robert W. Clarke Trophy as Western Conference playoff champions.