The Hershey Bears' quest for a third straight Calder Cup has come to end after a 6-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Wednesday, the Checkers sweep the series in three games.
Charlotte becomes the first team to advance to the Conference Finals and will face the winner of the North Division Finals between the Laval Rocket and Rochester Americans.
Rasmus Asplund and John Leonard lead Charlotte with six points each in eight games in the post season. Leonard scored a game-winning shorthanded goal in game one while Asplund scored the overtime winner in game two. The two have formed a solid first line for Charlotte alongside Wilmer Skoog.
Defensemen Mike Benning and Tobias Bjornfot continued their strong play and have combined for five goals and 10 points in the playoffs.
Kaapo Kahkonen continued his stellar play in net allowing just five goals in the series. His playoff stats are up to a 6-2 record with a .918 SP and 1.85 GAA.
Per the AHL's Patrick Williams, this is the first time a Florida Panthers affiliate has reached the final four of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Charlotte last won the Calder Cup in 2019.
Hershey's bid to become the first since 1960-62 and second AHL franchise to win three straight Calder Cups comes to an end after a historic three-year stretch.
The Bears could not muster much offense in the series, Alex Limoges led the team in scoring coming into the series but was held off the scoresheet in all three games.
Bogdan Trineyev had two goals in the series and finishes as Hershey's leading playoff scorer with five goals and seven points in eight games.
The return of Hershey's regular season leading scorer Ethan Bear was not enough and he went pointless and was a -3 in two games.
Hunter Shepard was bombarded with shots in the three game series but did not play up to his standards, he finishes the playoffs with a 2-5 record, .893 SP and 2.77 GAA.
Keep an eye on the Florida Panthers team site for more updates on Charlotte.
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