Kaskimaki fuels Springfield's run to Calder Cup playoffs; Carbonneau, Blainville-Boisebriand advance to QMJHL semis, as does Jiricek, Brantford, which looks like a buzzsaw in OHL; Fischer, Dorion exit playoffs; Buchelnikov, CSKA done in KHL
It was a long, tough climb for Springfield of the American Hockey League to even fathom getting into a playoff chase.
But when the St. Louis Blues decided to make an organizational coaching change and put associate coach Steve Ott in Springfield after replacing Steve Konowalchuk on Jan. 19, they were 13-18-4-2 and laboring at the bottom of the Atlantic Division but started 2-10-2-1.
But a 19-14-2-0 run, capped by an emphatic 7-1 win at home over Lehigh Valley on Wednesday, it clinched their spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs, which was finalized on Sunday, and the Thunderbirds (32-32-6-2) come in as the No. 6 seed and will face third-seeded Charlotte in a best-of-3 first round series that begins Wednesday:
And leading the way not just this past week but for several weeks now was Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, who finished the season on a three-game point streak (two goals, three assists); he had a goal and an assist Wednesday in the rout of the Phantom, and many have been like this one around the net:
And in a 7-5 loss to Hartford on Friday, Kaskimaki reached the 20-goal marker:
He would have an assist in the season finale, 4-3 over Hartford at home Saturday and it would mark a stretch of games where the forward would finish with 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) over the final 15 games of the season and finish with 44 points (20 goals, 24 assists) in 64 games, nearly doubling his goal total from his first season last year (11).
Juraj Pekarcik (2023, third round) had an up-and-down first season in the AHL, but the forward capped things off with this nice goal on the backhand on Saturday to finish with a goal and an assist in the final two games:
We haven't mentioned Hugh McGing (2018, fifth round) a ton in these spaces, but the forward also finished strong with four goals in the final four games, including two on Friday:
And one on Saturday to give him 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 66 games this season:
Dylan Peterson (2020, third round) has played the bottom six and done so well with his physicality but finished with 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists) in 57 games after scoring in the finale on Saturday:
What a strong finish it was for Akil Thomas (2018, second round, Los Angeles Kings), acquired in the Nikita Alexandrov trade; Thomas finished the season with eight points (five goals three assists) in nine games after having just one assist in his first 11 games with the Thunderbirds having not played much due to a lower-body injury.
He scored twice against Lehigh Valley in the playoff clincher on Wednesday:
And then finished things off with a goal and an assist on Friday in the loss to the Wolfpack:
There hasn't been a ton of offense from defenseman Michael Buchinger (2022, third round) this season, but he did pick up his sixth goal against the Phantoms:
And a player that's had two injury-riddled seasons along with healthy scratches, Simon Robertsson (2021, third round) was able to get on the board with just his second goal in 40 games this season on Friday:
Defenseman Colin Ralph (2024, second round), who signed his entry-level contract after leaving Michigan State recently, picked up two helpers in back-to-back games on Wednesday and Friday; and I'd be remiss to mention Quinton Burns (2023, third round), who has played in 31 games this season in the AHL and has he supplied some nastiness on the blue line, a physical player the Blues really like.
Otto Stenberg (2023, first round, No. 25) and Zach Dean (2021, first round, No. 30, Vegas Golden Knights) each had two assists Wednesday, and Springfield heads into its series with the Checkers (44-23-5-0) playing with confidence.
* Justin Carbonneau returned to juniors this season in hopes of winning a title/titles.
The 2025 first-round pick (No. 19) took another step towards that when Blainville Boisbriand clinched its second-round series on Sunday, downing Terre-Neuve.
The series was tied 1-1 when the Armada would head to the road, and Carbonneau had a goal and an assist last Monday in a 4-1 win by opening the scoring at 12:51 of the first period, but his assist that put the game on ice at 17:33 was something special:
He also scored in Game 4 of a 5-4 loss, tying the game 2-2 at 2:08 of the third period, then scored this beauty of a wrister on Friday in Game 5 of a 3-0 win at at 9:46 of the second period to break a scoreless game:
Carbonneau didn't score in the clincher on Sunday, a a 5-3 win but he did have three assists to finish the series with three goals, five assists and a plus-5.
The Armada, the fourth seed, will take on No. 1 Moncton with dates and times TBA.
* How about Adam Jiricek (2024, first round, No. 16) and Brantford, finishing off its second series sweep in the second round by disposing North Bay in four games.
The Bulldogs were up 3-0 in the series when they played Game 4 on Wednesday, and Jiricek had a goal and an assist in a 5-3 win to close the series with nine points (three goals, six assists):
The defenseman is now up to 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in eight playoff games as Brantford moves into the Eastern Conference Final to face Barrie beginning with Game 1 on Wednesday.
* For Lukas Fischer (2024, second round) and Antoine Dorion (2024, seventh round), their respective junior seasons have ended with Fischer and Sault Ste. Marie losing to Kitchener in five games, including 4-3 in Game 3 before keeping its season alive, winning 4-2 in Game 4, then falling in Kitchener in Game 5 on Friday, 5-1.
Fischer had two assists in the series and was a minus-6.
As for Dorion and Quebec, the Remparts were swept in the second round by Chicoutimi, losing 4-0 in Game 3 at home last Monday and 5-0 in Game 5 last Wednesday. Dorion did not have a point in the series.
* The season also ended for Dmitry Buchelnikov (2022, second round, Detroit Red Wings) and CSKA Moscow, which was knocked out in the second round of the gagarin Cup by Avangard Omsk in five games.
Avangard had a 3-0 series lead when CSKA stayed alive with a 3-1 win in Game 4 last Tuesday but were eliminated with a 2-1 loss in Game 5 on Thursday.
Buchelnikov had just one assist in the series and finished the postseason with a goal and three assists in 10 games.
* And last but not least, Ondrej Kos (2024, third round) and Ilves are in the semifinals of the Liiga playoffs in Finland and the fourth-seeded Lynx lead their best-of-7 series with top-seeded Tappara 2-0.
Ilves opened with a 3-2 road win on Thursday, and Kos had an assist on what amounted to be the game-winner at 1:23 of the third period and played 14:01.
Kos didn't account for any points in Game 2 but Ilves won handily, 6-0, but the forward did play 12:56 and had a shot on goal.
Kos has four assists thus far in seven playoff games and is a plus-4.
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