CHL Alumni Fighting for Calder Cup (AHL)
The American Hockey League (AHL) begins their league championship on Saturday night when the Manitoba Moose host the Hershey Bears in Winnipeg. The Moose are the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks and the Bears are the top affiliate of the Washington Capitals.
When the two teams begin the battle for the Calder Cup this weekend, several Central Hockey League alums will be taking the ice and standing behind the bench as former Arizona Sundog Dusty Collins skates for the Moose and former Memphis RiverKing Keith Aucoin laces them up for the Bears.
Collins was a part of the Sundogs 2008 Ray Miron President’s Cup championship team in 2008 scoring 53 points (23-30=53) during the regular season for Arizona. This season, he split time with Manchester and Manitoba of the AHL and has played in 16 post-season games for the Moose scoring three points (1-2=3).
Aucoin played part of the 2004-05 season with the Memphis RiverKings and has been one of the top point producers in the AHL over the last five seasons. This year, Aucoin finished second in the AHL in scoring with 96 points (25-71=96) and played in a dozen games in the NHL with the Capitals scoring two goals with four assists. In the playoffs, Aucoin has scored three times with 13 helpers.
The CHL is also represented on the Bear’s coaching staff with former Wichita Thunder Head Coach Mark French who serves as the team’s assistant coach. French coached the Thunder for 145 games between 2005 and 2007 posting a 70-59-16 record. He has been with the Bears staff since midway through the 2007-08 season.
Read Mark French’s Q & A recently posted on www.hersheybears.com
click here
Keep up with all the action from the Calder Cup Finals at www.theahl.com