Yes Hershey is white hot, but I’m not sure they’re the favorite in the Calder Cup Finals. A big reason they may be underdogs against Hamilton is netminder Carey Price, drafted 5th overall by Montreal in 2005. The same Carey Price that went 6-0 at the most recent World Juniors, posting a .961 save percentage, turning aside the Americans in penalty shot after penalty shot in the semifinals.
His first American League game took place on April 13. He was named the game’s no.1 star that night. In 17 postseason games with the Bulldogs this spring he’s gone 11-5 with a 2.12 goals-against. Know this, too: he arrived in Hamilton after a WHL apprenticeship at Tri Cities, partly owned by Olie Kolzig. The owner has played the role of mentor for the promising young netminder as well.
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Price’s post-season numbers are all the more impressive in light of the fact that Mathieu Biron is one of the six blueliners playing in front of him.
But his lucky streak ends here. To quote Happy Gilmore (sorry), “The Price is wrong, bitch.”
Go Bears.
Price will no doubt be absolutely crucial to Hamilton’s success. That said, I don’t think they’re the favorites if you look at both teams overall side-by-side.
Hamilton has struggled overall putting pucks in the net, particularly on the power play. Price is the reason why they’ve gotten this far and I’m not sure their go-to guys up front have it in them to grab the championship away from the Bears.
Freddy Cassivi has been rock solid (besides a weird 7-6 game vs. WBS) in his own right in the post-season, albeit in fairly quiet fashion. He hasn’t had to be relied to steal games for the Bears but he’s been solid and made the key stops when they needed to be made.
It won’t even be close.
Bears in 5.
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