Home Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are 2018 Calder Cup Champions

Toronto Marlies

The Toronto Marlies are 2018 Calder Cup Champions

Photo Credit: Thomas Skrlj

Jun 15, 2018

“On your feet Ricoh, on your feet Toronto. This is your Calder Cup!“

Those were the words of Leafs Nation Network play-by-play announcer Todd Crocker after Ben Smith scored into the empty net to give Toronto an unassailable 5-1 lead late in Game 7.

Facing their biggest test of the season thus far heading into a championship-deciding game, the Marlies produced a performance worthy of champions to win the first Calder Cup in franchise history.

First Period

Despite a positive start from the Marlies, Texas almost played party pooper with three minutes on the clock — a turnover at the Marlies blue line resulted in a breakaway for Sheldon Dries, but the rookie’s shot pinged off the post and away to safety.

Texas arguably had the game’s next best scoring chance as well at the ten-minute mark, but Garret Sparks denied Travis Morin from the slot to keep the game scoreless. A huge confidence booster for the goaltender who struggled and was pulled in Game 6, Sparks’ teammates reward him by opening the scoring less than a minute later.

After Toronto’s top line forced a turnover inside the Texas zone, Miro Aaltonen’s reverse pass found Andreas Johnsson with space to manoeuvre in the right circle. A give-and-go with Carl Grundstrom created the opportunity for Johnsson to bury the crucial first goal of Game 7.

From that moment on, it was decidedly one-way traffic in favour in Toronto as the Marlies came at the Stars wave after wave, with only Mike McKenna standing between Toronto and a two-goal lead.

That was until 18 seconds remaining in the period, when Mason Marchment ripped home a shot from above the hash marks following some nice interplay between Trevor Moore and Chris Mueller to create the opportunity, starting with a familiar pace-pushing rush through neutral ice by Moore.

Second Period

The Marlies weren’t quite able to replicate their first-period performance in the middle frame and were reliant on Garret Sparks to bail them out on a couple of occasions.

Moments after McKenna pulled off another good stop to deny Aaltonen from the slot, a chant of ‘Sparky, Sparky, Sparky’ rang around Ricoh Coliseum after Sparks made his best save of the game to date.

The chorus grew even louder at the eight-minute mark after the goaltender somehow got a piece of Dillon Heatherington’s shot in tight. It appeared for all money that the Texas defenseman was going to halve the deficit, but Sparks again showed his ability to battle and refusal to quit on a play with a big diving effort.

The Stars were further frustrated after Austin Fyten’s chip in the crease and Matt Mangen’s rebound attempt were both denied by Sparks, with a lengthy video review needed to verify the second effort didn’t cross the goal line.

The review took an age to process and the makeshift timeout seemed to settle down the Marlies, who were the better team through the remaining nine minutes of the second period, drawing a penalty late in proceedings.

Third Period

Unable to capitalize on the man advantage carrying into the final frame, the Marlies wasted little time extending their led to three back at even strength.

Again the top line came through in the clutch as Johnsson stripped the puck before producing an exquisite pass for Grundstrom to chip home past McKenna.

The Marlies killed the game’s first penalty in what was a poorly-officiated encounter and almost made it 4-0 shortly after, but McKenna produced a diving poke-check save to foul up Johnsson.

With nine minutes remaining, a controversial moment nearly turned the tide of the game.
A scramble in the Marlies crease saw the play whistled down three times and the puck clearly never crossed the line. Cue another lengthy video review in which the officials somehow determined the puck had crossed the goal line before the play was blown dead.

A stunning call at a crucial stage in a Calder Cup-deciding Game 7 may have unsettled many teams, but the Marlies’ response showed what the team is all about. The veterans stood up, with Vincent LoVerde laying everything on the line as he blocked consecutive shots from Heatherington and Curtis McKenzie.

Also playing their part was the vociferous record-breaking crowd of 8,818 patrons packed inside Ricoh Coliseum, with their noise and energy practically carrying the team when they needed it most.

A lead of 3-1 would have looked precarious if Texas managed to snag a second, but with a little under four minutes remaining, another crucial shot block from LoVerde led to an insurance goal at the other end.

Johnsson scooped up the loose puck and banked it off the left boards to create a partial breakaway for himself after a burst of speed. McKenna made the initial save but the rebound found the net via a combination of Johnsson and a Stars defenseman in front.

The Stars’ hearts and will were now broken as ‘We want the cup’ chants reverberated around the Ricoh and captain Ben Smith, a stalwart on this team all year long, slotted into the empty net to make it 5-1 Marlies.

The scoring wasn’t done there, as Mason Marchment added a sixth with a shot from the left circle that left the rookie with a huge grin on his face while his dad fist-pumped, beer in hand, in the stands.

That celebration carried on long into the night throughout Ricoh Coliseum as captains Ben Smith and Rich Clune, GM Kyle Dubas, and everyone on down to the training and equipment staff had their moment with the Calder Cup.

Post Game Notes

– The Calder Cup Final of 2012 is now a distant memory. The Toronto Marlies won the 2018 Calder Cup with a record of 15-5 through the playoffs.

– Andreas Johnsson was an absolute giant when the stage was biggest and the lights were shining brightest. After a three-point Game 7 (2-1-3), Johnsson was awarded the AHL MVP award for a playoff campaign that saw him rack up a remarkable 24 points in 16 games. He recorded nine points over the Texas series despite a slow start, by his standards, to the Final.

That’s one hell of a note to end your AHL career on.

– Mason Marchment also netted a pair and much credit should go to that kid line comprised of Adam Brooks and Trevor Moore for stepping up at key times throughout the playoffs.

– Vincent LoVerde registered a pair of assists and his performance from the blue line was outstanding. With at least three blocked shots of critical importance, this was a veteran performance through and through.

– Garret Sparks should have been awarded a shutout, but he bounced back in style regardless, coming up with huge saves in key moments and stopping 29 of 30 shots overall.

“That wasn’t a goal, by the way,” Justin Holl quipped amid the post-game celebrations.

– Travis Dermott made the difficult but responsible decision to sit with a shoulder injury and Andrew Nielsen replaced him in the line-up. Dermott later explained that he didn’t have the strength in the injured shoulder to perform at the level needed to serve his team properly, describing it as the toughest decision of his hockey career to date. It was the right one.

– More to come in the next few days, but we’ll leave you with this playlist of all of the on-ice Calder Cup celebration footage from tonight.