By Phil Stacey
If the pucks bounce the right way, we could see a battle of the North Shore's best in the American Hockey League championship series.
Left wing Chris Bourque of Boxford, one of the stars for the Hershey (Penn.) Bears, and Manitoba Moose goaltender Cory Schneider of Marblehead have guided their respective teams into the AHL semifinals. Wins by both teams in the semis would result in the two squads squaring off for the league's Calder Cup championship.
Bourque's Bears needed seven games to oust the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, winning Game 7 on Tuesday, 3-0, and advancing to the AHL Eastern Division final. They will face the Providence Bruins, who defeated the Worcester Sharks in six games, in the Eastern Conference final beginning tomorrow night in Pennsylvania.
The 5-foot-8, 180-pound Bourque had a terrific regular season with Hershey, finishing 12th in the league with 73 points. He scored 21 goals and added 52 assists (5th best in the AHL) and was a plus-10 in 69 games. He also played eight games for the Washington Capitals, scoring his first NHL goal against the Buffalo Sabres on the road last Dec. 30.
In the playoffs, Bourque has been just as hot. His 12 points (2 goals, 10 assists) place him in a tie for fifth place among all AHL players, and he's tied for the team lead in postseason scoring with Alexandre Giroux. His 10 helpers are tied with two other players for the AHL lead.
The 23-year-old Bourque, son of former Bruins captain and Hockey Hall of Famer Raymond Bourque, scored a key goal in his team's Game 7 triumph over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. With the Bears holding on to a tenuous one-goal lead in the second, Bourque tipped Giroux's shot past goalkeeper Adam Berkhoel to give his team some breathing room.
An AHL PlanetUSA all-star this season, Bourque and the Bears will host the Bruins in Games 1 and 2 this weekend before travelling to Providence for Games 3, 4 and (if necessary) 5. If Games 6 and 7 are needed, they would be played back in Hershey.
Over in the Western Conference, Schneider and his Manitoba mates needed just four games to sweep away the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Griffins. They will host the Houston Aeros (in the Western finals beginning tonight in Winnipeg. The Moose will also host Game 2 tomorrow night before the series shifts to Houston for Games 3, 4 and (if necessary) 5. If needed, Games 6 and 7 would return to Winnipeg.
Schneider, the Baz Bastien winner as the AHL's top goaltender this season, was immense in Manitoba's four-game sweep of the Griffins. He allowed a mere five goals in the four games series as he helped the Moose win three one-goal games.
After going 28-10-1 with a 2.04 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in the regular season, the 23-year-old Schneider has actually bettered those terrific numbers in the postseason. Heading into tonight's contest, he is 8-2 in 10 games with a 1.69 GAA and a .936 save percentage, having stopped 267 of the 284 shots he's faced in the playoffs.
Tonight's contest will be the first for Manitoba in the last nine days.
