MILWAUKEE, Wis. (with files from caldercup.com) - Former Mississippi Sea Wolves head coaches Bruce Boudreau and Bob Woods led the Hershey Bears to the 2006 American Hockey League Calder Cup championship with a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals at the Bradley Center on Thursday night.
Boudreau, who is in his first season as head coach in Hershey, was Mississippi's first-ever head coach helping guide the Sea Wolves from 1996-99, which was highlighted by winning the ECHL Kelly Cup championship in 1999.
Woods, who is in his first-year as the Bears assistant coach, was a Sea Wolves player/assistant for three seasons including the 1999 championship team before taking over as head coach of Mississippi from 2001-05, where he led the team to the postseason in each of his four seasons including appearances in the ECHL Final Four in 2002 and 2003.
Former Mississippi defenseman Sheldon Brookbank was on the losing side of the series with Milwaukee. In 2001-02, Brookbank started his pro career under coach Woods with the Sea Wolves collecting eight goals, 29 points and 137 penalty minutes in 62 games. A native of Lanigan, Saskatchewan, Brookbank also appeared in six games with Grand Rapids that season, where he posted one assist and 24 penalty minutes.
The Bears, top development team of the National Hockey League�s Washington Capitals, defeated the Admirals 4 games to 2 to win their ninth AHL title � tying the original Cleveland Barons for the most in league history � and their first since 1997. Hershey�s Game 6 lineup included 14 players who spent time in the NHL with the Capitals during the 2005-06 season.
Frederic Cassivi made 25 saves in the decisive Game 6 and finished the playoffs with a record of 16-5 with a 2.10 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage and four shutouts. Cassivi, who tied an AHL record for wins in a postseason, earned the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs.
For the second year in a row, AHL president and CEO David Andrews presented the Calder Cup trophy to Bears captain Boyd Kane. Kane was the captain of the 2005 champion Philadelphia Phantoms as well, and becomes the 17th player in AHL history to win titles in back-to-back seasons with two different clubs.
Tomas Fleischmann was the Bears� leading scorer in the playoffs with 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists), while Kris Beech led the way with 14 goals. Defenseman Mike Green, a member of the AHL�s All-Rookie Team in 2005-06, recorded 18 points and a plus-16 rating in 21 postseason matches.
Hershey�s victory brings the curtain down on the AHL�s historic 70th-anniversary season. Over 82 percent of all National Hockey League players in 2005-06 were AHL graduates, and more than 370 players appeared in both leagues this season alone.
