CHICAGO – The 2022 Calder Cup Finals features two heavyweights from the regular season, vying for the league’s ultimate prize, the Calder Cup. Ahead of the 4:00 pm ET start between the Springfield Thunderbirds and Chicago Wolves, here are 21 random facts to impress your friends with.
21 Random 2022 Calder Cup Finals Facts to Impress Your Friends
1. The Chicago Wolves have not faced the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL Playoffs.
2. The Wolves and a St. Louis Blues affiliate have yet to meet in the playoffs. Although from 2013 to 2017, the St. Louis Blues had an affiliation with the Chicago Wolves. During that time, the team did not make it out of the first round.
The Springfield Thunderbirds pose with the Richard F. Canning Trophy as AHL Eastern Conference Champions on June 15, 2022 to advance to the 2022 Calder Cup Finals. Photo courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds.
3. The Wolves piled up 711 points in the regular season, while the Thunderbirds had 627.
4. Chicago scored 2,198 goals in the past 10 seasons, while Springfield lit the lamp 2,165 times.
5. Heading into the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs, no goalie has scored a goal while wearing a Springfield or Chicago uniform. Joel Hofer became the first to accomplish the feat.
A PLAYOFF GOALIE GOAL BY JOEL HOFER pic.twitter.com/DwkJLCgOFH
— x – Springfield Thunderbirds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) May 13, 2022
6. The T-Birds dressed 56 players through the course of the season. Their playoff opponent only dressed 47.
7. 32 Wolves players will be eligible to have their name on the cup if they emerge as 2022 Calder Cup Finals champions. 26 players will be eligible to have their names etched on the Calder Cup for Springfield.
8. The average thunderbird expects to live about 200 years. The average wolf can live anywhere between 14-16 years. This is a stark difference considering the average age of a player in Chicago is 24.02, while Springfield’s players average at 24.90.
9. The Thunderbirds 2022 roster featured skaters from six nationalities this year: Canada, the United States, Germany, Wales, Russia, and Sweden. For Chicago, they had representatives from Canada, the United States, Sweden, Russia, Germany, Slovakia, and Finland.
Chicago Wolves pose with the Robert W. Clarke Trophy as AHL Western Conference champions. They advance to the 2022 Calder Cup Finals. Photo courtesy of Ross Dettman/Chicago Wolves
10. These teams are separated by a 13-hour bus ride (917 miles) or a $178.90 Delta Airlines flight.
11. Chicago has the larger arena, seating 16,692 as opposed to 6,800 in Springfield.
12. It has been 11,348 days (as of today, June 19, 2022) since Springfield won the Calder Cup. Meanwhile, it has been 5,122 (as of today) since Chicago last won it in 2008.
Local Sports Throwback: Chad Denny of Eskasoni hoists the Calder Cup as a member of the Chicago Wolves in 2008. @TheAHL @Chicago_Wolves #Eskasoni @EskasoniBand @QMJHL pic.twitter.com/g8yHUShQtL
— Jeremy Fraser (@CBPost_Jeremy) April 27, 2021
13. Springfield had a 12-6 record when they last won the Calder Cup in 1991. Chicago won with a 16-8 record.
14. Only four players were alive when Springfield last won; Tommy Cross, Jordan Smotherman, James Neal, and Luke Witkowski.
15. Each team would have to score 20+ power-play goals in the 2022 Calder Cup Finals to break the AHL record for power-play goals set in 1997 by Hershey with 35 goals in 23 games (Chicago needs 21, Springfield needs 22).
16. Both teams enter the series with an identical .769 win percentage in the playoffs.
17. Keean Washkurak is the Thunderbird’s youngest player, born on August 16, 2001. The youngest player to suit for the Wolves was Vasily Ponomarev, born on March 13, 2002.
Keean Washkurak extends the lead for the @ThunderbirdsAHL in #PROvsSPR with his 13th of the season. pic.twitter.com/ez9eCV9ia1
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) April 24, 2022
18. While the 2022 Calder Cup Finals will be boiling hot on the ice, the average temperature in Springfield is near 78°, while the average day in June for Chicago is 80°.
19. Springfield has had 122 fights in the past four years. Chicago has had 123.
20. Hofer is Springfield’s tallest player at six-foot-five. Griffin Mendel holds that for Chicago at six-foot-six.
21. The players from the Calder Cup championship team don’t automatically get a day with the cup. Unlike the Stanley Cup in the NHL, the AHL players don’t get a designated day with their trophy. Instead, the Calder Cup is awarded to their team, where the players will have to request a loan if they want to take it to their hometown.
Stay with Field Pass Hockey as we will have complete coverage of the 2022 Calder Cup Finals!
