SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – On Friday afternoon, American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Howson announced the format and schedule for the Pacific Division playoff tournament.

All seven Pacific Division teams will participate in the tournament to determine the 2020-21 division championship. The fourth- through seventh-place clubs in the regular-season standings will play a single-elimination play-in, held at FivePoint Arena in Irvine, California. This play-in will determine which team will join the top three Pacific Division teams in the best-of-three semifinals.

The semifinal winners will advance to the best-of-three finals, with that winner being awarded the John D. Chick Trophy as champions of the Pacific Division. The Chick Trophy has been presented to an AHL division champion annually since 1961-62.

2021 Pacific Division Playoff Tournament FormatPlay-In Series (May 18-19) Game 1 – Tue., May 18 – #4 vs. #7, 1:00 PT (at Irvine, Calif.) Game 2 – Tue., May 18 – #5 vs. #6, 7:30 PT (at Irvine, Calif.) Game 3 – Wed., May 19 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7:00 PT (at Irvine, Calif.)Semifinal “A” (best-of-3; to conclude by May 24) Game 1 – #1 vs. Play-In winner (at higher seed) Game 2 – #1 vs. Play-In winner (at higher seed) *Game 3 – #1 vs. Play-In winner (at higher seed) Semifinal “B” (best-of-3; to conclude by May 24) Game 1 – #2 vs. #3 (at higher seed) Game 2 – #2 vs. #3 (at higher seed) *Game 3 – #2 vs. #3 (at higher seed) Pacific Division Finals (best-of-3; to conclude by May 29) Game 1 – Semifinal winners (at higher seed) Game 2 – Semifinal winners (at higher seed) *Game 3 – Semifinal winners (at higher seed) *if necessary Image courtesy of the American Hockey League

All Pacific Division playoff games will be available for viewing on AHLTV.

Stay tuned to The Sin Bin for continued coverage of the AHL playoffs.