AHL division finals tighten as Chicago, Colorado grab series leads

Chicago turned the Central Division finals into the clearest swing series in the bracket, taking a 2-0 lead over Grand Rapids with a 4-3 overtime win on May 16, while Colorado followed with a 4-1 win over Coachella Valley on May 17 to move ahead 2-1 in the Pacific. In best-of-five series, that kind of cushion changes everything fast.

The other two division finals stayed knotted at 1-1. Springfield evened the Atlantic with a 4-3 overtime win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on May 14, and Cleveland answered in the North by beating Toronto 3-1 on May 16. One night stretched into overtime in Wilkes-Barre, the other turned on Cleveland’s ability to keep the Marlies to one goal, and both series now head into the next round with no margin for error.

The next games on the slate were Wilkes-Barre/Scranton-Springfield on May 19, Cleveland-Toronto on May 20, Grand Rapids-Chicago on May 20 and Coachella Valley-Colorado on May 20, with later dates on May 21, 22 and 23 if needed. Chicago’s second straight one-goal win in Grand Rapids put the Wolves one home victory from the Central final, while Colorado’s three-game edge in the series gave the Eagles a chance to press deeper into the Pacific race.

The 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs featured 23 teams, with the top six Atlantic clubs, top five in the North and Central, and top seven in the Pacific all in the field. The postseason is presented by FloHockey, and it sits inside a league that has operated since 1936 and says nearly 90 percent of current NHL players are AHL graduates. Abbotsford won the 2025 Calder Cup, and this spring’s field still carries familiar names like Akil Thomas, Chase Bradley, Felix Unger Sörum, Vinni Lettieri and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, a reminder that the path from division finals pressure to the NHL is always close at hand.