Chicago, Toronto surge into 2026 Calder Cup Final as underdogs
Easton Cowan's 11.3-second winner and Amir Miftakhov's 36-save debut pushed Toronto and Chicago into the Calder Cup Final as hot late-season underdogs.
The Calder Cup Final opens Friday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, with Chicago holding home-ice advantage before Games 3 through 5 shift to Toronto and, if necessary, Games 6 and 7 return north. It is a matchup of two clubs that spent the regular season outside the AHL’s spotlight, then surged when the bracket tightened.
Toronto finished 36-26-10, Chicago 36-21-15, and neither entered June as a favorite. Toronto nevertheless earned its third Finals berth in franchise history and its first since the 2018 championship season by beating Rochester, Laval, Cleveland and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Marlies clinched the Eastern Conference title with a 2-1 overtime win over the Penguins in Game 6, and rookie forward Easton Cowan was central to the run. Cowan scored with 11.3 seconds left in regulation to eliminate Cleveland, then finished his playoff drive with nine points, five goals and four assists, in 14 games. Marlies coach John Gruden said Cowan would go back out and be “Easton Cowan, the best version of him. Find it, fix it and forget it,” and called him a gamer after a difficult stretch.
Chicago’s path was built differently, through depth and emergency answers in goal. The Wolves knocked off Texas, Grand Rapids and Colorado, then had to rally in the Western Conference Final after sliding into elimination territory. They also survived a late stretch without top goalie Cayden Primeau, and Amir Miftakhov gave them a lift in Game 6 against Colorado, making his first start of the postseason and stopping 36 shots, including all 23 he faced over the final two periods. That kind of response is why Chicago kept its season alive long enough to reach the final round.
The broader stakes reach beyond Rosemont and Toronto. Carolina’s affiliate can still make the Hurricanes part of a rare same-season NHL and AHL double, a feat no organization has pulled off since the 1995 New Jersey Devils. Toronto’s run shows a development pipeline that can turn rookies like Cowan into playoff drivers, while Chicago’s surge underlines a different lesson: depth and goaltending can matter as much as regular-season standing when the calendar turns to June.
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