# 2016 Calder Cup playoffs

The 2016 Calder Cup playoffs were held from April 20 to June 11, 2016, to determine the season champion of the American Hockey League (AHL). The 16 teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-five series in the division semifinals, then best-of-seven series for the division finals, conference finals, and Calder Cup finals. In the finals, the Lake Erie Monsters defeated the Hershey Bears in a four-game sweep to win the Calder Cup for the first time in franchise history. It was the 10th time the Calder Cup was won by a team representing Cleveland, as the Cleveland Barons won nine titles during their history (1937–1973).

## Playoff seeds

After the 2015–16 AHL regular season, 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top four teams in each division ranked by points percentage (points earned divided by points available) qualify for the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs, with one exception in each conference: if the fifth-place team in the Atlantic or Central Division finishes with a better points percentage than the fourth-place team in the North or Pacific Division, it would cross over and compete in the other division's bracket.
At the end of the regular season, the following teams qualified (with points percentage):

### Eastern Conference
#### Atlantic Division

* Hershey Bears – 98 points (.645)
* Providence Bruins – 95 points (.625)
* Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins – 92 points (.605)
* Portland Pirates – 90 points (.592)
* Bridgeport Sound Tigers – 87 points (.572)

#### North Division

* Toronto Marlies – 114 points (.750)
* Albany Devils – 102 points (.671)
* Utica Comets – 88 points (.579)

### Western Conference
#### Central Division

* Milwaukee Admirals – 101 points (.664)
* Lake Erie Monsters – 97 points (.638)
* Rockford IceHogs – 94 points (.618)
* Grand Rapids Griffins – 90 points (.592)

#### Pacific Division

* Ontario Reign – 93 points (.684)
* San Diego Gulls – 84 points (.618)
* Texas Stars – 91 points (.599)
* San Jose Barracuda – 73 points (.537)

## Bracket

| Division semifinals | Division semifinals | Division semifinals | | | Division finals | Division finals | Division finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | | Calder Cup final | Calder Cup final | Calder Cup final |
| A1 | Hershey | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Portland | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Portland | 2 | | | A1 | Hershey | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A3 | W-B/Scranton | 3 | | | | | | | |
| A2 | Providence | 0 | | | A3 | W-B/Scranton | 3 | | | | | | | |
| A3 | W-B/Scranton | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A3 | W-B/Scranton | 3 | | | | | | A1 | Hershey | 4 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | A1 | Hershey | 4 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | N1 | Toronto | 1 | | | | |
| N1 | Toronto | 3 | | | | | | | | | N1 | Toronto | 1 | | | | |
| A5 | Bridgeport | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A5 | Bridgeport | 0 | | | N1 | Toronto | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N2 | Albany | 3 | | | | | | | |
| N2 | Albany | 3 | | | N2 | Albany | 3 | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Utica | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Utica | 1 | | | | | | | | | | A1 | Hershey | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | C2 | Lake Erie | 4 |
| C1 | Milwaukee | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | C2 | Lake Erie | 4 |
| C4 | Grand Rapids | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| C4 | Grand Rapids | 3 | | | C4 | Grand Rapids | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | C2 | Lake Erie | 4 | | | | | | | |
| C2 | Lake Erie | 3 | | | C2 | Lake Erie | 4 | | | | | | | |
| C3 | Rockford | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| C3 | Rockford | 0 | | | | | | C2 | Lake Erie | 4 | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | C2 | Lake Erie | 4 | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | P1 | Ontario | 0 | | | | |
| P1 | Ontario | 3 | | | | | | | | | P1 | Ontario | 0 | | | | |
| P4 | San Jose | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| P4 | San Jose | 1 | | | P1 | Ontario | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | P2 | San Diego | 1 | | | | | | | |
| P2 | San Diego | 3 | | | P2 | San Diego | 1 | | | | | | | |
| P3 | Texas | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Division semifinals

    Note 1: All times are in Eastern Time (UTC−04:00).
    Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
    Note 3: Home team is listed first.

### Eastern Conference
#### (A1) Hershey Bears vs. (A4) Portland Pirates

* Hershey wins series 3–2

#### (A2) Providence Bruins vs. (A3) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

* Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wins series 3–0

#### (N1) Toronto Marlies vs. (A5) Bridgeport Sound Tigers

* Toronto wins series 3–0

#### (N2) Albany Devils vs. (N3) Utica Comets

* Albany wins series 3–1

### Western Conference
#### (C1) Milwaukee Admirals vs. (C4) Grand Rapids Griffins

* Grand Rapids wins series 3–0

#### (C2) Lake Erie Monsters vs. (C3) Rockford IceHogs

* Lake Erie wins series 3–0

#### (P1) Ontario Reign vs. (P4) San Jose Barracuda

* Ontario wins series 3–1

#### (P2) San Diego Gulls vs. (P3) Texas Stars

* San Diego wins series 3–1

## Division finals
### Eastern Conference
#### (A1) Hershey Bears vs. (A3) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

* Hershey wins series 4–3

#### (N1) Toronto Marlies vs. (N2) Albany Devils

* Toronto wins series 4–3

### Western Conference
#### (C2) Lake Erie Monsters vs. (C4) Grand Rapids Griffins

* Lake Erie wins series 4–2

#### (P1) Ontario Reign vs. (P2) San Diego Gulls

* Ontario wins series 4–1

## Conference finals
### Eastern Conference
#### (N1) Toronto Marlies vs. (A1) Hershey Bears

* Hershey wins series 4–1

### Western Conference
#### (P1) Ontario Reign vs. (C2) Lake Erie Monsters

* Lake Erie wins series 4–0

## Calder Cup Finals
### Hershey Bears vs. Lake Erie Monsters

* Lake Erie wins series 4–0

## Playoff statistical leaders
### Leading skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points. If there is a tie in points, goals take precedence over assists.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Connor Carrick | Toronto Marlies | 15 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 12 |
| Carter Camper | Hershey Bears | 21 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 2 |
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | Lake Erie Monsters | 17 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 2 |
| Lukas Sedlak | Lake Erie Monsters | 17 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 18 |
| Jakub Vrana | Hershey Bears | 21 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 2 |
| Jake Guentzel | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | 10 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 0 |
| Zach Werenski | Lake Erie Monsters | 17 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 2 |
| Ryan Craig | Lake Erie Monsters | 17 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 8 |
| Josh Anderson | Lake Erie Monsters | 15 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 24 |
| Daniel Zaar | Lake Erie Monsters | 17 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 4 |

### Leading goaltenders

This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage with at least 180 minutes played. The table is initially sorted by goals against average, with the criterion for inclusion in bold.
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes)
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| Anton Forsberg | Lake Erie Monsters | 10 | 9 | 0 | 255 | 13 | 1.34 | .949 | 2 | 583:58 |
| Justin Peters | Hershey Bears | 20 | 11 | 9 | 567 | 44 | 2.13 | .922 | 2 | 1242:20 |
| Mike McKenna | Portland Pirates | 5 | 2 | 3 | 146 | 12 | 2.13 | .918 | 0 | 338:20 |
| Peter Budaj | Ontario Reign | 13 | 7 | 6 | 301 | 29 | 2.18 | .904 | 0 | 799:38 |
| Anton Khudobin | San Diego Gulls | 4 | 2 | 1 | 106 | 7 | 2.26 | .934 | 0 | 185:28 |
| Matt Hackett | San Diego Gulls | 6 | 2 | 4 | 187 | 14 | 2.27 | .925 | 1 | 369:33 |
| Aaron Dell | San Jose Barracuda | 4 | 1 | 3 | 146 | 10 | 2.59 | .932 | 0 | 231:17 |