# 2019 Calder Cup playoffs

The 2019 Calder Cup playoffs of the American Hockey League began on April 17, 2019 with the playoff format that was introduced in 2016. The sixteen teams that qualified, four from each division, play a best-of-five series in the division semifinals, with the playoffs continuing with best-of-seven series for the division finals, conference finals, and Calder Cup finals.
The playoffs ended with the Charlotte Checkers winning their first Calder Cup in franchise history, defeating the Chicago Wolves in five games in the Calder Cup Finals.

## Playoff seeds

After the 2018–19 AHL regular season, 16 teams qualify for the playoffs. The top four teams in each division ranked by points qualify for the 2019 Calder Cup playoffs. The Charlotte Checkers were the first team to clinch a playoff spot on March 22 and won the regular season title with three games remaining.

### Eastern Conference
#### Atlantic Division

* Charlotte Checkers – 110 points (.724)
* Bridgeport Sound Tigers – 95 points (.625)
* Hershey Bears – 94 points (.618)
* Providence Bruins – 87 points (.572)

#### North Division

* Syracuse Crunch – 102 points (.671)
* Rochester Americans – 99 points (.651)
* Toronto Marlies – 91 points (.599)
* Cleveland Monsters – 84 points (.553)

### Western Conference
#### Central Division

* Chicago Wolves – 98 points (.645)
* Milwaukee Admirals – 88 points (.579)
* Iowa Wild – 87 points (.572), 33 ROWs
* Grand Rapids Griffins – 87 points (.572), 32 ROWs

#### Pacific Division

* Bakersfield Condors – 89 points (.654)
* San Jose Barracuda – 85 points (.625)
* San Diego Gulls – 80 points (.588)
* Colorado Eagles – 77 points (.566)

## 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 | Charlotte | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Providence | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Providence | 1 | | | A1 | Charlotte | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A3 | Hershey | 0 | | | | | | | |
| A2 | Bridgeport | 2 | | | A3 | Hershey | 0 | | | | | | | |
| A3 | Hershey | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A3 | Hershey | 3 | | | | | | A1 | Charlotte | 4 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | A1 | Charlotte | 4 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | N3 | Toronto | 2 | | | | |
| N1 | Syracuse | 1 | | | | | | | | | N3 | Toronto | 2 | | | | |
| N4 | Cleveland | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Cleveland | 3 | | | N4 | Cleveland | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N3 | Toronto | 4 | | | | | | | |
| N2 | Rochester | 0 | | | N3 | Toronto | 4 | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Toronto | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Toronto | 3 | | | | | | | | | | A1 | Charlotte | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | C1 | Chicago | 1 |
| C1 | Chicago | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | C1 | Chicago | 1 |
| C4 | Grand Rapids | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| C4 | Grand Rapids | 2 | | | C1 | Chicago | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | C3 | Iowa | 2 | | | | | | | |
| C2 | Milwaukee | 2 | | | C3 | Iowa | 2 | | | | | | | |
| C3 | Iowa | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| C3 | Iowa | 3 | | | | | | C1 | Chicago | 4 | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | C1 | Chicago | 4 | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | P3 | San Diego | 2 | | | | |
| P1 | Bakersfield | 3 | | | | | | | | | P3 | San Diego | 2 | | | | |
| P4 | Colorado | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| P4 | Colorado | 1 | | | P1 | Bakersfield | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | P3 | San Diego | 4 | | | | | | | |
| P2 | San Jose | 1 | | | P3 | San Diego | 4 | | | | | | | |
| P3 | San Diego | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Division semifinals
### Eastern Conference
#### (A1) Charlotte Checkers vs. (A4) Providence Bruins

* Charlotte won series 3–1

#### (A2) Bridgeport Sound Tigers vs. (A3) Hershey Bears

* Hershey won series 3–2

#### (N1) Syracuse Crunch vs. (N4) Cleveland Monsters

* Cleveland won series 3–1

#### (N2) Rochester Americans vs. (N3) Toronto Marlies

* Toronto won series 3–0

### Western Conference
#### (C1) Chicago Wolves vs. (C4) Grand Rapids Griffins

* Chicago won series 3–2

#### (C2) Milwaukee Admirals vs. (C3) Iowa Wild

* Iowa won series 3–2

#### (P1) Bakersfield Condors vs. (P4) Colorado Eagles

* Bakersfield won series 3–1

#### (P2) San Jose Barracuda vs. (P3) San Diego Gulls

* San Diego won series 3–1

## Division finals
### Eastern Conference
#### (A1) Charlotte Checkers vs. (A3) Hershey Bears

* Charlotte won series 4–0

#### (N3) Toronto Marlies vs. (N4) Cleveland Monsters

* Toronto won series 4–0

### Western Conference
#### (C1) Chicago Wolves vs. (C3) Iowa Wild

* Chicago won series 4–2

#### (P1) Bakersfield Condors vs. (P3) San Diego Gulls

* San Diego won series 4–2

## Conference finals
### Eastern Conference
#### (A1) Charlotte Checkers vs. (N3) Toronto Marlies

* Charlotte won series 4–2

### Western Conference
#### (C1) Chicago Wolves vs. (P3) San Diego Gulls

* Chicago won series 4–2

## Calder Cup finals
### (A1) Charlotte Checkers vs. (C1) Chicago Wolves

* Charlotte won series 4–1

## 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 |
| Andrew Poturalski | Charlotte Checkers | 18 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 12 |
| Morgan Geekie | Charlotte Checkers | 19 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 6 |
| Tomas Jurco | Charlotte Checkers | 18 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 18 |
| Adam Cracknell | San Diego Gulls | 15 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 0 |
| Jeremy Bracco | Toronto Marlies | 13 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 2 |
| Curtis McKenzie | Chicago Wolves | 21 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 51 |
| Aleksi Saarela | Charlotte Checkers | 17 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 4 |
| Cody Glass | Chicago Wolves | 22 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 6 |
| Nicolas Roy | Charlotte Checkers | 19 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 14 |
| Tomas Hyka | Chicago Wolves | 22 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 6 |
| Zach Whitecloud | Chicago Wolves | 22 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 11 |

### 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 240 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 |
| Dustin Tokarski | Charlotte Checkers | 5 | 5 | 0 | 124 | 8 | 1.74 | .935 | 0 | 275:08 |
| Christopher Gibson | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 123 | 9 | 1.91 | .927 | 0 | 283:20 |
| Kasimir Kaskisuo | Toronto Marlies | 12 | 9 | 3 | 356 | 26 | 2.14 | .927 | 1 | 729:57 |
| Vitek Vanecek | Hershey Bears | 4 | 1 | 3 | 139 | 9 | 2.25 | .935 | 1 | 240:32 |
| Kevin Boyle | San Diego Gulls | 7 | 3 | 3 | 175 | 14 | 2.25 | .920 | 1 | 373:52 |