Moose mania is sweeping Manitoba, as the only active professional hockey team in Canada carries the playoff hopes of an entire province into the third round of the American Hockey League postseason.
The Manitoba Moose may never replace the departed Winnipeg Jets in the hearts of those towel-waving White Heat fans of yesteryear, but for now the Moose are definitely the team of choice at Portage and Main.
Manitoba is 8-2 in the Calder Cup playoffs after series wins over the St. John's Maple Leafs and Rochester Americans. Now, the Moose will face the Chicago Wolves for the Western Conference championship, beginning tomorrow at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., near O'Hare airport.
The Eastern Conference final will open on Friday with the Providence Bruins visiting the Philadelphia Phantoms at the Wachovia Center.
A sellout of 15,000 and change attended the last game of the Rochester series at the MTS Centre, and the popular Moose have averaged 9,676 fans for playoff games in the new downtown arena.
"People have started paying a lot more attention to us," Moose coach Randy Carlyle said yesterday after practice at a suburban rink because of a Green Day concert at MTS. "The new building is a positive and we've had a successful season, with nearly 100 points [98]in the regular season.
"Our team has worked hard and the other coaches [Eric Crawford, Barry Smith]have had some success as a group. But we haven't won anything yet, in our view."
The Moose have enjoyed success despite missing Jason King, perhaps their most talented forward, sidelined since suffering a concussion on March 6 when checked by Rochester defenceman Doug Janik.
King was in Vancouver yesterday for further tests, as the affiliated Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League are concerned about the slow recovery by the winger who scored 12 goals in 47 National Hockey League games the previous season.
Lee Goren and Josh Green have picked up the scoring slack in King's absence. Goren has nine goals in the playoffs and is plus-10 for goals scored at even strength. Green, another veteran, has seven goals playing in King's place on a line with Peter Sarno and Justin Morrison.
Goren, 27, was signed by Vancouver as a free agent in the off-season with the hope his skating would improve enough so he could some day play a league higher with the Canucks.
"He's done a lot of things that are positive here," Carlyle said. "He's made a difference in a lot of situations with our club and he has accepted the responsibility of being a leader, standing up for his teammates."
Goren is often matched against the opposition's top forwards, along with linemates Ryan Kesler and Jeff Heerema. Kesler is plus-12 in the playoffs and expected to play for the Canucks when the NHL resumes.
Still, the biggest plus for the Moose in the postseason has been journeyman netminder Wade Flaherty, 37, brought in to back up Vancouver prospect Alex Auld.
Carlyle, once a star defenceman with the NHL Jets, elected to start experienced Flaherty to open the playoffs, and Flaherty hasn't disappointed the coach. Over two years, Flaherty is 24-7 in the playoffs, having backstopped the Milwaukee Admirals to the Calder Cup championship last spring.
"Nothing seems to affect him," Carlyle said. "Yes, they score goals against him, but nothing seems to take him out of his comfort zone."
The other starting netminders in the conference finals hail from Finland -- Flaherty's from Terrace, B.C. -- and may soon have NHL careers.
Kari Lethonen of the Wolves was a draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers, selected second overall in 2002, and has a 1.61 goals-against average in these playoffs, with a save percentage of .944.
Providence's Hannu Toivonen has a 2.34 average and .926 save percentage. He was selected 29th by the Boston Bruins in 2002.
Philadelphia's Antero Nittymaki has a 2.05 average and .935 save percentage, and was selected 168th by the Flyers in 1998.
Flaherty has 120 games of NHL experience after playing for five NHL teams, with his last NHL game played during the 2002-03 season with the Nashville Predators. He may never make it to Vancouver, but for now he's playing ahead of the younger Auld for good reason. Flaherty's average is 2.26 and his save percentage .916 behind a defence anchored by captain Nolan Baumgartner.
The AHL is known as a development league and each remaining team has its share of prospects. The Phantoms have young centres Jeff Carter (nine goals), Brad Richards and R.J. Umberger, while Providence uses forwards Brad Boyes and Patrice Bergeron.
Chicago has dressed junior defenceman Braydon Coburn from the Portand Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. Chicago, an Atlanta affiliate, has benefited from the puzzling late assignment of Jay Bouwmeester and Stephen Weiss by the Florida Panthers, and Joe Corvo from the Los Angeles Kings.
"Chicago added some key players, and, ethically, some people would question whether they should have done it," Carlyle noted. "But that's not for me to say, so you just go with the depth of the lineup that you have."
AHL semi-finals
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Manitoba Moose
NHL affiliate: Vancouver Canucks.
Power forward: Lee Goren.
Prospect to watch: Ryan Kesler.
In goal: Wade Flaherty.
Chicago Wolves
NHL affiliate: Atlanta Thrashers.
Power forward: Cory Larose.
Prospect to watch: Brayden Coburn.
In goal: Kari Lehtonen.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Providence Bruins
NHL affiliate: Boston Bruins.
Power forward: Patrice Bergeron.
Prospect to watch: Brad Boyes.
In goal: Hannu Toivonen.
Philadelphia Phantoms
NHL affiliate: Philadelphia Flyers.
Power forward: Jeff Carter.
Prospect to watch: Brad Richards.
In goal: Antero Nittymaki.