The Manitoba Moose kick off their Calder Cup Playoff run on Wednesday night, meeting the Milwaukee Admirals in the Central Division First Round. The Moose wrapped the regular season with a 35-29-5-3 record, finishing in fourth in the Central Division. They closed the season on a five-game point streak. Milwaukee enters the playoffs with a 32-33-4-3 record. They are 5-5-0-0 over their past 10 games.

Tickets are available for tonight’s game at moosehockey.com/tickets. Coverage of today’s matchup gets going at 6:30 p.m. CT on CJOB.com, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. CT.

Going Dancing

The Moose and Admirals are no strangers to playoff matchups with the teams matching up for the third time in five years. Prior to their recent clashes, Manitoba and Milwaukee only met once in the postseason back in 1999 during the IHL Playoffs. The teams’ first Calder Cup Playoffs meeting came in 2022 in the Central Division Semifinals with Milwaukee winning in five games. Defenceman Declan Chisholm led the Moose with seven points (2G, 5A) while forward Tommy Novak paced Milwaukee with six points (1G, 5A). The following season saw the teams clash again in the Division Semifinals, and the series required the full five games once more. Jansen Harkins led the Moose with seven points (4G, 3A) while Jordan Gross was the top Admirals scorer at seven points (2G, 5A).

Welcome Back

The Moose got a pair of reinforcements from the Winnipeg Jets following their regular-season conclusion on Saturday, with forwards Brad Lambert and Brayden Yager returning to antlers. Lambert spent 34 games with the Moose this season, notching 13 points (6G, 7A). With the Jets, the Lahti, Finland native scored six points (3G, 3A), including his first career NHL goal, in 25 games as a Jet this season. Yager made his NHL debut on April 16 at Vegas, skating in three contests with the big club. He contributed 30 points (10G, 20A) through 68 games in his rookie season with the Moose. 

The Rook is Hot

Colby Barlow enters his first post-season as a professional riding a hot streak, scoring four goals in as many games to close the regular season. The 21-year-old recorded his first career multi-goal game in Manitoba’s 6-1 victory over the Iowa Wild on Saturday evening. Barlow finished the regular season with 16 points (8G, 8A), finishing just two goals shy of Brayden Yager for the team’s rookie lead. He was a first round pick by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Led by the Vets

The Moose were led by their veterans during the 2025-26 regular season, with all of their top five leading scorers having played at least 200 games in the AHL. Mason Shaw paced the group for a second straight season, scoring 44 points (15G, 29A) in 71 games. Following Shaw was a gaggle of Moose, with Jaret Anderson-Dolan at 36 points (13G, 23A), and Samuel Fagemo and Phil Di Giuseppe tied with 35 points. Anderson-Dolan, Fagemo, and Di Giuseppe are the only members of the Moose to skate in all 72 games during the regular season. 

Who’s Trending?

Parker Ford finished the regular season with a three-point night in Iowa on Saturday, scoring a goal and picking up a pair of helpers in the 6-1 win. The Wakefield, RI scored 26 points (8G, 18A) in his 52 games with the Moose this season, adding one assist in 15 games with the Jets in 2025-26. He has 92 points (42G, 50A) in his 173 career AHL games.