The Manitoba Moose move to the next stage of their Calder Cup Playoffs journey on Saturday, May 2 at 2 p.m. CT. The Moose face the Grand Rapids Griffins in a best-of-five Central Division Semifinals series beginning at Canada Life Centre this weekend.

Series Schedule

Game 1: Saturday, May 2, 2 p.m. – Canada Life Centre (Winnipeg, Man.)
Game 2: Sunday, May 3, 2 p.m. – Canada Life Centre
Game 3: Wednesday, May 6, 6 p.m. – Van Andel Arena (Grand Rapids, Mich)
Game 4*: Friday, May 8, 6 p.m. – Van Andel Arena
Game 5*: Saturday, May 9, 6 p.m. – Van Andel Arena
*If necessary
All times Central

Experience the Calder Cup Playoffs:

Tickets on Sale Now
Single game tickets for the Central Division Semifinals are available now. To secure your seats or find information about group tickets, visit moosehockey.com/tickets.

Playoff Packages for the entire post-season are available at moosehockey.com/playoffs. Playoff packages provide multiple payment options including “Pay As We Play” and guarantee your seat as the Moose move through the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Moose on 680 CJOB and AHLTV on FloHockey
Listen to coverage of every Central Division Semifinals game on 680 CJOB, CJOB.com/sports and the Winnipeg Jets App. You can also watch all the action live with a subscription to AHLTV on FloHockey.

Playoff Series Primer:

The Manitoba-Grand Rapids Matchup
The Moose posted a 35-29-5-3 record during the regular season, good for 78 points and fourth in the Central Division. Grand Rapids enters the post-season as the top-seeded team in the Western Conference after marking down a 51-16-4-1 record and 107 points. Both teams finished the regular season by recording points in seven of their final 10 games, with Manitoba owning a 5-3-0-2 mark and Grand Rapids going 7-3-0-0.

Mason Shaw led the Moose with 44 points (15G, 29A) and Manitoba featured seven players with at least 30 points on the roster. David Gustafsson paces the antlered ones in the playoffs with three points (1G, 2A) in three games. John Leonard led the Griffins during the regular season with 54 points (33G, 21A) while nine Griffins reached at least 30 points.

Storylines

It’s Been a While
This latest post-season matchup is the first meeting between the Moose and Griffins since the 2018 Central Division Semifinals. The Moose took that best-of-five series in a deciding fifth game. Chase De Leo led the Moose with seven points (2G, 5A), while Ben Street posted eight points (4G, 4A) for the Griffins. Overall, the two teams have met four times in the Calder Cup Playoffs, with the Moose claiming three series (2007, 2009, 2018) to the Griffins’ one (2006). Manitoba holds a 14-9 record in 23 all-time post-season games against Grand Rapids.

Prospects Showdown
This First Round series showcases a large group of NHL prospects. The Moose skate into the set with 13 Winnipeg Jets draft picks on the roster. The Griffins lineup features 15 Detroit Red Wings draft selections. Overall, the Moose roster features three first round picks (Colby Barlow, Brad Lambert and Brayden Yager). Meanwhile, the Griffins roster hosts four first round picks (Sebastian Cossa, Nate Danielson, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Axel Sandin-Pellikka).

This Bus Ain’t Stopping
Centre David Gustafsson factored in on Manitoba’s final three goals of its First Round series against Milwaukee. Gustafsson scored the winning tally in Game 2, a power play goal, with 43 seconds remaining in regulation. He then posted a primary assist on each of Manitoba’s two goals in Game 3. Gustafsson’s winner was his first Calder Cup Playoffs goal, and the two-assist game was his first career multi-point outing in the post-season. The Tingsryd, Sweden product has four points (1G, 3A) in eight career Calder Cup Playoff games. Gustafsson also features a pair of goals in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Calder Cup Playoff Experience? Check!
A total of six Moose made their Calder Cup Playoff debuts for Manitoba in the First Round. Forwards Colby Barlow, Lucas Wahlin, Brayden Yager and Danny Zhilkin, along with defenceman Elias Salomonsson and goaltender Domenic DiVincentiis all saw their first action in the AHL post-season against Milwaukee. Of the five skaters, Barlow, Salomonsson and Yager recorded their first playoff points, each picking up an assist along the way. DiVincentiis allowed just two goals over a pair of starts, turning aside 50 of 52 shots for a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage. Manitoba’s expanded post-season roster still holds 11 players who have yet to make their AHL playoff debuts. On the other side, the Griffins head into their first game of the post-season with nine players who have yet to appear in a Calder Cup Playoff game. That includes veteran defenceman Erik Gustafsson, who has 49 Stanley Cup Playoff games under his belt.

Shorthanded Savants
The Manitoba penalty kill was a crucial factor in the Moose advancing to the Division Semifinals. The antlered ones turned aside all seven Milwaukee power plays in the First Round. The Admirals finished the regular season with the league’s third-ranked power play. Manitoba wrapped the regular season tied for 11th on the penalty kill, but ranked as high as second along the way. The power plays could be in tough in this Division Semifinals series as the Griffins posted the league’s best penalty kill at 86.0 percent during the regular season. Both teams will have to be wary while skating up a man as the Moose were tied for third in the AHL with 12 shorthanded goals and the Griffins were tied for seventh with 10 shorthanded tallies.

Tight Contests
The Moose captured a pair of one-goal victories to secure their comeback series win in the First Round. That shouldn’t come as a surprise as 18 of Manitoba’s 35 regular season wins were decided by one goal. That mark was tied for fourth in the AHL. On the other side, the Griffins picked up 17 wins separated by one goal. Expanding to games decided by two or less goals, the Moose were 22-5-5-3 throughout the season while the Griffins were 25-8-4-1. Four games between Manitoba and Grand Rapids were decided by two or less goals this season. The teams split the games, with Manitoba claiming the only overtime win.

For more information on the Calder Cup Playoffs First Round, visit moosehockey.com and follow along through the Manitoba Moose social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and Youtube.