The 2014 Calder Cup Finals are set, with the Texas Stars and St. John’s IceCaps ready to do battle for the championship of the American Hockey League.

Both teams advanced to the Finals by winning their respective conference championship series on Tuesday night.

The top affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, Texas finished with the best regular season record in the AHL at 48-18-3-7 (106 points). Guided by second-year head coach Willie Desjardins, the Stars defeated the Oklahoma City Barons in the conference quarterfinals (3-0), the Grand Rapids Griffins in the conference semifinals (4-2) and the Marlies in the conference finals (4-3) to reach the Calder Cup Finals for the second time in the franchise’s five-year history.  Justin Dowling, Brett Ritchie and Mike Hedden notched three points apiece as the Stars blitzed the Toronto Marlies, 6-2, in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals at Cedar Park Center in Cedar Park, Texas. 

The top affiliate of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, the IceCaps – led by head coach Keith McCambridge – finished second in the Atlantic Division and earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with a regular-season record of 46-23-2-5 (99 points), then defeated the Albany Devils (3-1) in the conference quarterfinals, the Norfolk Admirals (4-2) in the conference semifinals and the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (4-2) in the conference finals to reach the Finals.  It will be the first Finals for an AHL team from St. John’s since the Maple Leafs lost a seven-game title series to the Adirondack Red Wings in 1992.

The 2014 Calder Cup Finals get underway Sunday night in Cedar Park, Texas.

2014 Calder Cup Finals
Game 1 – Sun., June 8 – St. John’s at Texas, 8:30
Game 2 – Mon., June 9 – St. John’s at Texas, 8:30
Game 3 – Wed., June 11 – Texas at St. John’s, 6:00
Game 4 – Mon., June 16 – Texas at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 5 – Tue., June 17 – Texas at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 6 – Thu., June 19 – St. John’s at Texas, 8:30
*Game 7 – Mon., June 23 – St. John’s at Texas, 8:30
   *if necessary… All times Eastern