MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... The Chicago Wolves have won the Robert W. Clarke Trophy as the AHL's Western Conference champions for 2007-08, advancing to the Calder Cup Finals with a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Marlies in Rosemont, Ill., on Friday night.
It is the third conference championship in seven AHL seasons for the Wolves, who won the Calder Cup in 2002 and were runners-up in 2005.
Chicago, the top affiliate of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers, won the West Division championship and finished second overall in the AHL standings during the regular season, amassing 111 points with a record of 53-22-2-3. The Wolves defeated the Milwaukee Admirals in the division semifinals (4-2) and the Rockford IceHogs in the division finals (4-3) before dispatching Toronto, and will face either the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins or the Portland Pirates in the 2008 Calder Cup Finals.
ADVERTISEMENT Established in 1990, the AHL's Western Conference championship trophy honors the late Robert W. Clarke. Mr. Clarke served as the Chairman of the AHL's Board of Governors from 1967-94, and in 1956, he played an instrumental role in the formation of the Rochester Americans, one of the most successful franchises in AHL history and themselves a seven-time recipient of the Clarke Trophy.