The 2003 Calder Cup playoffs of the American Hockey League began on April 9, 2003. Twenty teams, the top ten from each conference, qualified for the playoffs. The seventh-, eighth-, ninth-, and tenth-placed teams in each conference played best-of-three series in the qualifying round. The four winners, in addition to the other twelve teams that qualified, played best-of-five series for conference quarterfinals. The remaining 8 teams played best-of-seven series for conference semifinals and conference finals.[1] The conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the Calder Cup. The Calder Cup Final ended on June 12, 2003 with the Houston Aeros defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs four games to three to win the first Calder Cup in team history.[2]
After the 2002–03 AHL regular season, 20 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top ten teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs. The Hamilton Bulldogs were the Eastern Conference regular season champions as well as the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners with the best overall regular season record. The Grand Rapids Griffins were the Western Conference regular season champions.[7] Division champions were automatically ranked 1-3.
Eastern Conference
Hamilton Bulldogs – Canadian Division and Eastern Conference regular season champions; Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners, 110 points
The top 6 teams in each conference receive byes to the Conference Quarterfinals. In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In the qualification round, all games are played at the arena of the higher seed. In each round the higher seed receives home ice advantage, meaning they receive the "extra" game on home-ice if the series reaches the maximum number of games. There is no set series format for each series after the Qualification Round due to arena scheduling conflicts and travel considerations.[8]
Conference Qualifiers
Note 1: All times are in
UTC−4
).
Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
Note 3: Home team is listed first.
Eastern Conference
(7) Hartford Wolf Pack vs. (10) Springfield Falcons
April 9
Hartford Wolf Pack
1 – 3
Springfield Falcons
Hartford Civic Center
April 11
Hartford Wolf Pack
2 – 3
Springfield Falcons
Hartford Civic Center
Springfield won series 2 – 0
(8) Portland Pirates vs. (9) Manitoba Moose
April 10
Portland Pirates
1 – 4
Manitoba Moose
Cumberland County Civic Center
April 11
Portland Pirates
4 – 2
Manitoba Moose
Cumberland County Civic Center
April 13
Portland Pirates
3 – 6
Manitoba Moose
Cumberland County Civic Center
Manitoba won series 2 – 1
Western Conference
(7) Milwaukee Admirals vs. (10) Rochester Americans
