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Red Wings’ AHL Grand Rapids claims Calder Cup

Tomas Tatar

The Detroit Red Wings can feel pretty good about their future tonight. Their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, have won Calder Cup for the first time in the franchise’s history.

In Game 6 of the final round, 22-year-old forward Tomas Tatar netted two goals and goaltender Petr Mrazek, 21, turned aside 24 of 26 shots to lead the Griffins to a 5-2 victory against the Syracuse Crunch.

“We knew it was going to be a real hard series,” Griffins coach Jeff Blashill said, according to NHL.com. “We knew Syracuse had the heart of a champion.”

The Crunch, the AHL club of the Tampa Bay Lightning, were led by 22-year-old forward Ondrej Palat, who had a league-best 26 points in 18 playoff games. Tatar finished with an AHL-leading 16 goals in 24 postseason contests.

For his efforts, Tatar was named the AHL’s playoff MVP.