After rolling through the American Hockey League (AHL) regular season to the tune of 54 wins, the Providence Bruins were expected to put together a Calder Cup Playoff run deep into the spring and into June. The Springfield Thunderbirds, the St. Louis Blues' affiliate, had other ideas.
After splitting the first two games of the series last weekend in Rhode Island, Springfield took both games at home on Tuesday and Thursday night in overtime in Massachusetts to send the P-Bruins packing with a stunning exit in the Atlantic Division semifinals.
Former Boston and Providence forward Chris Wagner, who has been bouncing around in the AHL in recent years with short stops in the NHL, set up the game-winning overtime goal just over four minutes into the extra session to end the season for Providence.
Providence Bruins bounced in stunning fashion by Springfield
This is about as disappointing an ending to a terrific season as you could have had if you're Ryan Mougenel, who was the AHL Coach of the Year. Being bounced in the first round by the Thunderbirds after the regular season they had and all the talent they had is nothing short of concerning.
Sure, it's just the Calder Cup Playoffs, but to be fair, the development of Boston prospects under him in the AHL hasn't been what it needs to be. He got top prospect James Hagens for a few games before he signed his entry-level deal in Boston. Goalie Michael DiPietro was named the AHL MVP this season, but it all went for naught.
Providence dropped Game 3 in overtime on a missed offside call that the league later admitted was a mistake. However, this series loss continues a troubling organizational trend of having great regular seasons and losing in the first round of the playoffs. This feels like the 2023 Boston Bruins, who had the NHL-record regular season, then suffered a historic first-round postseason exit by the Florida Panthers.
Regardless, it's another disappointing end to a season for Providence, and it feels like the development isn't there, given all the success they've had. Raise your hand if you honestly didn't see something like this coming. Our own Nate Duffett did.
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