Nelson’s Geoff Kinrade is one step away from being part of the most coveted minor league hockey championship in North America.
On Wednesday night Kinrade and the Binghamton Senators won the Richard F. Canning Trophy as the American Hockey League’s Eastern Conference champions for 2010-11. The New York-based team claimed the title with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Charlotte Checkers in Game 4 of their best-of-seven series.
The Ottawa Senators minor league team will now book a trip to the AHL’s Calder Cup final against either the Houston Aeros or the Hamilton Bulldogs. To get to the AHL final, the Senators beat three teams ranked higher after the regular season — Manchester Monarchs (4-3), Portland Pirates (4-2) and the Checkers.
The Senators become the city’s first team to reach the Calder Cup since the Binghamton Whalers in 1982.