Marlies Win AHL's Calder Cup

The Toronto Marlies are the American Hockey League champion.

The top farm club of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting Texas Stars, 6-1, at Ricoh Coliseum in Game 7 of the Calder Cup Final on Thursday night in Ontario to clinch the club's first-ever AHL crown, and first by any pro hockey team from Toronto in 51 years.

Toronto captain Ben Smith (Boston College), who won two NCAA titles with the Eagles and also has a 2013 Stanley Cup ring from the Chicago Blackhawks, tallied an empty-net goal in Game 7. He led a contingent of former NCAA players on the Marlies' roster that included the likes of Chris Mueller (Michigan State), Trevor Moore (Denver), Colin Greening (Cornell), Justin Holl (Minnesota) and Vincent LoVerde (Miami).

Loverde had two assists for Toronto in the clinching contest, while Moore posted one. Mike McKenna (St. Lawrence) made 40 stops for the Stars in defeat, while Brian Flynn (Maine) and Matt Mangene (Maine) assisted on Texas' lone goal.

Monarchs Reign Supreme in AHL

Kevin Loverde (Miami) scored the game-winning goal on Saturday night as the Manchester Monarchs defeated the Utica Comets, 2-1, to win the American Hockey League's Calder Cup Final in five games. It was the first Calder Cup championship in team history.

Loverde, who led the Red Hawks in blocked shots in each of his four NCAA seasons, according to theahl.com, put Manchester up, 2-0, with a power-play tally just over 13 minutes into the first period at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Also skating on Saturday and winning the Cup with the Monarchs was Sean Backman (Yale), Nic Dowd (St. Cloud State), Derek Forbort (North Dakota), Michael Mersch (Wisconsin), Brian O'Neill (Yale) and Nick Shore (Denver).

Manchester, the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, will shift its operations to the ECHL next season after 14 campaigns in the AHL. The Kings' new AHL affiliate, the Reign, will play in Ontario, Calif. beginning in 2015-16 as part of the league's western expansion.