Lions and Tigers and Bears ... oh my!

The classic tune from The Wizard of Oz applies to the unusual set-up of the Toronto Marlies-Hershey Bears’ series to determine the Eastern Conference champion in the AHL. Though the Leafs’ farm team finished ahead of Hershey by 16 points and looked forward to more home ice magic after coming back to beat Albany in a Game 7 on Monday, the Marlies will spend Thursday travelling to Pennsylvania.

The Ringling Brothers Circus has Hershey’s rink booked solid for what would have been Games 3, 4, 5. So the Marlies hit the road, a quirk of AHL life that rookie coach Sheldon Keefe has grown used to.

“It’s not ideal,” Keefe said Wednesday after practice at Ricoh Coliseum. “You want to start at home and keep the momentum you’ve generated from the last game. You have a short turnaround and you lose a day because you have to travel and all that stuff.

“But once we get out there, we’ll be fine. We’ve probably played better hockey on the road and we know we’ll be coming back here for the next three.”

Unlike the league’s common 2-3-2 set-up, Toronto would also get a seventh game at home on June 2 because of this inconvenience. In other words, a split at the Giant Center this Friday and Saturday and the Marlies would have four home dates to get three wins.

Winner of this series goes to the Calder Cup final against either Lake Erie or Ontario, Cal.

Battling Bourque

In getting past Bridgeport and Albany, the Marlies survived teams with strong game plans that did not feature a marquee player. Hershey, the farm team of the Capitals, has similar structure, with one notable exception.

Thirty-year-old forward Chris Bourque was the league’s leading scorer and MVP with 80 points, has played more than 100 AHL playoff games and has seven points in 12 post-season contests so far. Ray Bourque’s son finished three points ahead of Providence Bruins’ Seth Griffin in regular season and 12 up on Toronto’s T.J. Brennan, the league’s top scoring defenceman.

“I’ve met him a few times (at all-star games),” Brennan said. “Guys talk about the scoring race, but I try not to focus on the personal stuff.

“He just finds a way to get on the board. He’s had a tremendous amount of success at this level, he’s got a while to go yet and I’m sure he wants to win a Calder Cup. But our mentality is not to focus too much on one guy.“

Forwards Carter Camper and Jakub Vrana lead the Bears with nine points each.

Support group

Keefe says he’s been getting a lot of help in his first year of pro coaching, case in point the crazy Game 7 finish against Albany. No sooner had alternate captain Rich Clune returned to the bench after scoring the go-ahead goal with 2:30 to play, the fourth liner was suggesting alignments for Keefe’s staff to protect the lead.

“Rich and I chat a lot on the bench, he’s a veteran who sees a lot of different things out there,” Keefe said. “He’s worked extremely hard this season and earned the right to be on the ice late in a game like that.”

Keefe has also cited AHL veteran captain Andrew Campbell, who came back from injury to play in Game 7, and predecessor Gord Dineen, who returned as an assistant coach.

Holding the line

With defenceman Campbell and winger Nikita Soshnikov able to play through injuries in Game 7, it’s unlikely Keefe makes any changes for the opener in Hershey.

He might even have a little inside intel on the Bears from defenceman Connor Carrick, who was with the Bears until the Leafs traded Daniel Winnik to Washington.

“I have good memories and a lot of friends on that team,” said Carrick, tied for leading scorer in playoffs with 14 points to date. “They’re not extremely different than Albany. They try to make you work for goals, be stingy in their own end and have some dynamic players.”

Antoine Bibeau starts in net, though it is a back-to-back this weekend and Garret Sparks is on call.

“It’s a good problem to have as a coaching staff,” Keefe said. “We’re aware of (potential restlessness from Sparks sitting the past six games) and we have to talk to the goalies a lot. Credit to (coach) Piero Greco for keeping both guys ready. Both want the net, both have had it at different times where they gave carried the load for us.”

Ice Chips

Keefe won’t rule out concussed forward Andreas Johnson coming back at some point in the playoffs ... TSN will be showing Marlie games in the third round ... Goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo, defencemen Andrew Neilsen, David Kolomatis, forwards Jeremy Bracco and Brett Findlay are among those working out with the Marlies, but yet to appear in playoffs. Defenceman Travis Dermott also remains with the team. “It’s important for a lot of reasons that they learn how guys handle things, what the expectations are and what it’s like to play against men in practice,” Keefe said. “You also learn that hockey’s not supposed to end in April. You’re supposed to play deep into the playoffs. That’s good for the mindset, that every summer is going to be short.” ... Winger Dmytro Timashov did not join fellow 2015 draft picks Dermott and Neilsen with the Marlies after Shawinigan was eliminated from the QMJHL final.