Toronto Marlies look to turn around Calder Cup Finals at home

When the puck drops at Ricoh Coliseum on Thursday night, it will mark the first professional hockey game ever played in Toronto during the month of June.

The Toronto Marlies — the Maple Leafs' affiliate - are in the American Hockey League's Calder Cup Finals, and will be hosting Games 3, 4 and 5 of the championship series against the Norfolk Admirals (top affiliate of the Tamp Bay Lightning).

After finishing second in the Western Conference with a record of 44-24-8, the Marlies rolled through the first three rounds of the AHL playoffs, sweeping the Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) and defeating both the Abbotsford Heat (Calgary Flames) and Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton Oilers) in five games.

With the Leafs failing to make the postseason for a seventh consecutive season, Toronto's hockey fans have come out in droves to support the Marlies during their impressive playoff run. All seven home games thus far have been near sellouts, with tickets in the 7,800-seat rink ranging from as little as $10 in Round 1 to $55 for platinum seats during the final.

"We're averaging about 6,700 seats sold per game … that ranks third in the league," said Michael Cosentino, Director of Business Operations for the Marlies. "We've had a terrific run on the ice and at the gate at Ricoh Coliseum."

With an increase in demand for tickets, the Marlies have added about 350 extra seats in the north end of the rink for the final, and Cosentino expects all three games to sell out. There were only about 200 seats remaining for Thursday's game, and approximately 500 for Saturday.

Having lost only once at Ricoh Coliseum since the playoffs began, the Marlies will rely heavily on the large home crowd to give them a motivational boost. Toronto trails the series 2-0, after dropping both games in Norfolk by 3-1 and 4-2 scores. Admirals goalie Dustin Tokarski, a star for the 2009 Canadian world junior team that won gold, sports a miniscule 1.63 goals-against average to lead the league, and he's tied with Marlies netminder Ben Scrivens with a .940 save percentage.

"We have to be better in their zone and find our confidence with our cycle game," said Marlies coach Dallas Eakins, who signed a three-year contract extension earlier this week. "The biggest part of our offence is the cycle game and we really haven't had it going."

Toronto will turn to Jerry D'Amigo, who has eight goals and 13 points in 15 playoff games, as well as veteran Mike Zigomanis, who is returning to the lineup after missing four games with an injury. Zigomanis, one of the team's alternate captains, led the Marlies in scoring during the regular season with 61 points in 68 games.

The Marlies and Admirals face off in Game 3 at 7pm ET on Thursday, with the weekend games (Sunday if necessary) starting at 3pm ET.