DCU hosts AHL; Hartford heads to Worcester.

• Author: Ballou, Bill
• Position: Sports

Byline: Bill Ballou

WORCESTER -- The last time the American Hockey League left town, it took a year to return.

This time, it's taking nine days.

The Hartford WolfPack will play their first two home games in Round Two of the Calder Cup playoffs at the DCU Center at 3 p.m. May 10 and 7 p.m. on May 11. The opposition -- the Hershey Bears, who else?

The Bears, who ended the Sharks' existence in Hershey on Friday night, have home ice advantage in the series, which is best of seven. The first two games will be there, then the teams will alternate the final three if those games are necessary.

Game Six would be a Hartford home game and would be played there in Connecticut. The dates during which the WolfPack would normally have played Game 3 and Game 4 are booked for the circus, so the XL Center is unavailable. That is not an uncommon occurrence in the AHL, where many teams do not own their home arenas.

The Sharks are not involved in any of the plans for the two Hartford games. More information on tickets for the two games at the DCU Center will be available in the next couple of days. For the present, fans are invited to visit the...