Off Day Thoughts: AHL Might Outlast NHL in Finals Length. Glennie's Resurgence

Players, coaches, staff, referees, linesman, league officials and some media piled onto a charter this morning bound for St. John's, Newfoundland. It's a seven hour flight with a two and a half hour time change. Luckily, the Stars are in the same boat (or plane, if you will) as the IceCaps here and will be facing the same travel weariness.

Texas said that, for its part, they were going to be treating the game like the third night of a 3-in-3, given how little rest there will be in between the two contests.

"It's a grind for both teams," said Dustin Jeffrey last night. "One of our strengths all year has been our ability to roll four lines. Playing the end game of a three in four nights, that is going to be huge for us."

As you would expect, the IceCaps have long sold out tomorrow's game. They have sold out all 130 regular season and playoff games in franchise history and the first game of the Finals on the Rock is no exception.

"It's a tough building to play in. They get a rowdy crowd. We're going to have to be ready to take their crowd out of it."

Potential NHL Sweep Would Leave AHL as Final League in Play

In the ECHL, the Alaska Aces wrapped up a 4-2 series win over the Cincinnati Cyclones last night in Ohio. Goalie Rob Madore, who has always played well against the Texas Stars, was the playoff MVP in the losing effort. It was interestingly the first time in the ECHL's history that the MVP was awarded to a player from the losing team.

In the NHL, the Los Angeles Kings lead the New York Rangers 3-0 with a potential clinching Game 4 on Wednesday night. If the Kings complete the sweep, the AHL would be the last remaining game in town for the 2013-14 hockey season. Games 4 and 5 of the Calder Cup Finals will not be played until June 16th and 17th. Game 5 is guaranteed to happen now that the teams split the opening pair of games.

Even if the NHL Final goes to seven games, the AHL is still likely to outlast its parent organization. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is June 18th. Games 6 and 7 in Texas will be June 19 and 23, if necessary.

Watching the watchers

It's interesting this time of year to see the reactions of all the new eyes on the league, team and its prospects and coaching. A slew of articles were written this week about Scott Glennie coming back from the dead this season. Dallas fans had mostly written off the former first round pick after injury issues and inconsistency put him down the depth chart.

Sunday's game changed that for many as he had two goals, an assist and even added a fight. It's good for him as a player to get this exposure and perform well on a big stage. He will likely never meet whatever sky high expectations that there are for a top ten pick. However, if he can find a niche in Dallas in the bottom six, he'll certainly take it.

Comments

  1. Any Stars fans making the trip? I'm heading up Sunday for games 4 and 5. Return to Austin on Wednesday. Go Stars. Great read Steven.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope you enjoy your time in St. John's, Bill. Make sure that you hit the pubs on George Street, take a hike up Signal Hill, and catch a glimpse of the many icebergs that are just off-shore like this one...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8DW_hZeWV8

    I also hope that you go home sad on Wednesday wondering how your Stars just lost 4 games in a row.

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