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I won't miss him. Sure he can throw a punch, but he only scored about 4 goals all season. Pretty crappy for a LW. I don't mind players who can dish it out, I just prefer one who can find the back of the net once in a while.

They signed Travis Richards too. Here's the link.

Cancelled! This is sad news. This game is a big deal here in GR.

Yes and no. At the top, Rochester led the entire AHL with 112 points. St. John and Manitoba finished with 98 points. Based on points alone, the Griffins would've finished fifth and out of the playoffs. The bottom of the North division is no pushover either. Cleveland had 78 points but finished dead last. There are no easy wins like San Antonio and Utah. In fact, not one team in the North division had a losing record at home. That said, I expect a lot of the top players on those teams to find roster spots in the NHL next season so the division might be a lot less talented.

I say invite all four of them to camp but make them play their way onto the team. If they don't play with a renewed enthusiasm, cut em.

MSU Spartans!!! What? You mean another PRO sport team? Cubs!!!!

This is really nothing new. AHL teams move, suspend operations, or switch affiliates every year. There were a half dozen or so similar moves this season alone. It's just part of business in the minors. But the reason the Oilers give for suspending operations is the Roadrunners (who play in the same building) could negatively impact Oiler's ticket sales. It's pretty sad when an NHL team feels threatened by an AHL team.

They have to do SOMETHING at home. Their record at the Van this season was abysmal. They only earned 39 out of a possible 80 points.

With no NHL, I thought I'd be really excited about the Calder playoffs this year but the Griffins let me down. I hung in for a while by following the Amerks because Goalie Ryan Miller is a former MSU player. When they got bounced, I lost interest. I'd watch if they televised some games but I haven't seen any plans for that. It's hard to follow a couple of minor league teams when I hardly know anyone on the roster and there's no coverage except for the internet and the occasional 8 point scores on page 12 of sport section in the local paper.

Anyone following the Calder Cup Playoffs? So far it's been crazy. There were five upsets in the first round when two #1 seeds (Manchester, Binghamton) and three #2 seeds (Hartford, St. Johns, Milwaukee) went down. Go underdogs!

The Avs (and Hurricanes) will send their top prospects to Lowell.

I'm not giving up on Stefan Liv yet, though his stats from the last few seasons haven't exactly blown me away.

I think it's a little early to hand Howard the starting goalie spot. There's been a lot of studs like Rick Dipietro and Ryan Miller that came out of college who haven't exactly taken the NHL by storm. I'd like to see him play in the AHL. If he can dominate for a season or two there, then he gets his shot at the bigs.