Playoff hockey
For those of you keeping an eye on Maine's incoming freshman class, goalie Shawn Sirman and Kingston of the Ontario Junior Hockey League are playing in the Royal Bank Cup, Canada's Junior A national championship.
The Voyageurs lost 5-0 to the Victoria (British Columbia) Grizzlies, the tournament host, in its opening game of the Royal Bank Cup. Sirman and the Voyageurs face the Summerside (Prince Edward Island) Capitals this afternoon in a round-robin game.
To follow the Royal Bank Cup via Hockey Canada, click here.
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Matt Duffy and the Florida Everblades prepare for Game Six of the ECHL's Kelly Cup South Division finals. South Carolina leads the best-of-seven series 3-2, and the series continues Tuesday in Estero, Fla., and Game Seven, if necessary, is scheduled for Wednesday.
Worth noting - Maine's graduation is Saturday. Duffy said via text message this morning that he plans to attend graduation, but with one provision. "It all depends on how we do," Duffy wrote.
Reconstructing a rink in a matter of minutes
Want to find out what goes into revamping an ice surface inside a rink? It's what the Cumberland County Civic Center will have to do when it hosts the American Hockey League All-Star Game in January.
The University of Michigan condensed the seven-hour process at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor into about two minutes via viral video.
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After being swept by Vancouver in the NHL's Western Conference playoffs, the St. Louis Blues reassigned former Maine goalie Ben Bishop to Peoria of the American Hockey League.
Alligator Alley hockey
Well, not quite. Estero, Fla., is about 20 miles north of the stretch of Interstate 75 that connects southeastern Florida to southwestern Florida (and, oh yes, is known for its reptile population). But three former Maine hockey players are in Estero with the Florida Everblades, the Florida Panthers' ECHL team.
Matt Duffy, Andrew Sweetland and Peter Metcalf are on the Everblades roster - Duffy was assigned to Florida for the playoffs, after Rochester's season ended in the American Hockey League. The Everblades open the second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs Friday against the South Carolina Stingrays.
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