Shaved Ice – June 7

TGIF.

Tomorrow, the Grand Rapids Griffins begin the final round of the AHL playoffs. They’re taking on the Syracuse Crunch – a team that has a few Michigan connections on the roster. Washington Township’s Matt Taormina, Bloomfield’s Pat Nagle and Cheboygan’s Jared Nightingale all play for the Lightning’s AHL affiliate.

Game 1 of the AHL Finals will take place tomorrow night, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. in New York. We have some good news – all the games will be streaming free for fans. More info can be found by following this link. Here’s the full schedule:

Game 1 – Sat., June 8 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 2 – Sun., June 9 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 6:00
Game 3 – Wed., June 12 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., June 14 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., June 15 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., June 18 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 7 – Thu., June 20 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00

The Saginaw Spirit officially announced the OHL doubleheader that will take place at Comerica Park next December. Click here to read more about that – the Whalers, Knights and Spitfires will all be participating, as well.

Former Novi HS coach Todd Krygier is the new bench boss for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Yesterday, USA Hockey announced the 40 players (no goalies yet) who will be invited to their World Junior evaluation camp. Plenty of Michigan connections are featured, click here to see them.

The Wings thank the Hockeytown faithful…

The favorites to win it all could be eliminated tonight. The Penguins, facing a 3-0 series deficit, return to Boston tonight for a must-win Game 4. If they can’t win, that means Torey Krug, Tyler Seguin and the Bruins can kick back and relax while waiting for the Blackhawks/Kings series to conclude.

Speaking of Blackhawks/Kings, Chicago picked up a big 3-2 win last night. Former Red Wing Marian Hossa had the game-winner, as the Blackhawks took a 3-1 series lead on the road.

Mark Johnson and Joe Mullen will serve as the coaches for the next edition of the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game, which takes place in Pittsburgh on Sept. 26. The game is designed to highlight the top U.S. draft-eligible prospects.

Don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for this to get started.

We’ll see you later today.