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Strike Three Means You're Out: Big surprise, of course, but Bobby Clarke didn't know that. And not content to have his farm team already housing soon-to-be-convicted Jesse Boulerice, Clarke invited Gary Coupal - yes, THAT Gary Coupal - to Flyers camp with the intent of signing him for the Phantoms. Thankfully, the AHL intervened and saved Clarke from his own violence-loving self, refusing to approve a contract for Coupal and generally making it known that any guy kicked out of three different leagues would not be welcome in theirs.

On a related note, the Philadelphia Flyers are expected to finally do what they should have done in the first place - trade for Saint John Flames defenseman Ryan Bast. After trying to sign him to a contract effective upon the expiration of his Flames contract, the Flyers will settle for conventional means and Calgary will receive an early draft pick in next year's Entry Draft, the exact pick to be determined any day now. Meanwhile, the Flames let Bast know what they thought of the whole thing - he wasn't invited to training camp, when under normal circumstances he would have been.

Lee Sorochan by Meredith Martini

Watch Your Mouth: Hartford WolfPack defenseman Lee Sorochan was a restricted free agent this summer, but the Rangers neither offered him the contract he wanted nor would they permit another team to sign him and hence, Sorochan wound up with what he considered a low-ball contract and a trip back to Hartford. Sorochan said as much to the Hartford Courant, which printed his comments. Lo, the Rangers kicked Sorochan off the Wolfpack and sent him home, intending a season-long suspension. As it turns out, you can't suspend a player for complaining and Sorochan will now spend the remainder of the season in IHL Fort Wayne.

Easy Come...: The Rochester Americans, desperately seeking offense, signed free agent sniper Craig Fisher during the summer. He didn't last his first game before having a hand broken by a slash. He'll be out until mid-October. Meanwhile, Rochester GM Jody Gage continues trading with the IHL, taking goalie Tom Draper off Cleveland's hands for 'future considerations', which in this case means saying thank you to Cleveland at some point.

Additional Assistance: Rather than wait and see with Randy Cunneyworth, the Amerks signed Jon Cristiano as an assistant coach. Cristiano was last in the AHL as an assistant with the Carolina Monarchs; he's been scouting for the Sabres since then. Also, the Kentucky T-Blades added longtime NHLer Nick Fotiu to their coaching staff. Fotiu ran the ECHL's Johnstown Chiefs for the last few years.

Ouch: For the second year in a row, the Hershey Bears' training camp featured a defenseman needing emergency surgery to correct a life-threatening condition. Last year Mike Gaul landed in the hospital with acute appendicitis; this year, Ryan Brown wound up there with compartment syndrome (layman's version - a muscle in his leg swelled, interfering with the circulation in his leg). Brown will be out at least two months, but if the rest of his season goes as Gaul's did last year, he probably won't complain much. The Bears also found themselves without Evgeny Lazarev due to an infected wisdom tooth, and missing Jeff Buchanan to a misdiagnosed gastro-intestinal disorder. Buchanan wasn't damaged so much by the disease as he was by the originally prescribed medication, but is recovering quickly.

You Sure?: The Carolina Hurricanes demoted four players to New Haven, then recalled them again a few days later. Seems the Canes failed to really comprehend just how many exhibition games they were about to play in one week and found themselves shorthanded. Eventually all four wound up back in New Haven.

Newfangled Planning: The Washington Capitals and the Portland Pirates re-upped their affiliation agreement, but some changes were made to the deal giving the two teams a unique arrangement no other team has at this point - the Capitals have complete control of the roster. All of it. The whole enchilada. The Pirates will have no players under contract to Portland on their roster, at least until massive callups/injuries absolutely require it. (If you're wondering, Kent Hulst and Steve Poapst are under contract to Portland because they had multi-year deals in place prior to the agreement with the Caps.) The Caps then made a separate agreement with the Blackhawks to accept some players, but the Capitals determine which Chicago players may or may not play for Portland, not the Blackhawks.

Better Late Than...: The Saint John Flames and Kentucky Thoroughblades will be a few days behind the rest of the AHL in setting their roster. Blame it on Japan - literally. Calgary and San Jose will kick off the NHL season in Japan, and the NHL has required both teams to bring extra players on the trip - players who ordinarily would have been in Saint John and Lexington to start the season. They will be in the AHL by the following week, however.

Maxim Galanov by Meredith Martini

Waive Good-Bye: A few longtime AHLers won't be back this year, compliments of the waiver draft (any player taken in the draft has to clear waivers before going back to the minors). The players: Maxim Galanov to the Penguins, Pascal Trepanier to the Mighty Ducks, Dennis Bonvie to the Blackhawks. Have fun in the big-time guys. Rory Fitzpatrick also went to the Bruins in the waiver draft, but Boston tried to send him to Providence and the Blues claimed him back.

It's A Maracle: Or at least pretty close to it. Norm Maracle will be in net for the Adirondack Red Wings' season opener - for the fourth consecutive season. And his fifth in Glens Falls. Fortunately for Norm, this time it's just temporary, as in a rehab assignment necessitated by his training camp ankle injury. Maracle will be back in Detroit after a couple of games.

Let the Games Begin...: St. John's and Saint John kicked off the 98-99 season with an ugly game. The only repeatable aspects were the three assists for Flames' blueliner Chris Clark in his first professional game, and the hat trick plus two helpers for the Leafs' Jason Podollan...

Podollan wasn't done yet either - the two teams renewed hostilities Oct. 12 and Podollan notched his second hat trick in five days. His third goal tied the game at 6-6 and that became the final score...

New Haven began this season the same way they ended last season - losing to the Hartford Wolfpack...

Bob Errey had a goal and an assist in that game, his first minor league game in 12 years...

18,394 fans showed up for the Kentucky Thoroughblades' home opener Oct. 9. That's the second largest crowd in the history of the AHL, and all they got was a tie as the T-Blades blew a two-goal lead in the final minutes...

The Albany River Rats stayed perfect in season openers, winning for the third straight opening night against Hamilton no less. The Rats are now 5-0-1 in opening-night games...

And while it took a little longer, the Rats beat Hamilton again the next night when Jiri Bicek scored in overtime for a 4-3 final...

Longtime IHL stalwart Rich Parent picked up a shutout in his first weekend of AHL work, stopping 26 New Haven shots in a 1-0 win. Jochen Hecht scored only goal of the game...

Cincinnati's Tom Askey also opened the season with a shutout, stopping 33 Hershey shots in the Ducks' home opener...

The Hartford Wolfpack made an impression on the Providence Bruins, scoring four goals in the first period en route to a win Oct. 10...

Then the next night it was deja vu all over again, as Hartford got five goals from five different players in the first 12 minutes. John Grahame got the hook as a result and Jim Carey (!) made 27 saves for the P-Bruins to no avail...

Martin Gendron picked up where he left off with Fredericton last season, getting three points in the baby Habs' 4-3 win over the baby Leafs...

A whole lotta nothin' in Philadelphia, as the Phantoms and the Crunch could only manage a rare 0-0 tie for the Phantoms' home opener. Brian Boucher stopped 25 shots, Craig Hillier stopped 33...

Podollan who? New Haven's Byron Ritchie had his own hat trick plus two assists against Lowell, and that wasn't the best night for a Beast. Rookie Shane Willis had a hand in all six Beast goals, scoring two and setting up the rest, as the Lock Monsters were plastered 6-1. The Beast were four for eight on the power play...

Providence's Shawn Bates scored on a penalty shot against Springfield on opening night...

Rochester's Martin Biron appears to have dodged the sophomore jinx, picking up a shutout Oct. 12 against Hamilton...

Norm Maracle stopped 39 of 40 shots against Worcester as his rehab assignment continued...

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