Rowe said that Hamilton, a former AHL all-star and league goal-scoring leader, will be operated on next week for a sore hip that has affected him all season.

Hamilton showed up with it at training camp, his first after being acquired by Carolina from Chicago, and a postseason MRI showed more damage, enough to warrant surgery.

Clearly beyond this level, even with one hip, Hamilton would have been a huge part of Albany's playoff run, but his health must come first. Injured winger Pat Dwyer is expected to be back for next week's postseason opener against either Wilkes-Barre or Philadelphia, whicih will help, and the Rats aren't giving up hope that Brandon Nolan will return at some point.

Mike Leighton was presented with an etched crystal trophy before Friday's game by AHL vice president Chris Nikolis -- a Union College grad -- for winning the Baz Bastien Award as the league's top goaltender. He allowed four goals, two of them very un-Leighton-like, but somehow got voted the game's first star over David Gove, who scored two goals, including the winner, and was plus-3. This is why I stopped voting for three stars years ago.