Six River Rats players, along with head coach-GM Jeff Daniels, will join the Carolina Hurricanes for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Canes, seeded sixth in the Eastern Conference, will face the No. 3 New Jersey Devils in the first round. Their best-of-seven series opens with Games 1 and 2 on Wednesday and Friday at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
Albany goaltender Justin Peters, defensemen Bryan Rodney and Brett Carson, and forwards Pat Dwyer, Brandon Sutter and Zach Boychuk were all summoned by Carolina following the Rats 3-2 season-ending win over Binghamton on Saturday.
"The guys that are going up all made impressions when they played up this year," Daniels said. "It gives them a chance to go up and continue to watch and learn and kind of be seen. It will be a good experience for them to see what the playoff atmosphere is like.
"You never know. They're going up there to be ready to play. The way the playoffs go, there's a lot of games in a short period of time, and injuries do happen. They're not just going there for a holiday. They have to be ready to go if they're called upon."
Carolina won three of four games from New Jersey during the regular season, but three of four were decided by one goal, including the Devils' 3-2 victory on Saturday. Adding to the intrigue, at least around these parts, is that the series features Albany's current and former parent teams.
The Devils have 12 ex-Rats on their roster, the Canes have six; neither includes players called up as playoff spares. There is also one local player involved.
Now, trivia time. Can you name them all? See below for answers.
Here is the series schedule (check Ken Schott's blog for the entire Stanley Cup playoff TV schedule):
Wednesday Hurricanes @ Devils, 7:30p
Friday Hurricanes @ Devils, 7:30p
Sunday Devils @ Hurricanes, 7:30p
Tue., Apr 21 Devils @ Hurricanes, 7:30p
*Thu., Apr 23 Hurricanes @ Devils, 7:30p
*Sun., Apr26 Devils @ Hurricanes, 7;30p
*Tue., Apr 28 Hurricanes @ Devils, 7:30p
* - if necessary
Trivia answer
New Jersey: David Clarkson, Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta, John Madden, Jay Pandolfo, Zach Parise, Brian Rolston, Mike Rupp, Travis Zajac, Colin White, Scott Clemmensen. Defenseman Jay Leach is an Altamont native and Albany Academy product.
Carolina: Ryan Bayda, Tim Conboy, Dwight Helminen, Michael Ryan, Anton Babchuk, Mike Leighton.
Did I miss anybody?
