Finishing out a four-game AHL suspension, River Rats captain Tim Conboy was not with the club when the team bus crashed in the town of Becket, Mass. early this morning on the way home from its game Wednesday night in Lowell.

Conboy was at the Albany Airport this morning, waiting for a flight to New York after being recalled by the Carolina Hurricanes.

"I just heard about it about two minutes ago," Conboy said. "I was checking my stuff in and the lady asked me if I was in the River Rats bus crash, and I was like, 'What? You're kidding me.' I haven't had a chance to talk to anybody yet. I'm going to call Mad Dog (Rats trainer Brian Maddox) and see what's going on."

Flying into LaGuardia Airport this morning, Conboy is expected to be in the Canes lineup tonight against the New York Islanders. He has been practicing with the Rats during his suspension, which stemmed from a fight in a Feb. 10 game against Portland in Buffalo.

"I was joking with Gilly (injured Albany enforcer Trevor Gillies) that I'll be in better shape now than I was at the beginning of the year," Conboy said. "I guess it's a pretty good way to come back from a suspension."

Conboy has no idea how long he will be with Carolina, which also has Rats all-star left wing Michael Ryan on the roster. Canes defenseman Joni Pitkanen is nursing a minor injury.

"I'm assuming it will be one game because Pitkanen is day-to-day, but you never know," Conboy said. "Last year I went up thinking it would be just one game, and I ended up staying the rest of the year."