Shaved Ice – June 5

Well, it’s Wednesday.

We’ve got another Game 7 on our hands, people. Tonight, the Griffins take on the Oklahoma City Barons in the final game of the Western Conference Finals. If they can pull off the win, Grand Rapids will advance to the AHL Finals for the first time in franchise history.

They almost had the series wrapped up last night, until the Barons scored twice in the final 2:27 to tie and win Game 6. It will be the second elimination game the Griffins have played in this postseason – they beat the Houston Aeros 7-0 in the first.

Livonia native and Michigan hockey legend Mike Modano will have his No. 9 retired by the Dallas Stars next season. Click here for more details on that one – congrats to one of the greatest ambassadors our hockey community has ever produced.

And in case you missed it yesterday, the Muskegon Lumberjacks have been sold, pending approval from the USHL.

And here we have Duncan Keith slashing Jeff Carter in the face. Thoughts?

Speaking of Keith and Carter, the Kings picked up a big 3-1 win in Hollywood to pull within a game in their series with the Blackhawks. Justin Williams scored the game’s first goal, and for that, he’s our Michi-gamer of the night.

The Stars, along with announcing the Modano jersey retirement night, revealed their new jerseys yesterday. What do you think?

The Hurricanes also released new unis yesterday. Here they are:

The NHL’s competition committee agreed on a rule mandating the wearing of visors for all incoming players – “grandfathering” the rule in – yesterday. The Board of Governors has to approve any rule changes, but it’s hard to imagine they would say no to this one. Glad to see the league and the players taking another step towards a safer game.

Check out this ‘Between the Benches’ from a Griffins regular-season game with Oklahoma City to get fired up for tonight’s contest.

We’ll be in Grand Rapids tonight.