In their quest to capture a playoff spot in the ECHL's Pacific Division, the Alaska Aces keep one eye on the standings and one eye on the training room.
The standings deliver definitive information – the fifth-place Aces trail the fourth-place Utah Grizzlies, who currently own the division's last playoff position, by six points. Alaska has three games in hand on Utah.
The injury report is less precise.
Leading scorer Brendan Connolly, who has missed eight games with an upper-body injury, is back practicing. He hopes to return during a three-game home series against the Colorado Eagles that opens Wednesday and includes games Friday and Saturday.
"Maybe this weekend, if the next two days go well and I don't have any setbacks,'' Connolly said after practice Wednesday morning.
Corey Syvret, a first-pairing defenseman who has missed 21 games with a lower-body injury, likewise is back practicing. Like Connolly, he's also day-to-day. Syvret said the best-case scenario has him returning on the weekend.
One Ace who will definitely miss the Colorado series is center Tim Coffman, who suffered an upper-body injury in Alaska's last game, a 3-0 win at Ontario on March 3.
At the time he went down, Coffman centered the top line. Duty as the first-line pivot is now likely to go to rookie Greg Wolfe, who is back after playing nine games with the Iowa Wild in his first promotion to the American Hockey League.
"They gave me opportunities – it was a good experience and I can draw a lot of positives from it,'' said Wolfe.
Wolfe departed the Aces for the AHL on a high note, reeling off 3-7—10 totals in his last three games with Alaska. He remains the team's second-leading scorer with 17-31—48 totals in 44 games, and owns a team-best, plus-15 rating.
Wolfe said he's eager to help the club, which has never missed the playoffs in 11 previous ECHL seasons, get into the postseason.
"It's nice to come back and be able to make a run at it,'' Wolfe said.
The Aces against the Eagles will likely run into one of their recent teammates. Goaltender Aaron Crandall, traded to Colorado less than two weeks ago, has reeled off three straight victories for the Eagles and Tuesday was named the ECHL Goaltender of the Week.
Crandall's work last week included a 3-0 shutout of Bakersfield on Friday that earned him the distinction of backstopping both a shutout for Bakersfield this season and one against Bakersfield.
Crandall, who played for the Aces late last season after finishing his career at Minnesota-Duluth, was with the Aces in training camp before being released. Bakersfield signed him and then released him, and the Aces signed him. A crowded Aces crease forced Alaska to move Crandall late last month.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Colorado Eagles
38-19-3
at
Alaska Aces
27-23-6
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, Sullivan Arena, 7:15 p.m.
Radio: Live, AM-750 KFQD