Not that Keith McCambridge needs anyone to pump his tires -- the Alaska Aces bench boss is low-maintenance, and given his Manitoba roots, that's not a shocker -- but seemingly every move he has made this season has turned out golden.

As the Aces prepare to open the Kelly Cup Finals against the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday, you would be hard pressed to identify a single significant misstep McCambridge has taken.

That's especially impressive considering 14 of the 23 players on the Aces' playoff roster weren't with the club last season. And it's not like Alaska's affiliates, the St. Louis Blues of the NHL and the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League, loaded up the Aces' roster. Only second-year forward Tomas Kana and rookie defenseman T.J. Fast are here courtesy of the St. Louis-Peoria connection.

This team is McCambridge's baby, and rewinding back to last summer, following the Aces' second-round playoff exit, you can see the second-year coach's fingerprints all over the club.

That's the way it is in this league two rungs below the NHL on the pro hockey ladder -- the head coach is also the recruiter, negotiator, player personnel chief, salary-cap guru and video wizard.

The way McCambridge assembled this team has been all about details, details, details. That's not a surprise, for McCambridge is methodical and earnest, and as reliable as a coach as he was in an 11-year pro career as a stay-at-home defenseman.

McCambridge, who captained the Aces to the 2006 Kelly Cup in his last season and studied under previous coach Davis Payne, did not re-sign center Kimbi Daniels, defenseman Peter Metcalf or center Olivier Filion. All three were long-time Aces and prolific producers, and all three played significant roles in the championship season.

When it became public none of those three would return, there was some degree of blowback from the Aces' faithful Cowbell Crew. But when was the last time you heard anyone chirping about that?

McCambridge also traded winger Matt Robinson to Johnstown -- Robinson requested the move -- and received center Alexandre Imbeault in return. Imbeault merely served in the regular season as Alaska's second-line center and occasional first-line center, and also worked the power play, including occasional duties at the point. Oh, he's the league's fourth-leading scorer in the playoffs.

For leadership, McCambridge lured veteran winger Scott Burt to be his captain and set a tone in the dressing room. Burt is a two-time Kelly Cup winner with Idaho who was an alternate captain on both those championship teams.

Though Burt can be as easy-going a joker as the next guy -- hockey players are generally funny -- he's serious as a heart attack come game time. He understands, too, that little things matter. When Burt had the puck and a clean look at an empty net in the waning seconds of a playoff game in Utah this postseason, he eschewed shooting and instead passed to Cam Keith to furnish Keith's first playoff goal. Do not think that went unnoticed among the Aces.

McCambridge also signed center Josh Soares with no guarantee Soares, a second-year pro who harbored legitimate AHL ambitions after being All-ECHL as an Aces rookie, would actually be playing here.

Indeed, Soares played just 12 regular-season games for Alaska and made three different stops in the AHL. But he arrived back here in time for the postseason and leads all playoff scorers. In 26 regular-season and playoff games for the Aces this season, Soares has put up 20-24--44 totals and a preposterous plus-25 rating. Gee, think he makes a difference?

McCambridge also lured former NHLer Colin Hemingway to play with his younger brother, Brett, and get a shot at a championship. Hemingway led the Aces in scoring in the regular season and ranks second among all playoff scorers.

And when tougher-than-trigonometry Lance Galbraith -- the love-him-if-he's-yours, despise-him-if-he-isn't veteran winger -- was unhappy in the Central Hockey League, McCambridge provided a soft landing here. Galbraith rejoined his buddy, Burt, with whom he won those two Cups in Idaho.

All Galbraith, the leading scorer in the 2007 playoffs, has done is add significant sandpaper to the lineup and score seven goals in 14 playoff games. And, at a listed 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, Galbraith has endeared himself to teammates by sticking up for himself and them, and taking on all comers, size be damned. Just last week, he fought to no less than a draw with Las Vegas defenseman Steve Makway (6-5, 230).

Galbraith's arrival also eased McCambridge's trade of Bo Cheesman after the winger returned from preseason back surgery. That was no small move -- remember, Cheesman bagged a career-high 30 goals for the Aces the previous season.

McCambridge also last summer re-signed stalwart defenseman Derick Martin, who he initially signed out of Europe the previous February to become the club's lockdown defenseman. Martin spearheaded the Aces' league record-setting, penalty-killing crew and continued to show an astonishing degree of character. One night Martin took a puck to the face and needed more than 50 stitches to close the wounds. He played the next night.

And McCambridge found in rookie Ryan Turek, who left Michigan State in midseason, a formidable partner for Martin on the blue line and on the penalty-killing unit.

Two of the last pieces of the puzzle were all McCambridge too. When the Fresno Falcons folded and Matt Stefanishion became an ECHL free agent, he signed the big winger, even though Stefanishion then was in the AHL. Stefanishion eventually arrived here and provided eight goals in 20 games, plus three more in nine playoff games.

Yet another addition came from a McCambridge trade. When rookie winger Erik Felde of Anchorage couldn't regularly crack the Aces' lineup, McCambridge shipped him to the Reading Royals in exchange for the ECHL rights to defenseman Tyson Marsh.

Marsh, who McCambridge had attempted to sign in the summer, was with AHL Chicago at the time. When Chicago didn't make the Calder Cup playoffs, Marsh joined the Aces midway through a first-round playoff series with Utah. He's been a mainstay in the lineup since.

And we should not forget arguably the biggest signing McCambridge secured -- last summer, he snagged goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux. All the rookie did was author a league-record eight regular-season shutouts and earn multiple honors, including ECHL Goaltender of the Year. Lamoureux has spent the playoffs humbling shooters to an even greater degree.

Even McCambridge's tactical moves in the playoffs have reaped rewards.

Before the National Conference finals against Las Vegas, he elevated Vladimir Novak to third-line center. Novak scored three goals in the four-game sweep. For Game 4 against the Wranglers, McCambridge moved Stefanishion and his scary-hard shot to the left point on a power-play unit. Stefanishion promptly scored with a one-timed rocket on Alaska's second power play of the game, and his strike turned out to be the game winner.

McCambridge won two championships as a player -- a Memorial Cup in his final season of major junior and a Kelly Cup in his final season as a pro.

That leaves him seeking his first Cup as a coach, and getting it would be a brilliant finishing touch for a guy who this season has shown a golden touch.

This column is the opinion of Daily News reporter Doyle Woody. Find his blog online at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

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