Just a few quick notes on a Friday night.
We lead with right winger Joey Crabb of Anchorage, who matched his AHL career high tonight with a four-point performance -- two goals, two helpers -- for Hartford in an 8-6 win over Bridgeport (the Sound Tigers' bench boss is former Aces coach Brent Thompson). Crabb was also +4. Two games ago, he went 1-2--3 and +3, so that's pretty decent lately.
Also in the A, erstwhile Aces defenseman Brad Richard had an assist in Iowa's 2-1 loss to Hamilton. Erstwhile Aces winger Raphael Bussieres did not play for Iowa.
Oh, also in the A, former Aces winger Tommy Mele made his debut on the circuit one step below the NHL. ECHL Tulsa loaned Mele to Oklahoma City, and he had one shot and one penalty (slashing), plus an even rating in a 4-3 overtime win against Lake Erie. With 13-12--25 totals and 136 penalty minutes through 43 games with Tulsa, Mele has reached ECHL career highs in all the scoring categories and in PIMs. Oh, and on the AHL score sheet, he's "Tom'' Mele.
Finally, in the college ranks, Minnesota State-Mankato goaltender Stephon Williams of Fairbanks stopped 21 shots in a 5-1 win over Ferris State. He's merely 16-3-1 with a 1.76 goals-against average and .920 save percentage. The junior had a rough sophomore season after a great freshman season, so looks like he's back to being really good at hockey.