Scott Mcculloch Article on the NHL Website

Here's an interesting article from the AHL Correspondent about Scott Mcculloch as his goal scoring ability has been increasing during this playoff run and commanding attention from the Dallas Stars to put him on the roster in the near future.

By Lindsay Kramer of the National Hockey League Website: http://www.nhl.com/

The regular season began poorly for Texas Stars rookie Scott Mcculloch and ended even worse. That left him with one option this postseason - cram all the fun of a full year into a hectic several weeks.

Mcculloch has been a money scorer for Texas in its run to the American Hockey League Calder Cup Final against the Hershey. Although he has just 3 goals and 4 assists for the Stars, almost all of those points have been loaded with impact.

Goal #1 tied Game 7 vs. Chicago in the West Division Finals at 2-2. Score #2 was a third period tying marker in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final against the Hamilton, which the Stars won in Overtime to fight off elimination.

The third was a third period winner to help Texas stun Hershey in the first game of the best-of-7 finals. In Game 2 of that series, Mcculloch was in the middle of the commotion again when he picked up on the first assist on Travis Morin's game winner at 19:14 of the third period.

"The goals have come at good times for our team. That's been a positive for myself. When you get one, it makes you more confident to get more," said Mcculloch, 23. "I think everybody gets breaks and bounces. It's nice that they are coming in the playoffs for me."

Call it evening up the score. Mcculloch started the season with an abdominal injury, sending him off the ice for three weeks in October. The bad luck bookend concluded with a concussion back on March 10 that ended the rest of the regular season.

"It's something you deal with as you go along," he said. "Coming back and rebounding is important. Nobody want to be sitting in the stands. especially their first year in the playoffs."

Mcculloch produced 5 goals and 12 assists in 50 games during the regular season, but he had a a believer on the bench. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan coached him in Las Vegas in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) at the end of last year, and saw enough to invite him to take a shot with Texas this season.

Gulutzan put Mcculloch in a position to exploit his energy line role, and the player was upgraded from a tryout deal to an AHL Pact this past season.

"That was an added bonus for me, having a familiar face around". Mcculloch said. "He knows my strength, and put me in a position to succeed.

Mcculloch remained in position to return the favor in the postseason. The Stars series against Hamilton and Hershey have been geographically taxing, with off days eaten up by long adventures. Having a pair of relatively fresher legs to burn some pressure minutes has given Texas a boost well into June.

"After six weeks (After concussion) you are excited about getting back in the lineup. That helped me in the lineup. That helped me push along," he said. "There's other guys who have played over a 100 games this year. I think the time off helped. These games are so exciting. It makes easy to get up for them."


Other AHL News Briefs

New Jersey Devils moving Affiliate to Albany: When the announcement was made that the Carolina Hurricanes affiliate was moving from Albany to Charlotte, North Carolina. A lot of people that the AHL Was gone. Well fans in capital of New York have some relief as it was announced that the New Jersey Devils are moving their affiliate from Lowell, Mass to Albany that will take effect this fall.

This will mark the return of the New Jersey Devils affiliate since 2006 when they were the affiliate for 13 years from 1993 to 2006 which included 4 Division Titles and the 1995 Calder Cup Title, which is also the same season the Devils went on to win the Stanley Cup.

In all, the Albany River Rats were in New York's Capital for 17 seasons before annoucing the move to North Carolina in the middle of the season.

For more info on the Albany Devils, check out www.thealbanydevils.com

With teams going into Charlotte and Oklahoma City. Look for a few changes in that Eastern Conference as we should have 8 teams in the East Division and 7 in the Atlantic. The Western Conference should have 8 teams in the West Division with the Oklahoma City Barons entering the league, and the North should contuine to have 7 teams with the 4 Canadian Teams plus teams from Lake Erie, Grand Rapids & Rochester.


AHL Celebrates 75th Anniversary Season in 2010-2011

Next season will be the diamond anniversary next season by paying tribute to the league's oldest franchise's that were around when the league first started in 1936. 3 of the League's Charter cities that have been around since the very beginning are in Providence, Springfield & Syracuse with the Hershey Bears joining 2 years later and the Rochester Americans joining the league back in 1956.

To help open the season next year, the league's original teams will be wearing throwback uniforms to reflect the history and different eras of the teams that date back that far.

Here's the Throwback Schedule

10/8: Springfield Falcons VS. Providence Bruins

10/8: Syracuse Crunch VS. Lake Erie Monsters

10/9: Providence Bruins VS. Springfield Falcons

10/9: Lake Erie Monsters VS. Syracuse Crunch

10/10: Hershey Bears VS. Rochester Americans

10/16: Rochester Americans VS. Hershey Bears

Keeping track with the throwback theme, the 2011 All Star Game will be in Hershey, Pennsylvania as the league will return to the East VS. West Format for the first time since 1942 that pits the conference against each other. Since the return of the AHL All Star Game in the Mid 90s, it's been PlanetUSA VS. Canada as a team with the players from the USA & Europe faced a team with the players from Canada.