For the first time in 10 years, the postseason comes to town.
Falcon left winger (33) Dalton Smith (33) mixes it up with the Connecticut Whale during a late-season game at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons take the AHL's second-best record into their first playoff campaign since 2003.
Anybody out there like hockey? Raise your hand.
Better yet, raise a toast to the Springfield Falcons and set aside some time this weekend for the first Calder Cup playoff action in this city in 10 years.
The Falcons open their best-of-5 first round with home games Saturday night at 7 and Sunday afternoon at 4. The opponent is Manchester in the city's first playoff games since 2003.
In honor of that, I am doing something I promised myself I would not do. I am respectfully recommending how others, meaning you, should spend a little of their money.
In particular, I have in mind people who once went to Springfield hockey and have not checked it out for awhile. I run into these people all the time, or so they tell me.
I will get no cut of the gate. Shamelessly, enthusiastically, and of my own free will, I am doing this for two reasons.
One, it bothers me that a lot of people still don't know the 2012-13 Falcons are very, very good. Granted, that's because for quite a spell, they were very bad.
Numbed by defeat for most of a decade, many fans mentally tuned out the idea that Springfield's hockey team could be one of the AHL's best.
But it is. With 99 points, they ranked second in the entire 30-team American Hockey League (trailing Providence), and plowed through the Northeast Division to win it by 20 points.
The other reason comes from the spirit of the purist in me. The bells and whistles of minor league entertainment will be there next weekend, as they always are, but at playoff time, shouldn't high-quality hockey be enough?
This is an unusually cool story. Rags-to-riches tales always have appeal, for one thing.
Moreover, it's our story, in our own backyard by our team. It doesn't happen often.
It costs a little money, but so does any other night or day out. Kids gets a $7 discount.
Downtown is a bad word to some people, but I have brought my 11-year-old daughter and never felt at risk.
Yes, I'm campaigning for hockey fans to check out the playoffs. I was one of those teenagers who rocked at the Coliseum in 1971, when the Butch Goring-Billy Smith team won it all.
Great times, old news. Time to live a few nights in the present, and give your own kids those memories - who's with me?
It will be compelling hockey, hosted by a compelling team, and a lot of fun.
It's been 10 freakin' years since we could say that about the playoffs in Springfield.
The American Hockey League playoffs should entice the hockey market in a way the regular season cannot. Good playoff crowds, especially in the early rounds, indicate hockey enthusiasm in a city that would serve a lot of good purposes by sending that message.
If you haven't been there for awhile, or have never been, it's time. If you don't enjoy yourself, you can blame me (not that it will get you a refund).
The Falcons have put together an exciting, exceptional and well-coached team that still flies under the local radar. But it's playoff time, the stakes are raised, and there is always a special excitement to that.
If you like hockey, or have kids, I'm not sure why you would pass this up. I am not a salesman, just a lifelong Springfield hockey fan, and a fan of affordable, convenient, high-quality sports entertainment.
I am hoping, as the Falcons are hoping, that there are more.