The Falcons are still trying to climb into playoff contention in the AHL's Eastern Conference.
Springfield winger Maxim Mayorov has been called up to the Columbus Blue Jackets. SPRINGFIELD – Going into this week, the Springfield Falcons had a full roster.
By Tuesday, they had lost defenseman Greg Amadio and winger Adam Mair to suspensions imposed by the American Hockey League.
By Thursday, they were saying goodbye to Maksim Mayorov, a much-improved winger who was promoted by their parent club, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
There’s a chance, too, that they might lose another forward to emergency recall, as the Jackets are just about at the manpower minimum right now.
Losing manpower may not seem conducive to gaining ground in a tight AHL playoff race, but coach Rob Riley knows there’s only one way to approach the situation.
“We just have to win,” he said. “Regardless of who we have or don’t have, we have to make it work.”
The Eastern Conference playoff challenge is considerable, because of the 15 teams, only Binghamton seems to be too far behind to be a factor.
As the Falcons await another three-game weekend, they’re trying to snap a three-game losing streak. If they can start climbing again, they have Albany, Worcester and Manchester within immediate reach.
At this key stage of the season, the Falcons will be looking to veteran left wing Alexandre Giroux for leadership and scoring punch.
“Alex has been playing well, and we’re going to need his scoring down the stretch,” Riley said.
Giroux scored his 21st goal Sunday as the Falcons lost 2-1 at Hershey. In his illustrious AHL career, he has 361 goals in 755 games.
That places him eighth on the league’s all-time list, three behind AHL Hall of Famer Mitch Lamoureaux.
“I’m 30, and I feel young, but that’s old in the hockey world,” said Giroux, who has played only 48 NHL games in his 11-year career.
“But I’m always working for a chance to get back to the NHL. With our team now, I know I have to pick up the pace for Cam Atkinson,” he said, referring to Springfield’s 29-goal scorer who was recalled by Columbus on Feb. 27.
Giroux was a prolific scorer for two of Hershey’s Calder Cup teams – 60 goals in 2008-09 and 50 in 2009-10. Over his last eight seasons, he has scored 30 or more goals. Of course, the Falcons would love to see him reach that plateau again with 17 games remaining.
“It’s a good achievement, to be consistent,” he said of his AHL stats.
ICE CHIPS: Nick Drazenovic comes off the disabled list this weekend to skate on a line of hard hitters with Cody Bass and Falcons captain Dane Byers ... It could be Bass’s last action of the season. He has been playing through shoulder and ankle injuries, but he’s due to have surgery next week. “Cody’s a warrior, always trying to help the team,” Riley said ... Mair will have to sit out the weekend because of his suspension. Amadio, suspended for two games, will miss Friday at Manchester and Saturday’s home game with Syracuse. He’ll be back for Sunday, when the Falcons play their final home afternoon game, against Wilkes-Barre ... The Falcons will be looking for better on-ice discipline after being forced to kill 21 penalties – one of them a four-minute double minor - in their three losses last weekend.