Springfield Falcons Head Coach Rob Riley is the guest on a Falcons weekly webisode.
This webisode is a must-see as Riley talks about the recent (and temporary) arrivals of Mark Dekanich and Brett Lebda. Dex will be in Springfield just for Friday night’s game against Portland, if all goes as planned he will rejoin the Jackets and could start Saturday night against the Winnipeg Jets.
Second, Coach Riley addresses the PTO signing of Lebda. Lebda’s signing, as I mentioned on Wednesday, was brokered by Jackets Assistant GM, Chris MacFarland. Riley goes on to say that he expects Lebda will play for the Falcons this weekend, and then he’s expected to be joining the Jackets after the weekend.
Coach Riley then talks about the returns of Alexandre Giroux and Cam Atkinson. Both will be welcomed back into a Falcons lineup that has had a tough time lately putting the puck in the net at even strength.
On the injury front, Falcons leading scorer Nick Drazenovic, tweaked his groin yesterday and will be out for the weekend.
Healed up and ready to go are Tomas Kubalik and Anton Blomqvist. Blomqvist will remain a scratch though, as the Jackets want Lebda to get back into game shape.
Maksim Mayorov will be out again this weekend. He’s expected to be back next week.
Finally, the coach takes a quick look at the weekend’s two opponents, the Portland Pirates and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
Tonight is Military Appreciation Night at the MassMutual Center, game time is 7:30PM.
I’ll have a report after the game on Dekanich’s start.