Funny how the schedule shakes out.

A week after Adirondack makes its longest (distance-wise) trip of the season, a 1,600-mile trek to St. John's, Newfoundland, they will make their shortest, a one-hour drive to Albany. Story in tomorrow's paper previewing the game, which Eric Wellwood (pictured) had some insightful comments about.

In Wellwood's first season in the league, 2010-11, Albany and Adirondack didn't have good seasons. Albany, at 70 points, had the worst record in the league and the Phantoms weren't that far behind with 72. But this year they've got the best talent they've ever had (thanks, lockout) and they both look like playoff teams. This year, Wellwood said, the games mean more than ever.

Phantoms defenseman Zack FitzGerald, who played on the other side of this rivalry with the River Rats in 2009-10,  also had some pretty interesting comments about the rivalry, which you can read in tomorrow's paper. Also spoke with Zac Rinaldo, who said the preseason game between the two sides resembled a "war zone." Wellwood used the term "chess match," which got me thinking what it would be like to play a game of chess in a war zone.

Maybe we'll find out tomorrow. Side note: Warzone Chess is apparently a real thing. Who knew?

I'll be in Albany and will have live updates over on Twitter. Expect pregame and post-game updates here on the blog. I'll also be in Glens Falls for Rochester's arrival Saturday. They've got a guy named Zemgus Girgensons on the team. Jonathan Bombulie is right, that is a fun name to say out loud.

I won't be in Syracuse Sunday. It's a long season and I have to keep myself fresh. But I'll be following along on the AHL Live feed, so you can expect a blog post then too.

A fairly uneventful practice today. Still don't know who's starting in goal tomorrow, but common sense would indicate you'd see Cal Heeter in at least one of this weekend's games. Tough for a goalie to start all three in a three-in-three, but Terry Murray doesn't like to announce his starting goalies.

Until next time,
MC