Now that backup goaltender Ty Conklin of Anchorage and the Buffalo Sabres has been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Alaska Aces have been pushed out of the Kelly Cup chase in the ECHL, our Alaska pucks connections still alive are dwindling.

Still, rookie winger Joey Crabb of Anchorage remains alive with the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves, who trail the Hamilton Bulldogs 1-0 in the best-of-7 Western Conference Finals after falling 6-5 in double overtime on Friday.

And former Aces winger Justin Maiser is alive in the Kelly Cup Finals for the Dayton Bombers. Also, former UAA Seawolves center Jay Beagle is playing for Dayton’s opponent, the Idaho Steelheads.

But let’s go back to the NHL for a moment. I’ve found us a guy we’re going to call our own, even if he is from a Chicago suburb. Our new man is an Ottawa Senators defenseman who twice played in Anchorage in 1993, once for the Chicago Young Americans bantam champs in USA Hockey’s national championships and again later that year for Shattuck-St. Mary’s of Minnesota, which won the Alaska Invitational High School Hockey Tournament.

One muse at the time of that prep pucks get-together wrote in a column: “If you remember anything from these three days of pucks, let it be this: Joe Corvo. You’ll be hearing from him down the road.’’

Yep, Joe’s the Senators blueliner we’re adopting. And that prescience on my part from that 1993 shows us one thing: Even a dope like me can spot a future NHLer now and then.

You don’t have to root for the Senators, but you can adopt Joe as our Alaskan by proxy in the Stanley Cup Finals.

This may be the last you hear from the blog for a bit – if something pops to mind, we might file the occasional tidbit. All in all, though, it’s time to take a break and rest up for 2007-08. Thanks for your contributions, and may all your passes be on the tape.