Alaska Aces center and fan favorite Olivier Filion, who previously planned to play next season in France, is instead returning for a fourth season with the ECHL team.

Filion, 24, said he agreed to return for a variety of reasons: New Aces head coach Keith McCambridge gave him the hard sell and entreaty to return as one of the team’s four “veterans’’; it made sense for family reasons; and he was touched by the support of fans when he announced he would head to France. (So, Cowbell Crew, you had a hand in this – nice player personnel work).

Anyhow, the Aces get back a guy who led them in goals (29) last season and furnished a career-high 64 points. Plus, he plays in all situations, and a team can never have too many good centermen (or centremen, as they write in Canada).

No time left to type on this end – hey, Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals drops in a few minutes – but feel free to comment on the return of No. 64.