Well, this caught The Blog by surprise -- former Alaska Aces winger Scott Howes, who spent nearly all of last season in the AHL, has signed with the Central Hockey League's Allen Americans, the team announced.

Man, that's a huge get for a CHL club.

Howe was only the Kelly Cup MVP for the Aces during their title run in 2010-11, which earned him promotion to the AHL's Bridgeport Tigers last season (former Aces bench boss Brent Thompson, who got the Tigers job after winning the Cup, snagged Howes, who he plucked from Stockton for a song in 2010) after a few games with the Aces once he was healthy following offseason shoulder surgery.

Anyhow, wow. Great signing for Allen coach Steve Martinson, the former bench boss of the San Diego Gulls back in the day.