In his first practice with the Alaska Aces since he was acquired in a trade Wednesday, Alexandre Imbeault stepped into a pretty sweet gig.

Here at Ben Boeke Arena -- or as The Blog likes to call it, the coldest place on the planet; damn! -- Imbeault is skating at right wing on a line with center Nate Thompson and left wing Brandon Dubinsky. Those latter two dudes, you may be aware, are NHLers currently playing for the Aces during the lockout.

The other practice lines:

Matt Robinson-Nick Mazzolini-Joey Crabb
Tommy Mele-Bobby Hughes-Garry Nunn
Jordan Kremyr-Zach Harrison-Jarred Smith

Also, veteran defenseman Sean Curry, who has yet to play this season because of a lingering groin issue from training camp, is practicing today. Goaltender James Reid had his gear on and came over to Boeke from the dressing room at Sullivan, but quickly returned to Sullivan -- assume he's still hobbled a bit after tweaking something (ankle?) lower body in practice on Tuesday. Micah Perletti is practicing as the emergency backup goaltender (EBUG).

On the sweater numbers front, Aces equipment manager Mike Burkhead says Imbeault will wear No. 55. New defenseman Alain Goulet will wear No. 3, previously worn by defenseman Corey Syvret, who will switch to No. 20. And rookie defenseman Chris Haltigin, who made his pro debut (and scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Utah last Saturday) wearing No. 2, has switched to No. 41.