St. John’s native Colin Greening and the Toronto Marlies will be well-rested for their third-round American Hockey League playoff series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The best-of-seven Eastern Conference final between the Marlies, the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Phantoms, the affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers begins Saturday in Toronto, 11 days after the Marlies completed a second-round sweep of the Syracuse Crunch.
The quick dispatch of Syracuse, plus scheduling issues at Ricoh Coliseum, the Marlies’ home rink, have contributed to the long break.
Greening has three goals, an assist and a plus-five rating in nine playoff games for Toronto, which had the best regular-season record in the AHL.
The Western Conference final between the Texas Stars and Rockford IceHogs begins in Austin, Tex., on Friday. Rookie centre Nathan Noel of St. John’s is on the playoff roster of the IceHogs, the farm team of the Chicago Blackhawks, but hasn’t dressed for any of Rockford’s games in the post-season.