The Checkers will be without Jared Staal in Chicago tonight, as the American Hockey League suspended the forward for one game due to a boarding incident that occurred during Thursday's game against Texas.
The first suspension of Staal’s three professional seasons will cause him to exit the lineup for the first time since the end of the NHL’s lockout. Having sat out 23 games as a healthy scratch prior to that, he had played in each of the team’s last 37, helping achieve AHL career highs in games played (49) and goals (4).
It marks the fourth time a Checkers player has been suspended this season, with Chris Terry receiving three games for elbowing in October, and Brett Sutter getting one game on two separate occasions, first for boarding in January and then for checking to the head one month later. Staal earned minor penalty on the play that caused the suspension midway through the second period of his team's 4-3 victory.
Though Staal will be eligible to rejoin the team for the remainder of its four-game road trip to close the regular season, he will not be of service as the team looks officially book its ticket to the postseason tonight. A win of any kind would do the trick, while the team could also clinch a spot by way of an overtime or shootout loss as well as a Milwaukee loss of any kind to Rockford.
In Staal’s absence, forward Brendan Woods could make his professional debut if no other players can return from injury. The 20-year-old joined the Checkers earlier in the week after deciding to forego his final two seasons at the University of Wisconsin and sign an entry-level contract with Carolina, who chose him the fifth round of last summer’s draft.
Woods played center during his final season at Wisconsin, marking the first time he had done so in his hockey career. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he scored 22 points (10g, 12a) and added 114 penalty minutes in 75 career games at the collegiate level.
If Woods does play for the first time as a professional, he will follow in the footsteps of his father Bob Woods, an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks who had an 11-year playing career at the AHL, IHL and ECHL levels.
