After a delayed finish to the regular season, the NAIHL playoffs are finally getting started on Friday.

The much anticipated post-season gets under way with a full slate of games with action in both the Eastern and Western Conferences.

In the past the league has always had the two conferences playing on different days, but because of the regular season delays this year, the league has decided to speed things up a bit. Thus, both conferences will play games on the same night.

"We're a couple of weeks later getting started than we wanted to be," NAIHL spokesman Barry Melrose said. "For the first round we are going to have the conferences play on the same night, and then once we are into the second round we'll split the games up again."

Melrose said the change in the first round "should generate plenty of excitement for the fans. There are some great first round matchups, and we're expecting some pretty competitive series and probably a few upsets." 

The NAIHL League Office announced today that it will be running an accelerated schedule for the remainder of the regular season, in an effort to bring things back on track with where the season is expected to be.

Starting Thursday, the league will be simulating two sets of games per day, instead of the usual one. This will take place up until the last week of the regular season, when it will drop back down to one set of games per day.

"We have fallen behind where we want to be for various reasons, and this will help get us back on track," said NAIHL spokesman Barry Melrose. "The NHL will be starting their playoffs soon, and we want to be approximately where they are, so this will help with that."

Melrose said that the schedule will be accelerated until the last week of the regular season, and then GMs whose teams may be on the cusp of the playoffs will be able to take more time and focus during that last week. "It may make all the difference for some teams," he said.

GMs are urged to keep their lines up to date in order to give their teams the best chance of competing successfully. 

Sharks management was scorned for years of trying to build through trades and Free Agency,bypassing picks for the here and now, but now the hungry Fan Base is being put at ease and are genuinely excited about its prospects. 

A Philosophy that made the Sharks competitive year in year out has slowly evolved to being able to do some of the old school while slowly building its foundations through the draft and trading for prospects. We started last year and figured that we would stay the course of being competetive but hang on to a 1st rounder and stockpile one very good player through the draft and all the while staying in contention without totally having to ice a product that was less than desirable. 

Rookie GM Dan Lay has been working relentlessly to make some deals to rebuild this historic franchise. Staying true to his word on bringing in talented youth to the team, he dealt away team leading scorer Mike Ribeiro, Cam Fowler and David Clarkson to the Coyotes for Jeff Skinner and Braydon Coburn.

The Coyotes are trying to make that Cup run and the Jets are looking to the future. Ribeiro was sad to leave but is excited at the aspect of the playoffs. " I said goodbye to all my teammates and told them that I hope to play against them in the post season sometime..." "...having Cams and Dave come with me is also a bonus, hopefully we can fit in to their system and finish the season strong and make a good push." D. Lay said he was not done on the trade market and is still actively contacting other GM's who are looking for solid veterans to help their respective teams.

Submitted by Jets

The Dallas Stars just completed a series of questionable moves in adding Michael Grabner, Brad Richards, Andrew MacDonald, and Tomas Vokoun.

Normally picking up such players would be wise, but when you look at their contract status and what Dallas gave up it could be questionable. However, Dallas owner and GM, Steve Schwartz, has decided at the end of the season he will be stepping down and is making one last Cup run.

Despite stepping down as the Dallas owner and GM, Schwartz has committed to producing another ratings pack in the off season. He also has an interesting proposal into the Board of Directors on a plan that could strengthen the NAIHL.

Stayed tuned for more information as the Board mulls over Schwartz's proposal for the future of the league.

Submitted by Stars