Defenseman Andy Delmore jumped at the opportunity to rejoin the Detroit Red Wings organization.

When Andy Delmore thought about where he wanted to play hockey this fall, he knew there was only one call he had to make.

Four years ago, Delmore signed a contract with the Detroit Red Wings, looking forward to the chance to get to play with the NHL team for whom he had rooted as a kid growing up in the Windsor, Ontario, area.

His dream was dashed, however, when he was claimed off waivers by Columbus before the start of the regular season.

That surprise didn’t end too badly for Delmore, who played seven games for Columbus before spending most of the 2005-06 season with the Blue Jackets’ affiliate in Syracuse, where he won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL's top defenseman.

Griffins center Cory Emmerton hopes to meet the jumbo expectations that accompany being a second-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings.

"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know. " – Groucho Marx

Once known as the “Railway Capital of Canada,” St. Thomas, Ontario, is generally recognized for two distinguishing facts: it’s the birthplace of Joe Thornton, the National Hockey League star, and the site of the death of Jumbo the elephant, the oversized star of Barnum & Bailey’s “Greatest Show on Earth.”

Detroit Red Wings prospect and St. Thomas native Cory Emmerton wouldn’t mind being considered the proverbial elephant in the room, the one guy that people just can’t overlook.

Griffins forward John Vigilante was raised in the Detroit area, growing up in Dearborn and playing hockey in Ann Arbor and Plymouth before turning pro.

John Vigilante was born to play hockey.

Raised in the shadows of Hockeytown and blessed with a name that was ranked as the ninth best moniker in the sport by The Hockey News, Vigilante was destined to lace up a pair of skates and play the game.

Or so it would seem.

In truth, Vigilante might never have made his way onto the ice if his mother had not been a frugal shopper.

“My grandpa had played hockey, but none of us had been on the ice until my mom was at a garage sale and saw a full set of hockey equipment for $2,” said Vigilante.

NHL teams rely heavily upon player development at the AHL level.

Players in the AHL are one step away from playing in the National Hockey League. How large that step is depends upon the affiliation between their team and the NHL parent club.

In other words, your mileage may vary.

The Worcester Sharks, for example, must board a plane and travel 3,093 miles to play for San Jose in NHL.

The Toronto Marlies, on the other hand, could easily walk the two miles that separate their rink at the Ricoh Coliseum and the home ice of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Air Canada Centre.

The average travel distance for the 29 AHL clubs and their affiliates is just under 750 miles, although the philosophical distance separating the clubs can sometimes seem greater than anything that can be measured in miles.

Griffins broadcaster Bob Kaser has made the observation that there have been times this season when it appeared as though Ville Leino were playing chess when the rest of the league was playing checkers.

The comparison seems fitting, not because Leino is an accomplished chess player (he is not), but because the reference to the centuries-old game is befitting of Leino’s personality and his appreciation for the so-called finer things in life.

You aren’t likely to find many hockey players who enjoy art, film, opera, photography and wine quite like Leino, whose Renaissance tastes take him to places like Paris and Rome in the off-season.

“I like all forms of art,” said Leino, who will talk about a concert DVD or a black-and-white photography exhibition in his Finland homeland with the kind of excitement usually reserved for describing game-winning goals.