It's an hour till the puck drops. We met some fans from the coal city here at a dinner the Wolves organize. As I've said before, best fans in the American Hockey League. The spirit of these people, flying in to Chicago to watch their team shows the stuff necessary for a win.

That's not to slag the Wolves fans, many of whom will be trying to nab tickets at the Wachovia building in Wilkes-Barre next week. Last time I saw the WBS Pens in the finals, a 2004 match against the Milwaukee Admirals, they were camping in state campgrounds, trying to hold down costs.

We're blessed that our teams are playing this late in the season and that despite the economic challenges; we are able to follow our teams to these finals.

It takes a winning attitude to make it this far. And the teams frequently do not see each other during the regular season, leading to a first game of testing each other, probing for the weakness. It must be found, developed and exploited quickly. Any loss, especially on home ice, is hard to make-up.

Let's GO Wolves.