Mar 30 Providence (On mailing it in)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Covered tonight's Springfield @ Providence tilt, which played out as a 5-2 thumping by the Peebs, a team that is in the midst of a very interesting AHL Atlantic Division playoff race.

 Spoke afterward with Falcon coach Steve Stirling, and he was crystal clear about one thing. His team has quit on him.

 “I think there are a whole bunch of guys,” he said, pulling no punches, “ that have thrown in the towel. More mentally than physically. Unfortunately, with the Clear Day list, you’re sort of stuck with guys. If it was during the year, you could make some changes (or) bring some guys up (from Johnstown). I’ll live with what we’ve got. But we’ve got a handful of guys, who’ve checked out and let down, and don’t play as hard. When you don’t play as hard, you don’t play as well.”

Hunger has a part to play in it. Springfield played themselves out of contention weeks ago, but in Stirling's view, even the notion of playing for next year's contracts hasn't been incentive enough for his bunch.

 "Guys are thinking," he said, "'well, I've got a contract that's out this year. I'll get one next year.' Well, I think there's going to be a handful of guys in that room that are really disappointed, come contract time, because they're going to have trouble getting contracts."

 Stirling, who will likely be moving with the Tampa development operation to Norfolk, next year, did allow that the line of David Spina-Jacob Micflikier-Justin Keller competed better than anyone else. He singled out the effort of Micflikier, who was signed to an ATO out of the University of New Hampshire, two games back, and netted his first pro goal, the Falcons second one.

 “He hasn’t disappointed us,” he said, “and he doesn’t look out of place out there. He’s playing hard, because he doesn’t know any better, and he’s trying to get a contract. So are a whole bunch of other guys in there, but they haven’t figured it out, yet. He’s figured it out.”