The third-place Cincinnati Cyclones visit Grand Rapids for a 7 p.m. IHL game today with the first-place Griffins and their first meeting with newly signed defenseman Marty McSorley.

        McSorley, 37, recently returned from a suspension for a stick-swinging incident last season.

        It remains to be seen if his play in Grand Rapids will earn him another shot at playing in the NHL. McSorley's one-year suspension imposed by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman ends today, the anniversary of his assault on Donald Brashear. The third most-penalized player in NHL history was playing for Boston when he struck Brashear in the head with his hockey stick and knocked the Vancouver enforcer unconscious late in a game the Bruins were losing. McSorley was charged with assault with a weapon. British Columbia Provincial Court Judge W.J. Kitchen found him guilty Oct.7 and handed down an 18-month conditional discharge, the Canadian equivalent of a suspended sentence with accompanying stipulations.

        McSorley won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers in the late 1990's but was better remembered for using an illegal stick during the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals while playing for the Los Angeles Kings. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup that year, and Cyclones captain Gilbert Dionne was a member of that team.

        “I remember how that call swung the entire series,” said Dionne, who added, “up until that time, the series could have gone either way.”

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