The Ferris State hockey team com­pleted one of its most suc­cess­ful sea­sons in school his­tory, but its legacy may not be fully written.

Three Bulldog hockey play­ers signed con­tracts within a week of each other to play in the American Hockey League (AHL). Seniors Cody Chupp, Matt Case and Blair Riley have inked short-term con­tracts with three dif­fer­ent AHL teams and may one day get an oppor­tu­nity to play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Chupp, a two-time Bulldog cap­tain, signed an ama­teur try­out agree­ment with the Texas Stars, the affil­i­ate for the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars, on March 26 and appeared in his first game the same night. Through six con­tests, Chupp has recorded one assist for the Stars.

Chupp tied his career season-high and fin­ished third on the team with 30 points dur­ing the 2009-10 sea­son. He tal­lied nine goals and career-best 21 assists for the Bulldogs, while lead­ing the team with a plus 13 effi­ciency rat­ing this season.

Case, the Bulldogs’ lone senior defense­man, signed an ATO with the Norfolk (Va.) Admirals, the affil­i­ate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, on March 29. Case tal­lied a career-best 17 points for the Bulldogs this sea­son. Case tal­lied an assist in his only game with the Admirals thus far.

Riley signed a con­tract with the Springfield Falcons and said he will be with the team for the remain­der of the reg­u­lar sea­son as the team will not be in the play­offs. Riley led Ferris with 38 points this sea­son, includ­ing a team-best 18 goals. For his career, Riley is 29^th in goals, fifth in shots on goal, and 38^th in points in Ferris hockey history.

Riley has appeared in two games and will likely com­pete in the final three games of the season.

The suc­cess of a team is some­times defined long after the sea­son ends. Ferris won the regular-season CCHA cham­pi­onship in the 2002-03 sea­son. The sea­son seems to become more and more impres­sive as Chris Kunitz, the team’s top scorer, con­tin­ues to win Stanley Cup Championships dur­ing his pro­fes­sional career.

Through five full NHL sea­sons, Kunitz has been on a Stanley Cup-winning team twice and has a chance to keep win­ning while with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Senior for­wards Casey Haines and Aaron Lewicki were each in the top five in points for the Bulldogs this sea­son and could pos­si­bly also play pro­fes­sional hockey at some point. The team also has juniors such as defense­men Zach Redmond and Scott Wietecha, along with goal­tender Pat Nagle and for­ward Mike Embach, who could all poten­tially play pro­fes­sional hockey in the future.

Time will tell just how tal­ented the 2009-10 Bulldogs really were.