ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Regardless of the sport at hand, the offseason is a time when teams take stock of where they are and what they have, as well as an opportunity to find and add new talent to their lineups.

When it comes to hockey, teams are always on the lookout for players who can create goals for their team, whether that means setting up teammates with a clever assist, or smacking the puck into the net directly on their own.

Of course, it’s equally important for a player to be dependable, someone the coach can count on night after night, avoiding absenteeism from injuries – or from suspensions, whether those suspensions stem from their actions on or off the ice.

On top of the 43 goals and 97 points he tallied in 210 games with the Rockford IceHogs, I figure it was Garret Ross’ reliability and quick bounce-back which drew the Rochester Americans to the former fifth-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks.

After all, when he was charged with a felony for revenge porn last year, Ross wasn’t suspended until 40 days after his arrest, but was later reinstated in a matter of hours after the charges were dismissed for jurisdictional reasons.

For some strange reason, Ross’ accuser wasn’t among those who were impressed by the player’s stalwart resistance to legal consequences.

“I was infuriated when I read about their decision (to reinstate Ross),” Ross’ accuser said at the time of the player’s reinstatement. “I was sitting at my desk at work literally shaking I was so mad. I saw it coming, but it still was devastating, especially since it was made known that the charges were dropped due to jurisdiction issues, not due to lack of evidence.”

On the other hand, following the suspension and reinstatement, Ross was forced to play a single season for the Tucson Roadrunners, which is a bit like being sent to prison, only much hotter and substantially less likely to result in a championship ring.

Another plus for Rochester is Ross clearly understands the strategic importance of positional discipline, something which was clearly demonstrated during his revenge porn hubbub. Ross was initially charged by authorities in Illinois, but the charges were dropped when it was determined he’d been in his home state of Michigan at the time he sent the offending text messages, leaving the Illinois courts without jurisdiction over the matter.

The circumstances also suggest a nuanced understanding of rules on Ross’ part, which should serve him well in a sport where it’s sometimes OK to make a long pass, but at other times such a pass constitutes “icing,” which of course is totally against the rules, unless the puck being used at the time is a stale cupcake.

In Michigan, you see, unless the offending images are posted to the internet, the act of distributing sexually-explicit content without the consent of those depicted therein often isn’t considered revenge porn as the Wolverine State defines the term.

Since Ross didn’t publish the image openly and merely passed it along to a teammate (presumably without it crossing the center line and the opponent’s goal line without being touched), all he was guilty of was being a total piece of shit – something which is clearly not a problem in the eyes of the AHL or NHL, but possibly could get you fired from DHL.

Meanwhile, there’s no word yet on whether Rochester also intends to sign Garrett Ross Boyd, a 26 year-old prospect who may or may not actually play hockey, but was recently cited for disorderly conduct after allegedly striking a man during an argument at a residence in Moultrie, GA.

Hockey Photo © Adam Klepsteen