I think it was a wonderful thing to see.
I feel for a lot of these guys. They get hurt and physically damaged as much as NHLers. They work as hard or maybe harder. They're so close in talent and ability to being able to play in the NHL.
In the latter part of these playoffs, Thrun & Benning were the top pairing and played well. Villeneuve racked up the dman points but Mermis had his back defensively big time. Danford broke in but Rifai had his back. It is possible that Thrun, Benning, Mermis & Rifai could snag a 6/7 spot on a NHL team with a weaker D. Maybe they will but usually, they don't.
Bottom six players like Sim, Johnstone, Pezzetta, Haymes & Pare - similar story.
They gave their all to their team and their Marlies fans. And so another AHL season passes.
This may be as good as it will get for many of them. They tried their best, proved what a complete team effort could do with a hot goalie and entertained me. So I'm very glad to see them get this moment. They deserved it.