Before his mercurial career could continue taking flight, Manitoba Moose rookie forward Cody Hodgson had to learn a little bit about how AHL teams get on an airplane.

That small, but important, detail was crossed off the list during the Moose-Houston Western Conference finals.

The possible explanations are a little murky. Perhaps the brilliant prospect thought that travel days were dress-down days. It could be argued that Hodgson's roommate -- whom he did not want to publicly blame -- should have tipped him off differently.

The bottom line was that when Hodgson showed up at the airport for the flight to Houston, he was rocking shorts and a golf shirt.

Um, no. The actual dress code for such occasions calls for a suit. Hodgson quickly ducked into a restroom to change into something a little more formal, but the damage was done. Cell phones were whipped out, pictures were taken and one somehow found its way to the phone of head coach Scott Arniel, who was en route to the airport and missed seeing the show in person.

"The guys had a good laugh about it," said Hodgson, 19. "It was a good learning experience."