2002-03 AHL Season Preview

October 7, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release

SPRINGFIELD, MA ... The American Hockey League will begin its 67th season later this week as an all-time high of 28 teams begin the road to the Calder Cup 2003 championship.

The 2002-03 campaign gets underway on Thursday night (Oct. 10) when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins host the St. John's Maple Leafs at the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza, where the Pens have recorded an AHL-record 60 consecutive regular-season sellouts since December 2000.

The Binghamton Senators usher in the return of AHL hockey to the city of Binghamton on Friday night when they host the defending Eastern Conference champion Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Broome County Arena. The Sens are led by John Paddock, the third-winningest head coach in AHL history and the only man ever to guide three different teams to Calder Cup championships.

On Saturday, the first-year San Antonio Rampage, affiliate of the Florida Panthers, begin play when they visit the Milwaukee Admirals, while the 2002 Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves drop the puck on their title defense when the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks visit Allstate Arena. And the Grand Rapids Griffins begin their affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday when they host the Cleveland Barons.

The 28-team AHL features nine first-year head coaches in 2002-03, including Albany's Dennis Gendron, Cincinnati's Brad Shaw, Grand Rapids' Danton Cole, Hartford's Ryan McGill, Milwaukee's Peter Horachek, Portland's Tim Army, Providence's Mike Sullivan, San Antonio's John Torchetti and Springfield's Marty McSorley.

The regular season comprises 1,120 games leading up to the start of the Calder Cup 2003 Playoffs in April. On Feb. 2-3, the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic will be held at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Me., featuring the top talent in the AHL competing in both the Skills Competition and the All-Star Game. The 2002-03 season marks the city of Portland's 25th year as a member of the AHL.

Established in 1936, the American Hockey League serves as the exclusive top development league for all 30 NHL teams. In 2001-02, more than 75 percent of all NHL players had AHL experience, and 350 players appeared in both leagues last season alone.

2002-03 AHL Season Preview

EASTERN CONFERENCE

East Division

Albany River Rats
Pepsi Arena (13,941)
01-02: 14-42-12-12, 52 pts. (DNQ)
NHL affiliate: New Jersey Devils
Head coach: Dennis Gendron
Notable alumni: Steve Sullivan, Mike Dunham, Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora
Ones to watch: Newcomers D Ray Giroux, D Ken Sutton, F Craig Darby and F Dave Roche all have Calder Cup Finals experience.

Binghamton Senators
Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena (4,680)
NHL affiliate: Ottawa Senators
Head coach: John Paddock
One to watch: G Mathieu Chouinard helped Grand Rapids record the second-best defensive season in AHL history in 2001-02.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Arena at Harbor Yard (8,412)
01-02: 43-25-8-4, 98 pts. (lost Calder Cup Final)
NHL affiliate: New York Islanders
Head coach: Steve Stirling
One to watch: LW Raffi Torres broke out during last year's playoffs with 17 postseason points.

Hartford Wolf Pack
Hartford Civic Center (9,819)
01-02: 41-26-10-3, 95 pts. (lost conf. semifinal)
NHL affiliate: New York Rangers
Head coach: Ryan McGill
Notable alumni: Dan Cloutier, Marc Savard, Tomas Kloucek, P.J. Stock
One to watch: Big D Fedor Tjutin had finished third among OHL defensemen with 59 points last year.

Springfield Falcons
Springfield Civic Center (7,444)
01-02: 35-41-2-2, 74 pts. (DNQ)
NHL affiliates: Phoenix Coyotes/Tampa Bay Lightning
Head coach: Marty McSorley
Notable alumni: Shane Doan, Daniel Briere, Nikolai Khabibulin
One to watch: C Jason Jaspers led the Falcons with 25 goals as a rookie in 2001-02.

North Division

Lowell Lock Monsters
Paul E. Tsongas Arena (6,400)
01-02: 41-25-11-3, 96 pts. (lost conf. quarterfinal)
NHL affiliate: Carolina Hurricanes
Head coach: Ron Smith
Notable alumni: Eric Belanger, Roberto Luongo, Eric Brewer, Zdeno Chara
One to watch: Fresh out of the U. of North Dakota, LW Ryan Bayda led Lowell in playoff goals last spring.

Manchester Monarchs
Verizon Wireless Arena (9,898)
01-02: 38-28-11-3, 90 pts. (lost conf. quarterfinal)
NHL affiliate: Los Angeles Kings
Head coach: Bruce Boudreau
One to watch: Rookie C Yanick Lehoux totaled 123 goals and 260 points in his final two junior seasons.

Portland Pirates
Cumberland County Civic Center (6,746)
01-02: 30-31-15-4, 79 pts. (DNQ)
NHL affiliate: Washington Capitals
Head coach: Tim Army
Notable alumni: Jason Allison, Olaf Kolzig, Anson Carter, Byron Dafoe
One to watch: C Brian Sutherby was selected by Washington in the first round of the 2000 draft.

Providence Bruins
Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,909)
01-02: 35-33-8-4, 82 pts. (lost qualifier)
NHL affiliate: Boston Bruins
Head coach: Mike Sullivan
Notable alumni: Glen Murray, Peter Laviolette, Jozef Stumpel
One to watch: Following a standout run at St. Lawrence U., rookie F Mike Gellard missed all of 2001-02 after being diagnosed with colitis.

Worcester IceCats
Centrum Centre (12,316)
01-02: 39-33-7-1, 86 pts. (lost qualifier)
NHL affiliate: St. Louis Blues
Head coach: Don Granato
Notable alumni: Brent Johnson, Michal Handzus, Tyson Nash, Jamie Rivers
Ones to watch: Eric Boguniecki and Justin Papineau tied for the AHL lead with 38 goals each last year.

Canadian Division

Hamilton Bulldogs
Copps Coliseum (8,919)
01-02: 37-30-10-3, 87 pts. (lost conf. final)
NHL affiliates: Montreal Canadiens/Edmonton Oilers
Head coach: Claude Julien
Notable alumni: Dan Cleary, Greg de Vries, Sean Brown, Steve Passmore One to watch: G Ty Conklin had a 1.62 GAA in four NHL games for Edmonton last season.

Manitoba Moose
Winnipeg Arena (9,777)
01-02: 39-33-4-4, 86 pts. (lost conf. quarterfinal)
NHL affiliate: Vancouver Canucks
Head coach: Stan Smyl
Notable alumni: Johan Hedberg, Philippe Boucher, Fred Brathwaite
One to watch: D Justin Kurtz skated in 27 games with Vancouver last season, his first career NHL stint.

Saint John Flames
Harbour Station (6,137)
01-02: 29-34-13-4, 75 pts. (DNQ)
NHL affiliate: Calgary Flames
Head coach: Jim Playfair
Notable alumni: Steve Begin, Dwayne Roloson, Cory Stillman, Marty Murray
One to watch: The ninth overall pick in the 2000 NHL draft, G Brent Krahn went 63-22-5 in three junior seasons at Calgary (WHL).

St. John's Maple Leafs
Mile One Stadium (5,813)
01-02: 34-27-17-2, 87 pts. (lost conf. semifinal)
NHL affiliate: Toronto Maple Leafs
Head coach: Lou Crawford
Notable alumni: Yanic Perreault, Felix Potvin, Joel Quenneville, Mike Eastwood
One to watch: G Sebastien Centomo had a .926 save percentage in 25 appearances with St. John's last year.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

West Division

Chicago Wolves Allstate Arena (16,692)
01-02: 37-31-7-5, 86 pts. (Won Calder Cup)
NHL affiliate: Atlanta Thrashers
Head coach: John Anderson
Notable alumni: J.P. Dumont, Wendell Young, Pasi Nurminen
One to watch: C Mark Hartigan led the nation with 37 goals at St. Cloud State last season.

Houston Aeros
Compaq Center (10,147)
01-02: 39-26-10-5, 93 pts. (lost conference final)
NHL affiliate: Minnesota Wild
Head coach: Todd McLellan
Notable alumni: Manny Fernandez, Kevin Dineen, Norm Maciver
One to watch: A 55-goal scorer at Red Deer (WHL) in 2000-01, RW Kyle Wanvig is looking to rebound from an injury-plagued rookie year in Houston.

Milwaukee Admirals
Bradley Center (17,845)
01-02: 30-35-10-5, 75 pts. (DNQ)
NHL affiliate: Nashville Predators
Head coach: Peter Horachek
Notable alumni: Vitali Yachmenev, Darren Pang, Bubba Berenzweig
Ones to watch: F Darren Haydar was second in the nation with 76 points at the U. of New Hampshire last season.

San Antonio Rampage
SBC Center (13,400)
NHL affiliate: Florida Panthers
Head coach: John Torchetti
One to watch: Acquired from the N.Y. Rangers in the Pavel Bure trade, D Filip Novak had 58pts. in 60gp for Regina (WHL) last year.

Utah Grizzlies
The "E" Center (10,207)
01-02: 40-29-6-5, 91 pts. (lost conf. quarterfinal)
NHL affiliate: Dallas Stars
Head coach: Don Hay
Notable alumni: Jon Sim, Tommy Salo, Ray Whitney, Wade Flaherty
One to watch: 20-year-old rookie G Jason Bacashihua was 26-12-7 at Plymouth (OHL) last season.

Central Division

Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
Cincinnati Gardens (10,326)
01-02: 33-33-11-3, 80 pts. (lost qualifier)
NHL affiliate: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Head coach: Brad Shaw
Notable alumni: J-S. Giguere, Matt Cullen, Andy McDonald, Jason Williams
One to watch: C Brian Gornick graduated first in his class from the Air Force Academy last year.

Cleveland Barons
Gund Arena (10,231)
01-02: 29-40-7-4, 69 pts. (DNQ)
NHL affiliate: San Jose Sharks
Head coach: Roy Sommer
Notable alumni: Johnny Bower, Emile Francis, Fred Glover and Andy Bathgate all played for the original AHL Barons.
One to watch: Jim Fahey finished second among NCAA defensemen with 32 assists for Northeastern last year.

Grand Rapids Griffins
Van Andel Arena (10,834)
01-02: 42-27-11-0, 95 pts. (lost conf. quarterfinal)
NHL affiliate: Detroit Red Wings
Head coach: Danton Cole
Notable alumni: Pavol Demitra, Petr Schastlivy, Kip Miller, Todd White
One to watch: D Danny Groulx (112 pts. in regular season) was MVP of the '02 Memorial Cup tournament.

Rochester Americans
Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial (11,200)
01-02: 32-30-15-3, 82 pts. (lost qualifier)
NHL affiliate: Buffalo Sabres
Head coach: Randy Cunneyworth
Notable alumni: Al Arbour, Gerry Cheevers, Jody Gage, Steve Shields
One to watch: Rookie G Ryan Miller won the Hobey Baker Award in 2001.

Syracuse Crunch
Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter (6,230)
01-02: 39-23-13-5, 96 pts. (lost conf. semifinal)
NHL affiliate: Columbus Blue Jackets
Head coach: Gary Agnew
Notable alumni: Michael Peca, Tyson Nash, Scott Walker, Dave Scatchard
One to watch: LW Mike Pandolfo is coming off a solid four years at Boston University.

South Division

Hershey Bears
Giant Center (10,500)
01-02: 36-27-11-6, 89 pts. (lost conf. semifinal)
NHL affiliate: Colorado Avalanche
Head coach: Mike Foligno
Notable alumni: Willie Marshall, Ron Hextall, Garnet "Ace" Bailey
One to watch: Rookie C Charlie Stephens had three 20-goal seasons as a junior in the OHL.

Norfolk Admirals
Norfolk Scope (8,837)
01-02: 38-26-12-4, 92 pts. (lost conf. quarterfinal)
NHL affiliate: Chicago Blackhawks
Head coach: Trent Yawney
Notable alumni: Mark Bell, Kyle Calder, Tyler Arnason
One to watch: Rookie F Yorick Treille was the first French-born player ever drafted by an NHL team (Chicago '99).

Philadelphia Phantoms
First Union Spectrum (17,380)
01-02: 33-27-15-5, 86 pts. (lost conf. quarterfinal)
NHL affiliate: Philadelphia Flyers
Head coach: John Stevens
Notable alumni: Brian Boucher, Vaclav Prospal, Richard Park, Andy Delmore
One to watch: C Guillaume Lefebvre skated in three NHL games with the Flyers in 2001-02.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
First Union Arena at Casey Plaza (8,143)
01-02: 20-44-13-3, 56 pts. (DNQ)
NHL affiliate: Pittsburgh Penguins
Head coach: Glenn Patrick
Notable alumni: Toby Petersen, Andrew Ference, Milan Kraft
One to watch: RW Tom Kostopoulos averaged 23 goals and 54 points over his first three seasons in Wilkes-Barre.

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