AHL Norfolk Admirals

Admirals Creep Closer to First Place

Published on December 13, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


NORFOLK, Va. - Last week, the Norfolk Admirals moved within three points of the best record in the American Hockey League as they picked up five of a possible six points - including a pair of victories over the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. This week, the Admirals will host the Albany Devils at Scope on Friday and Saturday before taking a week off for the Holiday Break.

On Wednesday night at Scope, Marc-Antoine Pouliot scored twice to fuel an Admirals third-period rally, but the rally came up just short as the Admirals were defeated by the Syracuse Crunch 4-3 in overtime. Friday night, Alex Berry registered a career-high three points and Dustin Tokarski stopped 33 shots as the Admirals took the first of two games from the Penguins with a 4-2 decision at Scope. On Saturday night, Radko Gudas and Mark Barberio each scored their first professional goals as the Admirals overcame an early third period rally and defeated the Penguins 7-4 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The Admirals will return to the ice Friday and Saturday night to face the Albany Devils at Norfolk Scope. Friday night is Tidewater Council Boy Scout Night. Saturday night is Toy Toss Night, Post-Game Skate Night, Trading Card Night and Holiday Ornament Auction Night. For more details on all of these promotions, please see below.

EAST DIVISION STANDINGS

At 17-6-4-1 (39 pts.) the Admirals are in second place in the East Division. The Admirals trail the division-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at (21-6-0-0, 42 pts.) by three points. The Charlotte Checkers (15-9-1-3, 34 pts.), Hershey Bears (16-10-0-1, 33 pts.), Binghamton Senators (12-12-2-2, 28 pts.), Albany Devils (11-16-0-0, 22 pts.), Syracuse Crunch (9-14-1-3, 22 pts.) and Adirondack Phantoms (4-22-2-0, 10 pts.) wrap-up the division.

THE ADMIRALS' WEEK AHEAD

Fri., Dec 17 ... vs. Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils) ... 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 18 ... vs. Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils) ... 7:15 p.m.

NORFOLK NOTES:

- At 17-6-4-1 (39 points), the Admirals now trail Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (21-6-0-0, 42 points) by only three points for the best record in the AHL. The Penguins have one game in hand.

- Norfolk has standings points in six straight games (5-0-1-0) and has won ten of its last 13 games (10-2-1-0).

- Norfolk is now the only AHL team without back-to-back regulation losses this season after handing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a 4-2 loss at Scope on Friday and a 7-4 loss at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday.

- The Admirals are 3-0-0-0 against the Penguins this season and account for exactly half of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's losses in 2010-11. Only Norfolk (3) and Binghamton (2) have defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton multiple times this season.

- Norfolk has scored five or more goals in 11 of 28 games this season - including eight games with seven or more goals and five games with seven goals scored.

- In the 240 games from the 2007-08 to 2009-10 seasons, the Admirals scored seven or more goals only four times (1.7%). They have already done so five times through 28 games of 2010-11 (17.9%).

- Norfolk has eight different skaters with at least eight goals this season - most in the American Hockey League: Johan Harju (13), Blair Jones (9), Matt Fornataro (9), Paul Szczechura (9), Mike Angelidis (9), Marc-Antoine Pouliot (8), Chris Durno (8) and Alex Berry (8).

- The Admirals also have five players with at least 20 points this season - tied for the most in the American Hockey League: Blair Jones (24), Marc-Antoine Pouliot (24), Johan Harju (23), Matt Fornataro (21) and Paul Szczechura (21).

- Saturday night's game in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton set a new franchise record for most Norfolk penalty minutes (124), most opponent penalty minutes (111) and most combined penalty minutes (235) in an AHL Admirals game.

- With an overtime loss on Wednesday vs. Syracuse, Cedrick Desjardins saw his six-game overall winning streak end just one victory short of tying the AHL Admirals franchise record.

- Desjardins rebounded with a victory on Saturday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to extend his franchise record road-winning streak to seven games. The streak began with a 4-1 win against the Penguins on November 19.

- Desjardins had played ten straight road games between home starts on October 29 vs. Portland and December 8 vs. Syracuse. He went 8-2-0 in those road starts.

TIDEWATER COUNCIL BOY SCOUT NIGHT

Friday night is Scout Night through the Tidewater Boy Scout Council. Special discounted tickets are available via advance tickets before Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. All units purchasing tickets will be recognized on the Scope video boards.

TOY TOSS TO BENEFIT U.S. MARINE CORPS TOYS FOR TOTS

On Saturday night, the annual Toy Toss will take place. Fans are asked to bring new stuffed toys to the game and after the Admirals score their first goal, all fans will allowed to toss the toys onto the ice. The Admirals Toy Toss benefits the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots.

TRADING CARD GIVE AWAY

Fans entering Scope Saturday night prior to the game will receive the first set of Admirals Trading cards.

PLAYERS WIVES/GIRLFRIENDS HOLIDAY ORNAMENT AUCTION

Also for the game Saturday night, the players' wives/girlfriends will hold their annual holiday ornament auction to benefit the Joy Fund. Custom-designed ornaments will be up for silent auction throughout the game. The ornaments are designed by the wives/girlfriends and are made to reflect the interest of Admirals and Lightning players. For more information on the Joy Fund, visit thevirginianpilot.com/joyfund.

POST GAME SKATE

After the game Saturday night, the Admirals will host their second post-game skate of the season. Fans can skate on the ice with some of their favorite Admirals players following the game. Fans may bring their own skates or a limited number of skates will be available.

ADMIRALS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Blair Jones: 3GP, 0G, 4A, 4PTS

Blair Jones quietly registered four points last week as the Admirals went 2-0-1-0. He notched two third period assists on Wednesday as the Admirals erased a 3-0 deficit in an eventual 4-3 overtime loss to the Syracuse Crunch. After going scoreless with a plus-2 rating in a 4-2 win at home against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday, Jones once again notched a pair of assists on Saturday as the Admirals completed the home-and-home sweep of the Penguins with a 7-4 win.

Jones is now tied for the team lead in scoring with 24 points on nine goals and 15 assists. His three game-winning goals are tied for third in the AHL while his plus-12 rating is tied for 13th in the AHL.

THIS WEEK ON THE ADMIRALS HOUR RADIO SHOW

Tune in to the Admirals Hour at 4:00 p.m. on "The Game" 102.1-FM, 1490-AM and 1021TheGame.com. "The Voice of the Admirals" Pete Michaud will be joined by Special call-in guests are Admirals forward Alex Berry and award-winning NHL broadcaster Mike "Doc" Emrick. To call in to the show, dial (757) 490-2750.

NORFOLK LEADERS

Goals: Johan Harju (13)

Assists: Marc-Antoine Pouliot (16)

Points: Blair Jones, Marc-Antoine Pouliot (24)

Games: Several (28)

PP goals: Johan Harju, Paul Szczechura (3)

SH goals: Mathieu Roy, James Wright (1)

+/- Rating: Radko Gudas (+16)

PIM: Pierre-Cedric Labrie (77)

GAA: Cedrick Desjardins (2.72)

Spct: Dustin Tokarski (0.899)

Wins: Cedrick Desjardins (11)

Losses: Cedrick Desjardins, Dustin Tokarski (5)

GPI: Cedrick Desjardins (17)

Minutes: Cedrick Desjardins (1037)

ALBANY LEADERS

Goals: Matt Anderson (10)

Assists: Tyler Eckford, Vladimir Zharkov (10)

Points: Matt Anderson, Vladimir Zharkov (16)

Games: David McIntyre (27)

PP goals: Vladimir Zharkov (3)

SH goals: Michael Swift (2)

+/- Rating: Mark Fayne (+5)

PIM: Louis Robitaille (88)

GAA: Jeff Frazee (2.79)

Spct: Jeff Frazee (0.904)

Wins: Jeff Frazee (8)

Losses: Jeff Frazee (9)

GPI: Jeff Frazee (18)

Minutes: Jeff Frazee (1012)

TRANSACTIONS

December 12, 2010

ADD F Marc-Antoine Pouliot- Returned on loan from Tampa Bay (NHL)

December 10, 2010

DELETE F Marc-Antoine Pouliot- Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

December 9, 2010

DELETE F Juraj Simek- Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

December 9, 2010

ADD F Levi Nelson- Loaned from Tampa Bay (NHL)

December 8, 2010

ADD F Pierre-Cedric Labrie - Signed to Standard Players Contract (SPC)

TICKETS

Individual tickets for all regular season games start at just $12. Tickets are available now at the Scope Box Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 and online at ticketmaster.com.

Don't miss a minute of the action by purchasing your 2010-11 season tickets today. Season tickets start at just $350 while 10-Packs are available for as little as $110. Stop by the Admirals' Administrative Offices at Scope, call (757) 640-1212 weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or visit norfolkadmirals.com anytime!

ON THE RADIO/INTERNET

All eighty regular season games will air live on "The Game" 102.1-FM, 1490-AM and online at 1021TheGame.com. AHL Live will also carry online video of every Admirals game on a pay-per-view or season pass basis. Log in to watch or get more information about AHL Live's online video features at ahllive.com.

Check out the Norfolk Admirals Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 13, 2010


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