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AHL Norfolk Admirals

Admirals Look to Build on League Record as Final Homestand of 2011-12 Begins

March 22, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk Admirals bring an American Hockey League record 18-game winning streak back to Norfolk as they open their season-long, seven-game homestand on this weekend against the Albany Devils.

Last week, Norfolk re-wrote the AHL record books with three victories over teams fighting for a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. On Wednesday night, Norfolk scored four unanswered goals en route to a 4-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Scope. The Admirals then traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they won games #17 and #18 in a row to establish the new American Hockey League single-season record for most consecutive victories. On Friday night, seven different players scored as Norfolk became the first team to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs with a 7-2 victory over the Checkers. On Sunday, Richard Panik scored a goal and added two assists and Jaroslav Janus stopped all 20 shots as the Admirals shut down the Checkers, 5-0.

The Admirals now return to Scope, where they have not lost since January 29. They conclude the home portion of the regular season schedule with a season-long, seven-game homestand beginning Friday and Saturday nights against the Albany Devils and lasting through April 7.

EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS UPDATE

The Admirals (45-18-1-2, 93 points in 66 games) continue to lead the East Division, Eastern Conference and overall American Hockey League standings. Norfolk leads the St. John's IceCaps (38-19-5-2, 83 points in 64 games) by ten points for first place in the Eastern Conference. They also lead the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (38-20-2-5, 83 points in 65 games) by ten points for first place in the East Division. The IceCaps hold two games in hand on the Admirals while the Penguins hold one game in hand on the Admirals. Norfolk also leads the Oklahoma City Barons (39-17-4-5, 87 points in 65 games) by six points for the AHL's top record.

Rank

Team GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT

1 *x Norfolk Admirals 66 45 18 1 2 93 0.705

2 * St. John's IceCaps 64 38 19 5 2 83 0.648

3 * Connecticut Whale 64 33 21 5 5 76 0.594

4

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 65 38 20 2 5 83 0.638

5

Hershey Bears 65 35 20 4 6 80 0.615

6

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 64 32 24 3 5 72 0.562

7

Manchester Monarchs 65 33 29 0 3 69 0.531

8

Syracuse Crunch 65 30 27 4 4 68 0.523

9

Worcester Sharks 64 28 25 4 7 67 0.523

10

Albany Devils 65 28 26 6 5 67 0.515

11

Springfield Falcons 65 30 29 3 3 66 0.508

12

Portland Pirates 64 29 28 3 4 65 0.508

13

Adirondack Phantoms 64 30 31 2 1 63 0.492

14

Providence Bruins 65 28 30 3 4 63 0.485

15

Binghamton Senators 66 26 35 3 2 57 0.432

x Clinched Playoff Berth

* Division Leader

Eight teams in each conference shall qualify for the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs. Following the conclusion of each team's 76-game regular season, the three division winners in each conference will be seeded first through third (in order of regular-season points) and the next five best teams (in order of regular-season points) will be seeded fourth through eighth.

THE ADMIRALS' WEEK AHEAD

Fri., Mar 23 ... vs. Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils) ... 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Mar 24 ... vs. Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils) ... 7:15 p.m.

ADMIRALS' LOG

- Norfolk's 18-game winning streak dates back to February 10 vs. Adirondack. It is the longest winning streak contained entirely in a single season in the 76-year history of the American Hockey League. The Admirals surpassed the former record held by the Philadelphia Phantoms, who won 17 straight games from October 22 - November 27, 2004.

- Norfolk's 18-game winning streak is now equaled only by the Syracuse Crunch's 18-game winning streak, which spanned over the course of two seasons from March 9 - October 17, 2008. During their streak, the Crunch won 15 games to conclude the 2007-08 regular season and won the first three games to open the 2008-09 regular season.

- Norfolk's winning streak is also one better than the National Hockey League record, which is 17 games (1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins).

- Norfolk's streak is also tied for the longest in professional hockey history, equaling the 18-game winning streak by the 1990-91 Peoria Rivermen of the International Hockey League.

- The Admirals have outscored their opponents, 76-29, over their last 18 games.

- Norfolk has outscored its opponents 45-16 at even strength during the streak. The Admirals have scored 27 power play goals while allowing only 12 opposition power play goals.

- The last time the Admirals were in first place overall in the American Hockey League this late in the season was March 31, 2007, when they held a one-point advantage over the Hershey Bears.

- Tyler Johnson leads the Admirals with 12 goals, 19 assists, 31 points and a plus-20 rating during the team's 18-game winning streak.

- Johnson has points in his last ten games (9g, 13a) - the longest active point streak in the American Hockey League and tied for the fourth-longest streak in the AHL this season.

- Johnson has also set an AHL Admirals franchise record with goals in seven straight games (9g) and has recorded multiple points in seven consecutive games (9g, 9a).

- With a pair of goals on Sunday afternoon, Cory Conacher took over the goal scoring lead in the AHL with 34 goals. Conacher (34g, 37a) continues to lead all AHL rookies in scoring with 71 points.

- On Sunday afternoon, Jaroslav Janus recorded his 18th victory of the season. The 20-save shutout was Janus' second career AHL shutout and extended the AHL Admirals franchise record with his 10th straight victory. Dating back to February 12 in Charlotte, Janus has allowed just 15 goals on 259 shots in 10 games (1.49 goals-against average and .942 save percentage).

- Richard Panik (5g, 4a) is on a personal four-game point streak and has points in seven of his last eight games (6g, 8a).

- After scoring his first career AHL goal on Friday night at Charlotte, Alex Hutchings extended his point streak to three games (2g, 1a) with his second goal of the season on Sunday afternoon against the Checkers. Hutchings has five points (2g, 3a) in eight games since being reassigned from Florida (ECHL).

- The Admirals are 1-3-1-0 vs. Albany this season, making the Devils one of only two teams with a .500 or better record against the Admirals this season. (Hershey, 5-4-1-0).

GEICO CHALLENGE CUP RECAP

With their 5-0 victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday, the Admirals clinched the 2011-12 GEICO Challenge Cup. Norfolk (5-3-0-0) was awarded the trophy after recording 10 standings points in eight games vs. the Checkers this season while holding Charlotte (3-4-1-0) to just seven points.

The Admirals opened the season with back-to-back victories over the Checkers before the Checkers claimed the next three matchups and opened a 7-4 edge in points. However, the Admirals won the final three contests en route to winning the inaugural GEICO Challenge Cup.

MDA JERSEY AUCTION, PRESENTED BY PAPCO

Join us on Saturday, March 24, for MDA Jersey Auction, presented by PAPCO, as your Norfolk Admirals play the Albany Devils at 7:15 p.m. at Norfolk Scope Arena.

The Admirals will don one-of-a-kind jerseys during the game. These jerseys pay homage to the 40th anniversary of hockey in Hampton Roads with jerseys similar to the first hockey team to play at Scope - the 1971-72 Tidewater Wings.

Immediately following the conclusion of the game on Saturday, a live auction will take place on the ice with the special jerseys being sold right off the players' backs. All proceeds go to the local chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Over the past 11 seasons, the Admirals have been able to raise $306,465 for MDA through the annual jersey auction.

NORFOLK LEADERS

Goals : Cory Conacher (34)

Assists : Mark Barberio (43)

Points : Cory Conacher (71)

Games : Cory Conacher, Tyler Johnson (65)

PP goals : Cory Conacher (14)

SH goals : Tyler Johnson, J.T. Wyman (2)

+/- Rating : Pierre-Cedric Labrie (+30)

PIM : Radko Gudas (168)

GAA : Dustin Tokarski (2.34)

Spct : Jaroslav Janus (.909)

Wins : Dustin Tokarski (27)

Losses : Dustin Tokarski (11)

GPI : Dustin Tokarski (40)

Minutes : Dustin Tokarski (2282)

ALBANY DEVILS

Goals: Steve Zalewski (16)

Assists: Joe Whitney (26)

Points: Joe Whitney (39)

Games: Eric Gelinas (64)

PP goals: Eric Gelinas, Steve Zalewski (7)

SH goals: Steve Bernier, Vladimir Zharkov (2)

+/- Rating: Dan Kelly (+6)

PIM: Tim Sestito (100)

GAA: Jeff Frazee (2.75)

Spct: Keith Kinkaid (.907)

Wins: Keith Kinkaid (15)

Losses: Jeff Frazee, Keith Kinkaid (16)

GPI: Keith Kinkaid (36)

Minutes: Keith Kinkaid (2071)

TRANSACTIONS OF THE PAST WEEK

March 22, 2012

ADD F Bryan Brutlag - Signed to Professional Tryout Contract (PTO)

March 20, 2012

ADD C Alex Killorn - Signed to Amateur Tryout Contract (ATO)

ADD G Dustin Tokarski - Returned on loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

DELETE G Pat Nagle - Reassigned by Tampa Bay (NHL) to Florida (ECHL)

March 19, 2012

DELETE LW Pierre-Cedric Labrie - Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

DELETE F Bryan Brutlag - Released from Professional Tryout Contract (PTO)

March 18, 2012

ADD F Bryan Brutlag - Signed to Professional Tryout Contract (PTO)

March 17, 2012

DELETE C Trevor Smith - Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

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.

Admirals 10-Packs for the 2011-12 season remain available for as little as $110. You may also reserve your 2012-13 season tickets with a deposit of as little as $100 per seat today. 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 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. Fans can log in to watch, listen or get more information about AHL Live's online audio and video features at ahllive.com.

Check out the Norfolk Admirals Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from March 22, 2012


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