Sports stats



AHL American Hockey League

AHL All-Star Balloting Underway

December 15, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MA ... From now until January 4, American Hockey League fans logging on to theahl.com will be able to help decide which players will earn a trip to the 2004 Pepsi AHL All-Star Classic, to be held in Grand Rapids on February 8-9.

Fan balloting will determine the starting lineups for both the Canadian and PlanetUSA AHL All-Star teams, and a committee of AHL coaches will help complete the rosters, which will be announced in early January. By virtue of leading Houston to the Calder Cup 2003 championship, Aeros head coach Todd McLellan will guide one team; the coach whose club owns the best points percentage in the AHL after play on January 11 will lead the other.

The PlanetUSA AHL All-Stars, made up of players born outside Canada, will enter the 2004 event on a four-game losing streak, but could have their strongest lineup in years heading to Grand Rapids. Four of the six leading scorers in the AHL are either American or European, including Bridgeport's Jeff Hamilton, Manchester's Pavel Rosa, Cleveland's Miroslav Zalesak and Hamilton's Jozef Balej, as are several top defensemen such as Philadelphia's Dennis Seidenberg, Milwaukee's Andrew Hutchinson and Hartford's Fedor Tyutin. Among the goaltenders in the running for the three PlanetUSA roster spots are Rochester's Ryan Miller, Cincinnati's Ilya Bryzgalov, Worcester's Reinhard Divis, Manchester's Adam Hauser and a trio of Finns in Kari Lehtonen of Chicago, Hannu Toivonen of Providence and Antero Niittymaki of Philadelphia.

The Canadian AHL All-Stars, who swept the Skills Competition and the All-Star Game in both 2002 and 2003, once again have a deep talent pool to dip into, including goaltenders Dieter Kochan and Wade Dubielewicz of Bridgeport, Jason LaBarbera of Hartford, Marc Lamothe of Grand Rapids and Travis Scott of San Antonio. Manchester's Bryan Muir is the top-scoring defenseman in the league, and Monarchs teammate Richard Seeley, Grand Rapids' Danny Groulx and Bridgeport's Brandon Smith own plus-13 ratings that are best among AHL blueliners. Up front, Hamilton's Benoit Gratton leads all Canadian-born forwards in scoring with 32 points, while San Antonio's Eric Beaudoin, Philadelphia's Kirby Law and rookies Derek Roy of Rochester and Kyle Wellwood of St. John's are among those having outstanding first halves.

More than 91 percent of the players to appear in the AHL All-Star Game since 1995 have played in the National Hockey League, including current NHL stars such as Patrik Elias, Martin St. Louis, Marc Savard, Pavol Demitra, Ladislav Nagy, Mike Dunham and Jason Spezza.

-------------------------------

THE BIG 2-0 ... For the first time since 1995, an American Hockey League team has gone 20 games without a loss. Bridgeport extended its incredible run to 17-0-3 with four wins in five nights last week, outscoring their opponents 15-2. The Sound Tigers are seven shy of the AHL-record 27-game streak owned by Cleveland in 1948.

Oct. 25 @WBS 4-1 W 1-0-0
Oct. 31 @ Utah 6-2 W 2-0-0
Nov. 1 @ Utah 2-1* W 3-0-0
Nov. 8 @ Prov 1-1* T 3-0-1
Nov. 9 @ Phil 6-2 W 4-0-1
Nov. 11 vs. Nor 2-1* W 5-0-1
Nov. 14 @ Low 6-1 W 6-0-1
Nov. 15 vs. Phil 3-2 W 7-0-1
Nov. 16 vs. WBS 3-2* W 8-0-1
Nov. 23 vs. Bing 2-1 W 9-0-1
Nov. 27 @ Bing 5-4 W 10-0-1
Nov. 28 vs. Hfd 3-0 W 11-0-1
Nov. 29 @ Low 4-3* W 12-0-1
Dec. 5 @ Alb 1-1* T 12-0-2
Dec. 6 vs. Her 2-2* T 12-0-3
Dec. 7 vs. Hfd 1-0 W 13-0-3
Dec. 10 vs. Utah 4-0 W 14-0-3
Dec. 12 @ Phil 4-1 W 15-0-3
Dec. 13 vs. Mch 2-1 W 16-0-3
Dec. 14 vs. Utah 5-0 W 17-0-3

The streak is the longest in the AHL since Albany went on a 19-0-2 tear during the 1995-96 season. Bridgeport is back in action on Wednesday morning against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

-------------------------------

SCRATCH AND WIN ... The latest instant scratch game from the New Hampshire Lottery is called Pucks for Bucks, with tickets featuring eight scenes of Manchester Monarchs players and the team mascot, Max. Top prize is $30,000, but non-winning tickets can be entered into a weekly drawing to win additional prizes, including tickets to a future Monarchs game.

The Monarchs are also giving one entrant a chance to win a grand prize of a trip for eight to a game at the Verizon Wireless Arena (arriving via limousine), an arena tour and a luxury suite for the night, as well as an autographed team jersey and stick and an opportunity to meet the team following the game.

-------------------------------

OFF THE ICE ... 'Tis the season for Teddy Bear Tosses, hospital visits and drives to collect coats, canned goods and toys; all 28 AHL teams are participating in some sort of community effort this holiday season... The Worcester IceCats raised more than $20,000 for the local chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation through their Pink Pucks campaign.

-------------------------------

ETC. ... Maple Leafs forward and St. John's native Harold Druken has a point in 10 straight AHL games (10g, 10a), the longest scoring streak in the league this season... Cleveland's Miroslav Zalesak registered three goals and two assists in a 7-2 win over Manitoba on Saturday, the second five-point effort in the AHL this season... Bridgeport's Jeff Hamilton has scored 12 power play goals already this season; the Portland Pirates have scored 13... Hamilton also has more game-winning goals (eight) than the Albany River Rats (seven)... With a 3-2 win on Sunday, Philadelphia improved to 5-0-0 against rival Hershey this season... Springfield Falcons graduate Fredrik Sjostrom scored his first NHL goal in Phoenix's 3-3 tie with Edmonton on Friday... Matt Murley netted his first NHL goal for Pittsburgh in a 5-3 win over Columbus on Saturday... Houston has won four in a row, with Johan Holmqvist stopping 105 of 108 shots (.972) in the victories... After scoring once in 23 games to start the year, Cincinnati's Cory Pecker netted three goals in two weekend contests, including both game-winners... All seven goals in Providence's 5-2 win over Lowell on Sunday came on the power play... Hamilton, winless in 12 overtime games last regular season, is 5-1-1 in OT this year.

Check out the American Hockey League Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central