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January 7, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


Portland rolls into Lowell on Wednesday (7:00 ET) with an eight-game unbeaten streak and a four-point lead over the sixth-place Lock Monsters in the Atlantic Division. Rastislav Stana, who has recorded four shutouts in his last six starts for the Pirates, was recalled by Washington on Tuesday, and the Caps returned 2003 Second Team AHL All-Star Maxime Ouellet to Portland. David Inman, a second-round draft pick of the N.Y. Rangers in 1999, has eight points in eight games since joining Lowell just before Christmas.

A four-game winless streak has Hamilton struggling as the Bulldogs begin the second half of their 2003-04 season at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia on Wednesday (7:05 ET). The teams' only previous meeting this season was a 1-0 Phantoms win on Dec. 23, with Neil Little earning the shutout with 25 saves. Little has won eight of his last 10 decisions as Philly has moved to within one point of second place in the East Division. Hamilton is without three of its top four scorers, as Benoit Gratton, Tomas Plekanec and Pierre Dagenais all remain in Montreal, but Jozef Balej has recorded 22 points in his last 17 games to climb to fourth in the AHL scoring race.

Hartford plays 11 of its next 15 games on the road, beginning Thursday night in Houston (7:00 CT, 8:00 ET) against an Aeros team that has tied five of its last six games. Cory Larose had three assists and Lawrence Nycholat recorded a goal and an assist in the Wolf Pack's 4-0 win over Houston on Nov. 29; both were acquired from the Aeros during last season. After a slow start to the season, former Hartford goaltender Johan Holmqvist is unbeaten in his last nine starts (6-0-3) at the Toyota Center, and is 7-2-3 in his last 12 decisions overall.

(all times Eastern)
Wed 1/7
Manitoba at St. John's, 6:05... Portland at Lowell, 7:00... Wilkes-Barre at Manchester, 7:05... Hamilton at Philadelphia, 7:05... Utah at Chicago, 8:00

Thu 1/8
Hartford at Houston, 8:00... Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 8:00... Worcester at San Antonio, 8:00

Fri 1/9
Toronto at St. John's, 6:05... Cleveland at Hamilton, 7:00... Wilkes-Barre at Lowell, 7:00... Albany at Binghamton, 7:05... Manchester at Portland, 7:05... Utah at Grand Rapids, 7:30... Hershey at Syracuse, 7:30... Manitoba at Rochester, 7:35... Philadelphia at Springfield, 7:35... Worcester at Houston, 8:00... Hartford at San Antonio, 8:00

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ALUMNI WATCH:

Phoenix goaltender and 1998 AHL All-Star Brian Boucher puts a shutout streak of 205:45 on the line on Wednesday when the Coyotes visit Washington... On Tuesday night, Martin Prusek made 27 saves as Ottawa defeated Tampa Bay, 5-2... David Aebischer posted a 35-save shutout in Colorado's 6-0 win over Columbus... On Monday night, Jason Woolley had two goals and an assist for Detroit in a 6-0 win over Nashville; Predators bench boss Barry Trotz coached Woolley and the Portland Pirates to the Calder Cup title in 1994... Vesa Toskala stopped 37 shots as San Jose edged Vancouver, 2-1.

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AHL-TV:
Wednesday, Utah at Chicago -- Comcast Cable (Chicago) -- 7:00 CT
Wednesday, Manitoba at St. John's -- Rogers Cable 9 (St. John's) -- 11:00 NT (tape)
Friday, Toronto at St. John's -- Rogers Cable 9 (St. John's) -- 7:35 NT
Friday, Cleveland at Hamilton -- Cable 14 (Hamilton) -- 7:00 ET
Friday, Manitoba at Rochester -- Time Warner Ch. 98 (Rochester) -- 7:35 ET

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American Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2004


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