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October 7, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


The American Hockey League's historic 70th season began on Wednesday night with an offensive outburst, as Erik Christensen scored a team-record four goals and Ryan Whitney dished out four assists in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 8-1 win over Bridgeport... On Thursday, Peter Sejna picked up three points (2g, 1a) and Jason Bacashihua made 13 of his 29 saves in the third period as Peoria held off Iowa, 5-4, in both teams' AHL debuts.

Wed 10/5

WILKES-BARRE 8, Bridgeport 1

Thu 10/6

Peoria 5, IOWA 4

LOOKING AHEAD:

The Rochester Americans begin celebrating their 50th season of competition with a home game against the first-year Toronto Marlies tonight (7:35 ET)... The Amerks first hit the ice in the fall of 1956, and have since made 16 trips to the Calder Cup Finals, bringing six championships home to western New York... Captain Chris Taylor, who was the team's leading scorer (79 points) as Rochester earned a franchise-record 112 points a year ago, is back for his seventh season with the Amerks... The Marlies begin life as the development team of the Maple Leafs, led by former NHL head coach Paul Maurice... Forward Jeremy Williams and defenseman Ian White are coming off strong rookie AHL seasons... Kyle Wellwood, a 38-goal scorer a year ago, was recalled by the Leafs this morning.

Last year's Calder Cup runner-up, Chicago returns to the ice tonight (7:00 CT) with a visit to Omaha for the debut of the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights... The Knights' roster includes former first-round draft picks Brent Krahn (20-11-2 with six shutouts for Lowell in '04-'05) and Eric Nystrom (son of four-time Stanley Cup champion Bob Nystrom)... Ryan McGill is Omaha's head coach, taking over after a 50-win season in Hartford last year... The Wolves have a decidedly new look in 2005-06, with only eight players on their opening-night roster who skated for them during last year's playoff run... Travis Roche had a plus-25 rating for Chicago last season, second among AHL defensemen... Jim Slater, Atlanta's first-round pick in the 2002 draft, has been assigned to the Wolves after making his NHL debut on Wednesday.

Philadelphia hoisted the Calder Cup on Wachovia Center ice four months ago; this weekend, they begin their title defense in the same rink as they take on Binghamton (7:05 ET, Saturday) and Albany (5:05 ET, Sunday)... The Phantoms were a perfect 11-0 last postseason at the Center, home of the parent NHL Flyers... R.J. Umberger had an outstanding debut for Philadelphia in 2004-05, finishing third in the AHL in rookie scoring with 65 points (21g, 44a)... Philly native Tony Voce netted 22 goals as a rookie last year... Defenseman Alexandre Picard, team MVP for Halifax (QMJHL) last season, made his pro debut in Game 2 of the 2005 Calder Cup Final.

(all times Eastern)

Fri 10/7

Bridgeport at Norfolk, 7:15... Toronto at Rochester, 7:35... Chicago at Omaha, 8:00... Manitoba at Peoria, 8:30... San Antonio at Houston, 8:35

Sat 10/8

Milwaukee at Grand Rapids, 7:00... Manchester at Hartford, 7:00... Rochester at Cleveland, 7:05... Binghamton at Philadelphia, 7:05 (Wachovia Center)... Portland at Springfield, 7:05... Hershey at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05... Bridgeport at Norfolk, 7:15... Albany at Syracuse, 7:30... Manitoba at Peoria, 8:00... Houston at San Antonio, 8:00... Omaha at Iowa, 8:05

Sun 10/9

Wilkes-Barre at Hershey, 5:00... Albany at Philadelphia, 5:05 (Wachovia Center)

Mon 10/10

No games scheduled

Tue 10/11

No games scheduled

ALUMNI WATCH:

Five members of the 2005 AHL All-Rookie Team made their NHL debuts on Wednesday, with Rene Bourque (Chicago) and Chris Campoli (N.Y. Islanders) each scoring a goal... Mike Richards (Philadelphia), Zach Parise (New Jersey), Keith Ballard (Phoenix) and Brett Lebda (Detroit) also scored in their NHL debuts on Wednesday... Three more AHL alumni - Dominic Moore of the N.Y. Rangers and Chris Higgins and Alexander Perezhogin of Montreal - netted their first NHL goals in the Canadiens' 4-3 win on Thursday... A total of 534 AHL graduates began the 2005-06 season in the National Hockey League.

BY THE NUMBERS:

3,769 -- Regular-season games played by the Rochester Americans heading into their 50th season of AHL competition in 2005-06... Only the Hershey Bears, who began play in 1938, have played more (4,891).

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