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February 15, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


LOOKING BACK: On Tuesday night, Jason King scored a pair of goals as Manitoba defeated Grand Rapids, 5-3, handing the Griffins just their fourth regulation loss on home ice all season (21-4-1-2).

Mon 2/13 No games scheduled

Tue 2/14 Manitoba 5, GRAND RAPIDS 3

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LOOKING AHEAD: Toronto visits Hamilton on Wednesday for another installment of the AHL's Battle of Ontario (7:30 ET, Rogers Sportsnet East/Ontario, XM Radio)... The Marlies have won five of the first eight meetings between the clubs, including three straight victories at Copps Coliseum... J.F. Racine, who was injured early in Toronto's game against Binghamton on Saturday, is 5-1-0 (1.74, .934) against the Bulldogs this season; J.S. Aubin is 0-2-0 (4.89, .861)... Hamilton's AHL All-Star forward Corey Locke leads all scorers with nine points in the season series (2g, 7a), while Brad Winchester has five goals in four games against Toronto... The Marlies currently sit in the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division; the Bulldogs have 26 games remaining to make up 15 points.

Winners of four in a row and with a 15-4-1-1 record since Christmas, Bridgeport entertains Hershey in an East Division clash on Wednesday (7:05 ET)... The Sound Tigers are in the middle of a stretch in which they play 13 of 17 games at home, but they will then finish the regular season with 12 of 16 on the road... Sean Bergenheim has recorded seven points (4g, 3a), including two shorthanded goals, and a plus-5 rating in Bridgeport's last three games... Rookie Jeremy Colliton has two goals and seven assists vs. the Bears in 2005-06, earning a point on 60 percent of the Sound Tigers' 15 goals in the season series... Fourteen different Hershey players have scored against Bridgeport this year, led by Joey Tenute and Dave Steckel with three each.

Lowell drops by Portland on Wednesday (7:05 ET) for the eighth meeting of the year between the New England rivals... The Pirates, 4-1-1-0 in their last six games, are holding tight to first place in the Atlantic Division and have received Dustin Penner (53 points, league-leading +26 rating in just 34 games) back from Anaheim as the NHL heads into its Olympic break... Keith Aucoin, whose 55 points are nearly double the total of Lowell's second-highest scorer, has racked up 12 points in seven games against Portland this season... The Lock Monsters are without All-Star goaltender Vitaly Kolesnik, who is representing Kazakhstan at the Olympics in Turin.

(all times Eastern) Wed 2/15 Wilkes-Barre at Albany, 7:00... Syracuse vs. Binghamton, 7:05 (at Utica, N.Y.)... Hershey at Bridgeport, 7:05... Houston at Cleveland, 7:05... Lowell at Portland, 7:05... Manchester at Norfolk, 7:15... Toronto at Hamilton, 7:30... San Antonio at Milwaukee, 8:00

Thu 2/16 Grand Rapids at Cleveland, 7:05... San Antonio at Omaha, 8:00

Fri 2/17 Hartford at Albany, 7:00... Hamilton at Grand Rapids, 7:00... Chicago at Philadelphia, 7:05 (at Wachovia Center)... Portland at Providence, 7:05... Manchester at Norfolk, 7:15... Syracuse at Toronto, 7:30... Wilkes-Barre at Lowell, 7:35... Binghamton at Rochester, 7:35... Bridgeport at Springfield, 7:35... Manitoba at Milwaukee, 8:00... Houston at Iowa, 8:05... San Antonio at Peoria, 8:30

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ALUMNI WATCH: 1999 AHL All-Star Martin St. Louis recorded a goal and an assist to help Canada begin its gold-medal defense with a 7-2 win over host Italy as the men's hockey tournament got underway in Turin on Wednesday... At the Olympic break, two former AHL All-Stars - Eric Staal and Marc Savard - find themselves in the top six in NHL scoring... Two-time AHL All-Star Miikka Kiprusoff leads the NHL in wins (29) and shutouts (six).

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BY THE NUMBERS: 10 -- Teams currently on pace to reach 100 points in the standings: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (121), Grand Rapids (116), Houston (112), Milwaukee (109), Portland (108), Manchester (107), Hershey (105), Manitoba (104), Hartford (100) and Syracuse (100).

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AHL ON B2 NETWORKS: B2 Networks brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts of nearly every AHL game... Visit theahl.com for details.

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