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January 9, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


In Sunday's AHL action, forward Serge Payer notched a career-high four points (2-2-4) and goaltender Nolan Schaefer picked up his fourth shutout as Houston blanked Iowa, 5-0... Philadelphia received goals from six different players on its way to a 6-2 win over Bridgeport... Jean-Guy Trudel scored twice and added and assist to lead Peoria past Quad City, 4-3... Hamilton scored five unanswered goals in a 5-1 win at Lake Erie.

Sun 1/6

PHILADELPHIA 6, Bridgeport 2

Hamilton 5, LAKE ERIE 1

HOUSTON 5, Iowa 0

PEORIA 4, Quad City 3

Mon 1/7

No games scheduled

Tue 1/8

No games scheduled

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LOOKING AHEAD:

Portland seeks to take over second place in the Atlantic Division when it travels to the Arena at Harbor Yard to face Bridgeport on Wednesday... The Pirates (21-13-2-2) are just 7-9-1-1 on the road this season but took a 3-2 victory at Bridgeport exactly a month ago, on Dec. 9... Portland center Geoff Platt has a team-high 19 goals (19-15-34) and has lit the lamp in 12 of 20 games since joining the Pirates on Nov. 16, including three multiple-goal efforts... Petteri Wirtanen is riding a four-game scoring streak (1-4-5), and Brian Salcido still ranks second among AHL defensemen with 31 points (8-23-31) despite a season-long six-game scoreless streak... Sound Tigers winger Jeff Tambellini has a goal in seven straight games (9-4-13), the longest such streak in the AHL since since last January... Tambellini has also scored goals in 11 of his last 12 contests (15-5-20) and ranks second in the league with 22 tallies on the season (22-19-41).

Hamilton is 4-1-0-0 in its last five outings heading into a home contest against Binghamton at Copps Coliseum on Wednesday... The Bulldogs are welcoming back goaltender Carey Price and forward Kyle Chipchura, both members of the Bulldogs' 2007 Calder Cup championship squad who were reassigned to Hamilton this week by parent-club Montreal... As a 19-year-old, Price was named MVP of the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs after going 15-6 with a 2.06 GAA, .936 save percentage and two shutouts in 22 games last spring... Selected fifth overall in the 2005 NHL draft, Price won his NHL debut on Oct. 10 and has posted a 2.90 GAA in 19 games for the Canadiens this season (9-7-3)... Chipchura has notched 11 points (4-7-11) in 36 games for Montreal... Second-year pro Matt D'Agostini, also a Calder Cup champion last year, has a four-game scoring streak (1-4-5) and has three points (2-1-3) in two games against the Senators this season... Binghamton, which is concluding a three-game road swing, is led by winger Niko Dimitrakos' 26 points (11-15-26).

Manitoba takes its four-game winning streak to Texas for four contests in a six-day span, beginning with a school-day matinee in Hosuton on Thursday... Rookie Michael Grabner, selected 14th overall by Vancouver in the 2006 NHL draft, has goals in five of his last six games (6-1-7) and a team-high 13 on the season (13-11-24)... Grabner's 24 points are in a three-way tie for the club lead with Colby Genoway (9-15-24) and Brad Moran (8-16-24)... Goaltender Drew MacIntyre has stopped 46 of 48 shots (.958) over his last two games... Manitoba has outscored opponents 45-27 in the third period and has a league-high five wins when trailing after 40 minutes (5-11-1-0)... Houston center Serge Payer has a goal in three of his last four games (4-2-6), and defenseman Erik Reitz has a team-high 23 points overall (7-16-23)... Goaltender Nolan Schaefer is 11-3-0 with a 1.83 GAA and four shutouts since Nov. 30, including a pair of wins over the Moose in Winnipeg last month.

(all times Eastern)

Wed 1/9

Norfolk @ Hershey, 7:00

Philadelphia @ Lowell, 7:05

Albany @ Manchester, 7:05

Lake Erie @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05

Portland @ Bridgeport, 7:30

Binghamton @ Hamilton, 7:30

Iowa @ Chicago, 8:00

Grand Rapids @ Quad City, 8:05

Thu 1/10

Manitoba @ Houston, 12:05

Toronto @ Milwaukee, 8:00

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ALUMNI WATCH:

On Tuesday, 2005 first-round draft pick Jack Skille notched his first career NHL goal and added an assist in Chicago's 4-3 overtime loss to Montreal... Skille has 16 points (8-8-16) in 33 AHL games for Rockford this season... Kris Versteeg, who is tied for second on Rockford with 29 points (9-20-29), also scored for the Blackhawks... Also Tuesday, Joel Perrault and 2007 AHL All-Star Keith Yandle notched goals as Phoenix defeated Calgary, 3-1, for its fifth straight win.

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BY THE NUMBERS:

0 -- Lifetime wins by the Albany River Rats in Manchester... The Monarchs have posted eight straight victories and a tie against the River Rats at the Verizon Wireless Arena, where the teams will meet on Wednesday.

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AHL ON B2 NETWORKS:

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

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American Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2008


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