AHL American Hockey League

AHL Ready to Drop Puck on Second Half

Published on January 21, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


CROSSOVER SKINNY... The AHL's 2010 Calder Cup Playoff format calls for the top four teams in each division to qualify, with one possible exception: Since a league-high eight teams reside in the Atlantic Division, the fifth-place team in the Atlantic will cross over and compete in the East Division playoffs if it finishes with more points than the fourth-place club in the East.

Further, if that fifth-place Atlantic squad ends up with more points than the East's third-place club, the Atlantic team would square off with the East's second-place team in round one, and the East's third-place club would draw the East Division champion.

RIDING THE WAVE... Hershey's Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux are not only the top two overall scorers in the AHL, they also each bring impressive scoring streaks into the post-All-Star break portion of the schedule.

Both forwards have a point in 11 straight games for the Bears, the longest scoring streaks in the league this season. Aucoin shows 8-15-23 totals during his scoring streak, while Giroux - who put up five points (3-2-5) in last Friday's 10-4 win at Albany - is 9-9-18 during his 11-game surge.

ALL-STARS MOVING UP... Just two days after the conclusion of the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic, three participants in the event have been recalled to the National Hockey League. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Dustin Jeffrey, Bridgeport defenseman Dustin Kohn and Hershey defenseman John Carlson were all summoned by their parent clubs on Thursday.

Jeffrey, who tallied a goal and two assists during Canada's four-goal rally in the third period of Tuesday's AHL All-Star Game, appeared in 14 games for Pittsburgh as a rookie last season. Kohn, a third-year pro and former second-round draft choice, is looking to skate in his first career NHL game for the N.Y. Islanders. And Carlson has earned his third recall of the season by Washington, where he has played five games to date.

ETC.... AHL teams combined to score 232 goals in 35 games last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, an average of 6.63 goals per contest... Springfield's Chad Wiseman set an AHL season high with six points (4-2-6) in a 6-3 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday, the most in an AHL game since Jiri Tlusty put up six for Toronto on Mar. 4, 2009... Worcester rookie Logan Couture tallied game-winning goals on back-to-back days last weekend and has a league-leading eight game-winners on the season... Lowell defenseman Rob Davison, who entered the season with five goals in 402 career AHL and NHL games, has scored four times for the Devils this year, and all four have been game-winners... Chicago defenseman Arturs Kulda leads the league with his plus-29 rating, and has been even or better in 27 of his 29 games played under coaches Don Lever and Ron Wilson... Milwaukee's Chris Mueller posted five points (3-2-5), including his first two career multiple-point showings, and a plus-5 rating in the Admirals' pair of victories at Manitoba last weekend... Under the direction of new head coach Jim Johnson, Norfolk embarks on a seven-game Northeast road trip this weekend with games in Springfield, Manchester and Lowell... Hershey has a net total of just seven goals against while shorthanded this season, allowing a league-low 17 power-play goals and scoring 10 shorties... Beginning Friday, Syracuse will play 23 of its final 37 games on home ice... Last year's Calder Cup finalists clash for their second two-game set of the month when Manitoba visits Hershey this weekend; the Bears captured a pair of wins in Winnipeg on Jan. 8-9... Teams that score first this season pick up at least one standings point 76 percent of the time (444-120-29-32).

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American Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2010


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