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AHL Season Enters Stretch Run

Published on February 5, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MA ... With the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic now in the rear-view mirror, the American Hockey League returns to regular season action this week and continues up the road to the Calder Cup 2003 Playoffs.

Among the 43 games on the schedule for the rest of the week are the Syracuse Crunch's second annual trip to Columbus, home of the parent Blue Jackets. The Crunch will host Ohio's two AHL teams, the Cleveland Barons and the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, at Nationwide Arena this weekend.

The Hamilton Bulldogs and Houston Aeros, both conference finalists a year ago, are the front-runners entering the final two months of the season. The Bulldogs (37-8-4-4) own a 30-point lead over Manitoba in the Canadian Division and a 14-point cushion for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bulldogs need to win 20 of their final 27 games to match the league record of 57 victories in one season, and 42 of a possible 54 points (.778) to equal the mark of 124 points. The Aeros, 18-2-3-0 in their last 23 games, sit 19 points clear of Utah atop the West Division.

The Binghamton Senators took over first place in the East Division on the strength of an 8-0-2-0 streak to end January. The Providence Bruins are first in the North Division thanks largely to an outstanding 19-3-3-1 record on home ice, including a current franchise-record 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2-0) at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

Grand Rapids continues to be the cream of the Central Division crop, holding a 17-point lead over second-place Rochester coming out of the All-Star break. And Norfolk's defense of their South Division title has been successful so far, as the Admirals are seven points ahead of rival Hershey.

Although the battle for playoff positioning came down to the 1,080th and final game in 2001-02, all but one of the 20 teams who sat in the top 10 in each conference at the All-Star break last year went on to qualify for the postseason, and four of the six teams who were in first place at the break held on to win their division.

ALL-STAR RECORDS FALL ... While it wasn't the offensive explosion of a year earlier, the Canadian All-Stars' 10-7 victory over the PlanetUSA All-Stars at the 2003 AHL All-Star Game in Portland provided a few new entries for the event's record book.

With a goal and two assists, Philadelphia defenseman John Slaney became the league's all-time All-Star leading scorer with eight points in four career games. PlanetUSA's Peter Ferraro and Andy Hilbert scored 14 seconds apart, the fastest two goals by one team in event history. Never had there been more than one power play goal in a single AHL All-Star Game; Canada was 2-for-2 with the man advantage on Monday. And Trent Hunter and John Tripp each recorded five shots on goal in one period, tying the mark held by three others.

Binghamton's Ray Emery stopped all nine shots he faced to earn the victory and become the first goaltender since Corey Schwab in the 1995 event to post a scoreless third period.

BARONS TAKE OVER AIRWAVES ... The Cleveland Barons will be taking over SportsTalk 850 (WKNR-AM)'s morning drive show this Friday, February 7, from 6-9 a.m. Barons broadcaster Jamie Smock and team president Michael T. Lehr will be hosting the program, which will focus on the sport of ice hockey. Scheduled guests include Barons rookie standout Niko Dimitrakos, AHL president Dave Andrews and Hockey Hall of Famer and three-time AHL MVP Johnny Bower.

SportsTalk 850 can be heard live via cybercast at SportsTalkCleveland.com.

STIRLING EFFORT ... Goaltender Scott Stirling posted 32 saves on Friday night to backstop Bridgeport to a 4-1 victory over Worcester. The win had added meaning for Stirling's father Steve, the head coach of the Sound Tigers. Other recent father-son combos in the American Hockey League include head coach John and forward David Cunniff in Albany (1997-2000) and head coach Paulin and forward Sebastien Bordeleau in Fredericton (1995-97).

OFF THE ICE ... Former AHL coach of the year Floyd Smith, who led the Cincinnati Swords to the 1973 Calder Cup championship, will be among the first inductees into the Cincinnati Hockey Hall of Fame on Feb. 15... The Philadelphia Phantoms raised $6,500 for the Children's Miracle Network during the third annual Helping Hands Auction... An annual "At Your Service" dinner last week raised more than $20,000 for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins/United Way charity fund.

ETC. ... Brad Smyth became the 65th member of the AHL's 500-point club when he scored the overtime game-winner in Binghamton's 4-3 victory over Syracuse on Friday night... In his first game back after missing 21 with a broken foot, Shane Willis scored three goals and added an assist in Springfield's 5-4 win over Providence on Saturday... Manitoba defenseman Justin Kurtz snapped a 24-game drought with four goals in four games last week... Garett Bembridge's penalty shot goal for Saint John on Saturday night was the first by a Flames player at Harbour Station since current NHL'er Cory Stillman converted on Apr. 5, 1994... Chicago's Simon Gamache led all AHL players in scoring during the month of January with 24 points (11g, 13a) in 16 games... Chris Mason of San Antonio was 5-1-2 with a 1.36 GAA and .955 save percentage in January... Long-time AHL player and coach Joe Paterson has been named assistant to Geoff Ward with the Hamilton Bulldogs.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2003


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