AHL Successful Springboard for Rookies
February 13, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... As the top development league for the NHL, the American Hockey League is always home to the top young players in the sport. But the best of the youngest - AHL rookies - traditionally turn a successful campaign here into a springboard to National Hockey League stardom.
First-year pros Patrick O'Sullivan and Roman Voloshenko have been vital to the Houston Aeros' success this season. O'Sullivan, who turned 21 earlier this month, leads all AHL rookies with 28 goals and 55 points, while Voloshenko, the 19-year-old wing from Belarus, is second with 24 goals this season, including a rookie-best 13 on the power play.
Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf tore up the AHL during their six-week stay with Portland earlier this season, but fellow rookie Ryan Shannon has continued to shine for the Pirates, leading first-year AHL'ers with 38 assists and placing second with a team-best 54 points in just 43 games. Shannon, whose breakaway goal in the 2006 CCM AHL All-Star Skills Competition made highlight reels across North America, also ranks second on the Pirates with a plus-11 rating.
Steve Bernier, San Jose's first-round draft pick in 2003, has tallied 42 points in 44 games for Cleveland while adding a goal and four assists in 13 NHL games with the Sharks this season. Josh Hennessy, selected in the second round that year by San Jose, is Cleveland's top scorer with 45 points and has skated in all 56 games for the Barons. Additionally, Cornell product Mike Iggulden's development has taken him from undrafted training-camp invitee to his first NHL contract with the Sharks in four short months.
Eastern Conference leader Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has the league's top-ranked defense thanks to first-year blueliners Noah Welch, Andy Schneider and Ryan Lannon. In Hershey, Eric Fehr is the first Bears rookie in 13 years to top the 20-goal mark. Forwards Nigel Dawes and Colby Genoway, defenseman Daniel Girardi and goalie Al Montoya have Hartford charging toward the playoffs, and division foe Manchester boasts the top two AHL rookies in plus/minus in Jeff Tambellini and Richard Petiot.
Tambellini joins fellow rookies Yan Stastny of Iowa, Ben Walter of Providence and Chris Bourque of Hershey with strong family ties: their dads - Steve Tambellini, Peter Stastny, Ryan Walter and Ray Bourque - all had long successful careers in the NHL.
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American Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2006
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