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October 11, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... An exciting beginning to the American Hockey League's 70th season saw some big offensive performances as the long road to the 2006 Calder Cup championship got underway.

The season opened with a bang on Wednesday night, as second-year pro Erik Christensen set a franchise record with four goals in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 8-1 victory over Bridgeport. The Penguins were an impressive 4-for-6 on the power play in the game, with defenseman Ryan Whitney setting up all four goals on the man advantage. Wilkes-Barre, which had never previously opened a season with two straight wins, would improve to 3-0-0-0 by adding weekend victories in a home-and-home sweep of the Hershey Bears.

The Peoria Rivermen are also off to a 3-0-0-0 start, opening their first AHL season with three one-goal victories in three nights. The Rivermen spoiled the Iowa Stars' inaugural home opener with a 5-4 win on Thursday, then headed home to the Carver Arena and swept a pair of meetings from the Manitoba Moose, 4-3 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday. Peter Sejna paced the Peoria offense with four goals and three assists, while Mike Glumac added two goals and three assists.

The Rochester Americans began their 50th season with a pair of wins, including a wild 8-5 decision over the first-year Toronto Marlies on Friday night. Derek Roy had a five-point night (2g, 3a) for the Amerks, while Rochester's partial affiliation with the Florida Panthers paid immediate dividends as Anthony Stewart (1g, 2a), Greg Campbell (1g, 1a), Greg Jacina (1g), Kamil Kreps (1a) and Dan Focht (1a) all found the scoresheet, while Jean-Marc Pelletier made 26 saves for his 97th career AHL win.

Roman Voloshenko became the youngest player in franchise history to register a hat trick when he scored three times in Houston's 6-5 win over San Antonio on Friday night. Voloshenko, 19, was a second-round draft pick by the Minnesota Wild in 2004. Aeros captain Kirby Law had a career-best five points (2g, 3a) in the victory.

Nineteen different players recorded at least three points in an AHL game last week, including Peoria's Peter Sejna, Bridgeport's Rob Collins and Norfolk's Mark Cullen, who had two such efforts apiece.

Three teams - Hamilton, Lowell and Providence - have yet to hit the ice in 2005-06. All three see their first action of the season at home on Friday night.

WOLF PACK RETIRE #12

New Hartford Wolf Pack assistant coach Ken Gernander had his number 12 retired by the club and raised to the Civic Center rafters in a ceremony before Saturday night's season opener. Gernander, 36, hung up his skates in July as the AHL's all-time leading scorer among U.S.-born players, and the league's all-time leader in Calder Cup Playoff games played.

Gernander served as the Wolf Pack's captain from the team's inception in 1997 through his retirement, leading the club to the Calder Cup championship in 2000. He played in three AHL All-Star Games in his career, and was a two-time winner of the Fred T. Hunt Award for sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.

ROSTER REVIEW

The 27 AHL team rosters submitted to the league office by last Wednesday's deadline included 659 players, from Abel (B.J.) to Zion (Jonathan). The average age of an AHL player to start the 2005-06 season was 24 years and 2 months; the youngest player in the league is 18-year-old Albany forward Nicklas Bergfors, New Jersey's first-round pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft who was born on Mar. 7, 1987. Bergfors was one of 12 teenagers on opening-night rosters in the AHL, and part of a group of 445 players (67.5 percent) under the age of 25.

ALUMNI OFF TO QUICK START

The first week of the NHL's 2005-06 featured standout performances by several American Hockey League alumni, including the appearance of 155 payers who skated in the AHL last season. Last Wednesday, with all 30 NHL clubs in action on opening night, five of the six members of the 2005 AHL All-Rookie Team made their NHL debuts: Carolina goaltender Cam Ward, N.Y. Islanders defenseman Chris Campoli, Ottawa forward Brandon Bochenski, Chicago forward Rene Bourque and Buffalo forward Thomas Vanek.

Jason Spezza, who won the AHL scoring title and MVP award last season, has seven points in three games for Ottawa, ranking second in the NHL only to former AHL All-Star Marc Savard of Atlanta.

ETC. ... A total of 145 goals were scored in the AHL's first 20 games last week, an average of 7.25 goals per game; the league averaged 5.35 goals per game over the 2004-05 season... Jiri Hudler had two goals and two assists to lead Grand Rapids to a 6-3 win over Milwaukee on Saturday before 10,834 fans, the 10th straight opening-night sellout at Van Andel Arena... Chicago defenseman Mark Popovic, who scored one goal in 74 regular-season games in 2004-05, had a goal and an assist in his Wolves debut on Friday; Scott Barney, who sat out 2004-05 due to injury, had three points (1g, 2a) for Chicago... Brent Krahn made 36 saves on Saturday night, shutting out Iowa, 1-0, for the first victory in Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights franchise history... On Sunday, J.F. Fortin scored three power-play goals in Hershey's 4-3 shootout loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton... Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was recalled by Pittsburgh before the game... Albany's Cam Janssen scored in Sunday's 4-2 loss to Philadelphia, his first goal since Oct. 15, 2004... Springfield opened the newly-renovated MassMutual Center with a 4-2 win over Portland on Saturday night... After Saturday's come-from-behind 4-3 win over Manchester, Hartford is now 7-0-1 in its last eight season-openers... Rochester was a perfect 19-for-19 killing penalties in its first two games... For each team's regular-season home opener, the home club's captain is wearing a jersey featuring a specially created Red Cross patch; these jerseys will be autographed and auctioned off to benefit the American Red Cross's hurricane relief efforts.

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