Sports stats



AHL American Hockey League

AHL weekly update

November 21, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... Reviving a relationship that brought a Calder Cup to Chocolatetown in 1980, the Hershey Bears have kicked off their new affiliation with the Washington Capitals with a terrific start to the 2005-06 season.

After failing to make the Calder Cup Playoffs in 2004 and 2005 - only the third time in the Bears' storied history without postseasons in back-to-back years - Hershey has opened its 68th season with a record of 10-3-2-3, including a point in 10 consecutive outings (6-0-2-2) after a most impressive weekend.

The Bears' power-play unit exploded for 11 goals in two games, including a remarkable performance in a 7-2 win over arch-rival Philadelphia on Saturday night, Hershey's largest margin of victory in the 109-game all-time series between the clubs. The Bears scored all seven of their goals with the man advantage, and outshot the Phantoms 49-18 on the night. Coincidentally, Hershey was also the last AHL team to score seven power-play goals in a game, during a 10-3 playoff victory over Kentucky on Apr. 22, 1998. (The feat was last accomplished in the regular season by Kentucky on Oct. 4, 1997, in an 11-6 win over Cincinnati.)

The Bears then scored four more times up a man in Sunday's 5-1 win over Rochester, the fourth time this season Hershey has scored at least that many power-play goals in a game. They currently sit fourth in the AHL with a 24.1 percent efficiency, netting 39 PPG in 18 games. Not to be outdone, the Bears' penalty killers are third-best in the league, checking in at 88.0 percent.

Eric Fehr, a first-round pick by the Capitals in 2003, shares the AHL scoring lead among rookies with a team-best 19 points (8g, 11a) in 18 games, and has scored a power-play goal in five straight contests. Graham Mink, whose career best was a 22-goal campaign in Portland in 2002-03, leads the club with 12 goals already in 2005-06. Lawrence Nycholat, an AHL All-Star in 2005, is one point off the league scoring lead among defensemen with 16 points.

Rookie blueliner Mike Green, another former first-rounder by Washington (2004), is one of six Bears to be recalled this season, a group that also includes current Capitals Tomas Fleischmann, Brooks Laich, Jakub Klepis and Nolan Yonkman. Frederic Cassivi, who made his Caps debut on Nov. 11, is 4-1-1 in his last six decisions in the Hershey net.

First-year Bears bench boss Bruce Boudreau, three shy of 250 career wins as an AHL head coach, leads his charges back into action on Wednesday night when Cleveland visits the Giant Center. The Bears then meet Norfolk in a home-and-home series over the weekend.

PENGUINS TIE AHL MARK ... With a little help from the overtime-loss standings adjustment made by the AHL in 1995, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have matched an all-time league mark for consecutive games at the start of a season recording a point in the standings. The Penguins' only loss of the season, a 4-3 setback to Springfield on Nov. 4, came in overtime, giving them a 16-0-1-0 record and 33 of a possible 34 points in the standings.

The 1994-95 Portland Pirates began that year unbeaten through 17 games with 14 wins and three ties en route to a 104-point season, still a franchise record.

Wilkes-Barre will try to extend its streak on Wednesday night when Providence visits the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. The Penguins then take aim at another AHL record - longest road winning streak (13) - as they put an 11-game run (dating back to last year) on the line in Rochester and Binghamton over the weekend.

SLANEY CLOSING IN ... Philadelphia captain John Slaney raised his career total to 448 points last week, six shy of surpassing Steve Kraftcheck as the highest-scoring defenseman in American Hockey League history. Kraftcheck, a veteran of 13 AHL seasons between 1949-64, recorded 453 points (67 goals, 386 assists) in 839 games.

LONG SHOOTERS ... A pair of 12-round shootouts over the weekend marked the longest such events in the AHL so far this season. On Saturday night, Kevin Nastiuk, who had stopped just two of nine attempts in his two previous shootouts for Lowell, went 10-for-12 to help the Lock Monsters defeat Manchester and end the Monarchs' four-game winning streak. Sunday, Eric Healey's goal in the 12th round gave Providence a victory over Albany, the Bruins' first win in seven one-goal decisions this year.

In two-plus seasons of use in the AHL (1986-87 and 2004- ), the longest shootout was a 16-round affair between Cleveland and Utah on Dec. 3, 2004.

ETC. ... Portland rookie Nathan Marsters ran his record to 7-0-0 with 41 saves in a 5-3 win over Hartford on Sunday... Grand Rapids forward Jiri Hudler's scoring streak ended at 14 games when he was held without a point on Friday... Wilkes-Barre's Michel Ouellet ran his own streak to 12 games (9g, 14a) with an assist on an empty-net goal in Bridgeport on Sunday... Philadelphia's Pat Kavanagh has scored eight goals in his last eight games... Eric Nystrom, the 10th overall pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, scored in back-to-back games for Omaha last week, his first two professional goals... Bruce Graham, a second-round pick by the N.Y. Rangers in 2004, netted his first two AHL goals in Friday's 6-4 Hartford win over Bridgeport... Nicklas Bergfors, the youngest player in the AHL at 18 years, eight months, recorded two goals and an assist in Albany's 6-3 win over Binghamton on Saturday... The Senators' Kelly Guard earned his first two professional shutouts over the weekend, blanking Toronto and Springfield... Tuomas Tarkki, the fifth goaltender to start a game for Chicago this season, won both of his outings over the weekend... Manchester has won 10 games this season: four in overtime, three in a shootout and three in regulation... Houston kicks off a four-game homestand on Friday; the Aeros are 13-1-1-3 in their last 18 regular-season games at the Toyota Center... Grand Rapids scored 12 third-period goals in four games last week, all wins... Four AHL graduates - Kurtis Foster, Barry Tallackson, Brooks Laich and Brian McGrattan - scored their first career NHL goals on Saturday night.

Check out the American Hockey League Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central