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AHL's 67th Opener a Success

October 14, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MA ... The American Hockey League began its 67th season this past weekend with 22 games in 16 different cities, and an average of 6,812 fans per game filled AHL arenas to support their favorite clubs.

On Friday night, the league returned to Binghamton, N.Y., with the first-year Senators pulling out a thrilling 5-4 overtime decision over the defending Eastern Conference champion Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the first AHL game at the Broome County Arena since April 1997. Defenseman Brian Pothier netted the game-winner just 47 seconds into OT.

A crowd of 14,031 turned out on Saturday night for the Chicago Wolves' home opener against Cincinnati. The Wolves raised their 2002 Calder Cup championship banner to the Allstate Arena rafters before downing the Mighty Ducks, 7-4, on the strength of a five-goal third period. Andreas Karlsson dished out four assists for Chicago, which is looking to become the first team to successfully defend its AHL crown since the 1990-91 Springfield Indians.

Also on Saturday, a sold-out Van Andel Arena (10,834) ushered in the Detroit Red Wings affiliation era in Grand Rapids. The Cleveland Barons spoiled the party, however, scoring four times in the final 10:10 of the game to earn a 6-4 victory. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ran their streak of consecutive sellouts at the First Union Arena to 62 games with capacity crowds on Thursday and Saturday, while the Manchester Monarchs (9,893) and Lowell Lock Monsters (6,875) each sold out their end of a weekend home-and-home series between the rivals.

ROOKIES RULE THE AHL ROOST ... A bumper crop of rookies has already begun to make an impression on the American Hockey League in 2002-03.

Binghamton's Jason Spezza, the second overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, recorded a goal and two assists in his professional regular-season debut for the Senators on Friday. Spezza, 19, added his second goal in as many nights on Saturday.

Toronto's first-round pick in the 2000 draft, Brad Boyes picked up his first two goals as a pro to help St. John's to a 7-3 win over Albany on Saturday. The 20-year-old Boyes is coming off a season in which he recorded 118 points in 68 combined regular-season and playoff games for Erie of the OHL.

Yanick Lehoux scored a pair of goals in Manchester's 6-3 win over Lowell on Saturday after netting his first pro goal the night before. Lehoux, 20, recorded 293 points (including playoffs) over his final two seasons of junior hockey at Baie-Comeau (2000-02).

Milwaukee forward Darren Haydar, the nation's second-leading scorer at the University of New Hampshire in 2001-02, dished out three assists in Saturday's season-opening 6-2 win over San Antonio, while former Yale standout Jeff Hamilton picked up a goal and two assists in the opening weekend for Bridgeport. Colby Armstrong, a first-round draftee by Pittsburgh in 2001, scored a pair of power play goals in his professional debut for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday.

In net, Ryan Miller, the Hobey Baker Award winner as the top player in U.S. collegiate hockey in 2001, stopped 38 of 41 shots (.927) in two outings for Rochester, while Jason Bacashihua made a league-high 47 saves in Utah's 3-1 loss to Houston on Saturday.

AHL GRADS MAKING NHL DEBUTS ... As the National Hockey League dropped the puck on its 86th season last week, several AHL graduates got the chance to make their first NHL impressions.

Former AHL All-Rookie Team selections Jonathan Cheechoo (2001) and Ron Hainsey (2002) began the season in the NHL, making their debuts with San Jose and Montreal, respectively. The New York Rangers' Jamie Lundmark also skated in his first NHL games after finishing among the AHL's rookie scoring leaders last season.

After five seasons in the AHL, Shawn Thornton made his first appearance in the NHL last week, and even picked up an assist in Chicago's 3-0 win over Buffalo on Sunday, while fifth-year pro Jeff Paul made his NHL debut for Colorado on Wednesday. Also skating for the Avalanche in Wednesday's opener was Steve Brule, a four-time 30-goal scorer and a veteran of 469 games in the AHL. It was the first regular-season NHL contest for the 1995 Calder Cup champion, but thanks to a single appearance with New Jersey in the 2000 playoffs, Brule already can boast a Stanley Cup championship also.

ETC. ... Juraj Kolnik scored the first goal in San Antonio Rampage history on Saturday night, less than 24 hours after being acquired by the Florida Panthers from the N.Y. Islanders in a trade for Sven Butenschon... Matt Herr scored the game-winning goal in both of Providence's weekend victories at Saint John... Derek Armstrong, AHL MVP in 2000-01 and MVP of the 2000 Calder Cup Playoffs, recorded a hat trick for Manchester in Saturday's 6-3 win over Lowell... Lock Monsters blueliner Ed Hill picked up an assist on Saturday for his first career AHL point after going scoreless in 37 contests last year... Norfolk defenseman Burke Henry, a Calder Cup champion with Hartford in 2000, scored his first goal since April 1, 2001, in Saturday's win over Bridgeport... Cincinnati's Peter Podhradsky also netted a goal on Saturday after going scoreless in 2001-02... Grand Rapids was the only team in the AHL to go through the entire 2001-02 season without losing a game they had led after two periods (35-0-4); they are already 0-1-0 this year after Cleveland's comeback win on Saturday... Philadelphia's Neil Little became the 16th goaltender in AHL history to reach 150 career victories with a 1-0 overtime win over Rochester on Saturday... Albany's road winless streak hit 22 games (0-13-5-4) with Friday's 2-2 tie at Rochester... After Friday's 4-2 loss to Hartford, Springfield is winless (0-6-2) in its last eight season openers... When Binghamton held Bridgeport without a shot on goal in the third period on Friday, it was the first time an AHL team was held shotless in a regular-season period since Portland blanked Lowell in the third on Dec. 15, 1999.

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