Albany Devils Weekly

Published on October 9, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release


FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS WEEK

The Albany Devils open the 2012-13 season against the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday (5:05 p.m.) at Times Union Center. The game marks the beginning of the Devils third season playing in Albany. They had spent four years (2006- 09) in Lowell, Mass. before relocating to the Capital Region in 2010.

In 2011-12, the Devils went 31-34-6-5 (73 pts.) overall and posted a 18-13-4-3 record at Times Union Center. Their home winning percentage of .566 ranks second all-time in franchise history. The team posted a .600 percentage during the 2006-07 season. The Devils have finished with a .500 or better home winning percentage in three of the last four seasons.

Saturday's game features the AHL affiliates of the New Jersey Devils and the Los Angeles Kings, who faced off in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. Adam Henrique, Jacob Josefson, Adam Larsson and Tim Sestito all played during New Jersey's playoff run, while Andrei Loktionov, Jordan Nolan and Slava Voynov dressed for Los Angeles. Devils newcomer Scott Parse was on LA's roster for the entire season and appeared in nine games.

Bobby Butler, Matthew Corrente, Adam Henrique, Jacob Josefson, Adam Larsson, Jay Leach, Scott Parse, Tim Sestito, Mattias Tedenby, Alexander Urbom, Chad Wiseman and Steve Zalewski are all Devils with NHL experience. Tedenby leads the group with 101 career games, while Butler is second with 94 and Henrique is third with 75. Larsson is the only player that hasn't appeared in an AHL contest.

The Devils return six of their top eight scorers from last season. Joe Whitney and Steve Zalewski led the team with 44 and 41 points, respectively. Whitney contributed 15 goals and club-best 29 assists in 72 games, while Zalewski posted a team-high 19 goals and 22 assists in 69 outings. Eric Gelinas, who tied for the league lead in goals scored by a defenseman with 16, posted 37 points (16g-21a). Matt Anderson registered 31 points (10g-21a) and Mike Sislo tallied 27 points (9g-18a). Darcy Zajac was next with 24 points (8g-16a).

DEVILS NOTABLES

- The Albany Devils held training camp between Sept. 28 and Oct. 7 at AmeriHealth Pavilion in Newark, N.J. Twenty-six of the 36 players who participated appeared in at least one game for Albany last season.

- Devils Head Coach Rick Kowalsky is entering his third season with Albany after spending four seasons as head coach of the ECHL's Trenton franchise. He is joined by returning assistant coach Tommy Albelin, who is in his third season with Albany and fifth year as a member of the organization's coaching staff. Dave Caruso, who played for the organization for four seasons, was named the team's goaltending coach in September.

- The Devils training camp roster includes 16 players who were drafted by New Jersey: J.S. Berube (205th, 2008), Brandon Burlon (52nd, 2008), Maxime Clermont (174th, 2010), Matthew Corrente (30th, 2006), Jeff Frazee (38th, 2005), Eric Gelinas (54th, 2009), Adam Henrique (82nd, 2008), Mike Hoeffel (57th, 2007), Jacob Josefson (20th, 2009), Adam Larsson (4th, 2011), Corbin McPherson (87th, 2007), Mattias Tedenby (24th, 2008), Alexander Urbom (73rd, 2009), Scott Wedgewood (84th, 2012), David Wohlberg (172nd, 2008), Harry Young (202nd, 2008).

- Nine players on the training camp roster have never played a game for Albany. Adam Larsson and Scott Wedgewood are both New Jersey Devils draft picks. Bobby Butler was signed as a free agent on Aug. 9...Alexandre Carrier was signed as a free agent by Albany on Aug. 7...Philip DeSimone was signed as a free agent by Albany on Aug. 7...Raman Hrabarenka was signed as a free agent by Albany on Oct. 7...Chris McKelvie was signed as a free agent by Albany on Aug. 22...Scott Parse was signed as a free agent by Albany on Sept. 26...Harri Pesonen was signed as a free agent on June 15.

- Albany has four AHL All-Stars on its roster: Jeff Frazee (2009), Matt Anderson (2011), Bobby Butler (2011, Binghamton) and Alexander Urbom (2012).

- The Devils training camp roster includes players from Belarus (1) Canada (12), Finland (1), Sweden (4) and the United States (18). New York state is well represented with seven players.

- All-time, the Devils are 0-4-1-1 in season-openers and 2-4-0-0 in home-openers.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

- The Manchester Monarchs finished eighth in the Eastern Conference last season with a 39-32-2-3 record (83 pts.) and earned a spot in the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs. They faced the eventual champions, the Norfolk Admirals, in the first round and lost the best- of-five series, 3-1.

- Brandon Kozun is the Monarchs top returning scorer. In 2011-12, he posted 46 points (20g-26a), and finished behind Justin Azevedo, who had 50 points (28g-22a). Linden Vey and Marc-Andre Cliche also return after finishing third and fourth on the team with 43 points (19g-24a) and 41 points (17g-24a), respectively.

- Martin Jones is the lone returning netminder. Last year, he was 18-17-2 with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

- Mark Morris is the team's head coach. He is in his sixth season with Manchester and holds the franchise record for regular season wins (253) and playoff victories (22).



American Hockey League Stories from October 9, 2012


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