B-Sens weekly

Published on January 24, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Binghamton Senators News Release


LAST WEEK: The Binghamton Senators went undefeated for the third straight week and now hold first place in the East Division by three points over the Philadelphia Phantoms.

FRIDAY, JAN. 21ST vs. MANCHESTER (4-1 W): Manchester looked like the team with the league's best record and three of the AHL's top five scorers when former B-Sen Brad Smyth got the Monarchs on the board first with a power-play goal at 3:35 of the first period. But the Senators league-leading power play put them ahead in the second period with man advantage goals by JASON SPEZZA and ANTOINE VERMETTE. Rookie scoring leader BRANDON BOCHENSKI also scored to give the Sens a 3-1 lead at the second intermission. JOSH LANGFELD scored a power-play insurance goal late in the third period with DENIS HAMEL earning an assist to push his point scoring streak to eight games. RAY EMERY stopped 23 shots to win his fourth straight game. Binghamton's power play scored on 3 of 7 opportunities while holding Manchester to 1 goal on 6 chances.

SATURDAY, JAN. 22ND vs. ST JOHN'S @ Corel Centre – Ottawa, ON (4-3 W): A crowd of 14,210 saw Binghamton and St. John's trade power-play goals in the first period of the AHL Battle of Ontario. JASON SPEZZA started the scoring at 11:43 of the period on a blast that ricocheted off of a Maple Leafs defenseman. DAVID LING knotted the score at one when he scored a five-on-three power-play goal with BRIAN McGRATTAN in the box for a five-minute high sticking major and CHRISTOPH SCHUBERT joining him for a cross checking penalty. The Senators would go on to build a 4-1 lead on goals by SPEZZA, CHRIS KELLY and JOSH LANGFELD. But St. John's almost came back to tie the game with KYLE WELLWOOD and MATT STAJAN scoring only 22 seconds a part with less than two minutes remaining in the game. RAY EMERY won his fifth straight game – tying an AHL career high – by stopping 25 of 28 shots by the Maple Leafs. Binghamton's power play was 1 for 4 while St. John's converted on 1 of 5 opportunities.

SUNDAY, JAN. 23RD @ HERSHEY (5-3 W): A ten hour bus ride in a snowstorm could not cool down the B-Sens who beat Hershey 5-3 on Sunday evening to push their franchise-record winning streak to eight games. Binghamton allowed the first goal for a third straight game, but the trio of JASON SPEZZA (2g, 2a), BRANDON BOCHENSKI (1g, 2a) and ANTON VOLCHENKOV (1g, 2a) led the Senators to victory. Rookie winger DANNY BOIS tied the game with his second professional goal at 12:53 of the first period. SPEZZA scored late in the first and VOLCHENKOV early in the second to put the Senators up 3-1. Former B-Sen JEFF ULMER scored to pull Hershey within a goal but BRANDON BOCHENSKI and SPEZZA scored power-play goals to give Binghamton the win. Senators goalie BILLY THOMPSON won his seventh straight game – a franchise record – by stopping 29 of 32 shots. Binghamton's special teams were effective again scoring on 2 of 6 chances while holding Hershey to 1 goal on 8 power plays.

THIS WEEK: The Senators will play three of four games at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena this week. The Providence Bruins will make their only appearance in Binghamton on Wednesday. The Senators will then head to Rochester for the first of three games in three days. Albany will be at the arena on Saturday and Syracuse visits for the last time this season on Sunday.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 26TH vs. PROVIDENCE (7:05 p.m.): Season ticket holders can use one of the vouchers in their season ticket book to bring a guest to Wednesday's game. It is also Press & Sun-Bulletin Score 4 Pack night. 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs and 4 sodas are only $51.

The Senators and Bruins met twice last year with the home team winning each game. No player had more than one point in the series last season. Providence begins the week 20-16-2-6. Their 48 points are good only for fifth place in the deep Atlantic Division.

Winger ANDY HILBERT leads the Bruins with 46 points (21g, 25a).

FRIDAY, JAN. 28TH @ ROCHESTER (7:35 p.m.): The Senators will play their second game of the season in Rochester on Friday. ANTOINE VERMETTE scored in overtime in the only previous meeting at Blue Cross Arena on Nov. 26. The Senators hold a 10-3-3-2 advantage in the all-time series against the Americans. DENIS HAMEL leads the way for Binghamton in the series against his former team with eight points (2g, 6a). Rookie THOMAS VANEK, who played alongside Senator GRANT POTULNY last season at the University of Minnesota, leads Rochester with seven points (3g, 4a) in four games. Binghamton has been one of the few teams this season to give goalie RYAN MILLER trouble. MILLER has a 1-2-0 record and a 5.02 goals-against average against the B-Sens despite a 22-11-5 record which includes five shutouts and a 2.21 GAA.

SATURDAY, JAN. 29TH vs. ALBANY (7:05 p.m.): New York State Lottery giveaway – The first 500 fans ages 18 and older to enter the arena will be given lottery ticket vouchers.

Binghamton struggled early in the season against the River Rats and lost their first three games against the East Division rivals. But the Senators won the last two games 8-2 and 6-2 and have not lost a home game since beating Albany on Dec. 22. JASON SPEZZA (3g, 4a) and ANTOINE VERMETTE (1g, 6a) lead the series scoring for Binghamton while ALEKSANDRE SUGLOBOV leads Albany with seven points (4g, 3a) in five games thanks in large part to a four-point performance (2g, 2a) on opening night.

SUNDAY, JAN. 30TH vs. SYRACUSE (5:05 p.m.): Post-game skate with the players sponsored by Step Up Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. The B-Sens will skate with fans at the conclusion of the game. It is also mascot broomball night as the mascots of Greater Binghamton will engage in an on-ice game of broomeball during the first intermission.

The Senators are a perfect 5-0-0-0 against Syracuse this season and have scored four goals in each game. JASON SPEZZA has nine points (3g, 6a) in five games to pace the Senators while forward JOE MOTZKO has six points (1g, 5a) in five games for Syracuse. Binghamton is 12-7-2-0 all-time against the Crunch.

SENS SNIPPETS: Binghamton has won a franchise record eight straight games. Their opponents during the winning streak have a combined record of 166-94-17-18 and an average of 52.4 points in the standings. If the season were to end today only two of the seven teams faced during the streak (Syracuse and Hershey) would not make the playoffs....Binghamton has also won a franchise-record nine straight home games and have not lost at home since a 1-0 setback on Dec. 18 to St. John's...BILLY THOMPSON'S franchise-record winning streak grew to seven games on Sunday in Hershey. THOMPSON has a goals-against average of 2.14 during the winning streak. RAY EMERY has played well in net recently too and has won five straight games. His goals-against average is 1.60 during that stretch...With an assist on Sunday, DENIS HAMEL extended his AHL career high point streak to 10 games (7g, 10a).

SENS IN THE COMMUNITY: DENIS HAMEL and CHRISTOPH SCHUBERT will read with Barb Phillips' third grade class at Clayton Avenue Elementary School in Vestal on Tuesday, Jan. 25. The players will arrive at the school at 1:30 p.m.

PRACTICE & GAME SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 24th (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):

Monday, Jan. 24 Off Day

Tuesday, Jan. 25 10:30 a.m. (tentative) Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

Wednesday, Jan. 26 10 a.m. (Pre-game skate) Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

7:05 p.m. Providence @ Binghamton

Thursday, Jan. 27 10 a.m. Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

Friday, Jan. 28 7:35 p.m. Blue Cross Arena

Binghamton @ Rochester

Saturday, Jan. 29 10 a.m. (tentative pre-game skate) Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

7:05 p.m. Albany @ Binghamton

Sunday, Jan. 30 5:05 p.m. Syracuse @ Binghamton

B-SENS ON THE AIR: All Binghamton Senators games are broadcast live on 680-WINR, a Clear Channel station. Fans can also access the broadcasts online at www.binghamtonsenators.com. Tune in 30 minutes prior to faceoff for Countdown to Faceoff with the voice of the Binghamton Senators, Grady Whittenburg.

GET YOUR TICKETS: Tickets remain on sale for each of the B-Sens remaining regular season home games. Tickets are $15 for the sides and $14 for the ends. Fans can purchase tickets at the following locations: Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena box office (Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday, 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.), Binghamton Senators executive office, third floor of the arena (Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and on game days until the end of the second period.), www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (607) 722-SENS.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 24, 2005


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