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Published on January 2, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Binghamton Senators News Release


LAST WEEK: The Senators (11-21-1-2, 25 pts.) were 2-2 last week, including a 5-4 shootout win over Toronto on New Year's Eve.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26th vs. SYRACUSE (4-2 W):

The Crunch jumped out to a 1-0 lead off a Derrick Walser power-play goal. Following a RYAN VESCE slashing call, Walser snapped a wrist shot past KELLY GUARD from just inside the blue line. After twenty-one minutes of scoreless hockey, JOSH HENNESSY buried a short-handed goal to tie the game at 1 apiece. With ANDY HEDLUND in the penalty box on an interference call, HENNESSY smashed a slap shot into the top left corner of the net. HENNESSY struck again, this time on the power play. The 21-year-old blasted a one-timer which was deflected by a Crunch player right back into HENNESSY'S possession. He reloaded and snapped a wrist shot past goalie Dan LaCosta to put the Senators up 2-1. Defenseman ANDY HEDLUND tallied the game-winner at the 16:29 mark of the second period. HEDLUND buried a slap shot through the five hole from the high right post. All three goals for HEDLUND this year have come on the power play. Winger CORY PECKER extended his point streak to five games on Tuesday, as the Montreal native buried an even-strength marker just nineteen seconds after HEDLUND scored his game-winner. After taking the pass from BRIAN MALONEY, PECKER went to the backhand as he crossed in front of the crease to net his seventh tally of the year. The Crunch got the second goal off the stick of Alexandre Picard. Syracuse was working a five-on-three power play when the left winger tapped in a rebound from just outside the crease at 18:52 of the second period. That was as close as the Crunch would get, as goalie KELLY GUARD dominated the third period. The netminder stopped all 14 shot attempts to earn his sixth victory of the season.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29th @ ROCHESTER (5-3 L):

Marek Zagrapan gave the Amerks a 1-0 at 10:33 of the first period. With GRANT POTULNY in the penalty box on a slashing call, Zagrapan buried a power-play marker past KELLY GUARD. Greg Jacina doubled the Amerks lead early in the second stanza. The winger netted a short-handed marker, his second short-hander of the season. Just seconds later, veteran center SERGE PAYER blasted his sixth tally of the year past Amerks' goalie Adam Dennis to make it a 2-1 game. Janis Sprukts and Stefan Meyer collected markers just thirty seconds apart midway through the second period to stretch the Rochester lead to three goals. Newly acquired winger ARPAD MIHALY paid immediate dividends for the Senators, as the 26-year-old buried his first AHL marker this season to bring the Sens' within two goals. JEAN-FRANCOIS DAVID and RYAN VESCE assisted on the tally. Binghamton capitalized on a Martin Lojek hooking call, as defenseman CHARLIE COOK found the back of the net at 7:40 to make it a 4-3 contest. The Senators comeback fell short as Daniel Paille netted the fifth and final Rochester goal with two minutes remaining in the game. RYAN VESCE had two assists on the night, while goalie KELLY GUARD had 21 saves.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30th @ ALBANY (1-2 L):

The first period was dominated by defense and goaltending, as JEFF GLASS turned away seven Albany shots while Tyler Weiman stopped all twelve Binghamton attempts.

The River Rats took advantage of a five-on-three power play, as winger Pat Dwyer buried his tenth marker of the season past GLASS to put Albany on top 1-0.

The Senators responded two minutes later, as defenseman JEAN-FRANCOIS DAVID rifled a one-timer which RYAN VESCE deflected past Weiman to earn his eighth tally of the year. Exactly twenty minutes expired before Angelidis netted the game-winner, an even strength tally, to give the River Rats the 2-1 win. JEFF GLASS had 22 saves in the losing effort, while Tyler Weiman had 32 saves for the River Rats.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31st vs. TORONTO (5-4 W):

The Senators struck on the power play, as defenseman ANDY HEDLUND blasted a one-timer which CHARLIE COOK redirected in front of the net. A waiting GRANT POTULNY snatched the loose puck and curled it past Racine to give the Senators a 1-0 advantage. Toronto quickly took back that goal and added one more, as Erik Westrum and Brett Engelhardt each tallied power-play markers to give the Marlies a 2-1 lead at 5:11 of the second period. JEFF HEEREMA netted his first tally of the night at 8:14 of the second, as the winger snapped a wrist shot from the right slot which bounced off of Racine's chest protector and right back into HEEREMA'S possession. He reloaded and snapped it into the top left shelf past Racine to knot things at 2 apiece. Newly signed defenseman JEAN-FRANCOIS DAVID came into the game with a two-game assist streak, and left the night with his first-career AHL goal. DAVID took a centering pass from BRAIN MALONEY and snapped a wrister off the straight on rush into the pads of Racine. DAVID gathered the rebound and scooped it past the Marlies netminder to give the Senators a one goal advantage. Engelhardt collected his second marker of the night just a minute and a half later, as the winger took a drop pass from Colin Murphy and buried a slap shot past KELLY GUARD to tie the game. HEEREMA closed out the second period scoring with his second tally, as the Thunder Bay native collected a rebound following an ANDY HEDLUND shot and snapped it past Racine from the left slot. The Marlies would not go away, as winger Colin Murphy netted the game-tying goal at 19:23 of the third period to send the game to sudden death. After a scoreless overtime session, the game went into a sudden death shootout. Both team scored in the first round. DANNY BOIS tallied in the third round to put the Senators up 2-1 in the shootout, while David Clouthier tied things up for Toronto in the fourth round.

After being stopped in the third round by Racine, HEEREMA netted the game-winner in the seventh round of the shootout to propel the Senators to their second straight victory at the Arena as they close out 2006 with a win. ANDY HEDLUND finished the game with two assists, as did winger ARTTU LUTTINEN. KELLY GUARD had 31 saves, as the netminder earned his seventh victory of the year.

THIS WEEK: The Senators play two home games, including a re-match with the Toronto Marlies. The Senators welcome the Marlies to the Arena on Friday, Jan. 5 at 7:05 p.m. On Saturday, Jan. 6, the Philadelphia Phantoms are in town for a divisional contest

SCOUTING REPORT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 5th vs. TORONTO (7:05):

The Senators hold a 2-0 advantage in the season series with the Marlies. Binghamton traveled to Toronto on Sunday, Dec. 10 for an afternoon matinee. . Toronto jumped on Binghamton with markers from Chris Harrington and Kris Newbury. The Marlies opened the scoring by making short work of their first power play chance after DANNY BOIS picked up a holding call at the 10:37 of the opening period. Colin Murphy spotted Chris Harrington with a back door centering feed to the right of goaltender JEFF GLASS just 27 seconds into the man advantage. GLASS had no chance as Harrington rifled home his sixth goal of the season, his team-leading fifth on the power play, for a 1-0 lead for Toronto 11:04 into the contest. BOIS picked up a late tripping call in the first period and the carry over power play time into the second allowed the Marlies to double their lead. Defenseman Jaime Sifers spotted Kris Newbury breaking down the right wing early in the second period and his tape-to-tape set-up resulted in Newbury's eighth goal of the year. Binghamton cut the deficit to 2-1 as ANDREW EBBETT was credited with his seventh goal of his rookie campaign. EBBETT'S intended centering pass for GRANT POTULNY from the goal line extended kicked off of Marlie netminder Justin Pogge's stick and snuck between his pads at 12:39. BOIS, who picked up eight minutes in penalties in the contest and was in the box on both Toronto goals, ironically tied the game on the man advantage when he stuffed home a JOSH HENNESSY rebound at 6:40 of the final period to make it 2-2. The game-winner came at 11:28 of the third period, as HENNESSY moved into the Marlies zone before circling a pass back to a trailing JEFF HEEREMA in the slot. HEEREMA teed up a drive that caught a piece of ARTTU LUTTINEN and goaltender Pogge before settling into the back of the net to make it 3-2. Erik Westrum continues to lead the Marlies in points (37) and assists (25), while Brett Engelhardt's 14 markers rank first on the team.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 6th vs. PHILLY (7:05):

The Senators welcome the Phantoms back to the Arena on Saturday night. Philadelphia is 3-0 against the Senators this season, including a shootout win back in October. Forty-five minutes into the contest RYAN VESCE gave the Senators a 1-0 with his seventh marker of the season. Just fourteen seconds later Mark Cullen responded for the Phantoms, as the center buried an even-strength marker to tie the game a 1 apiece. Left winger BRIAN MALONEY found the back of the net at the 8:20 mark to once again give the Senators a one-goal advantage. Defenseman ANDY HEDLUND added his second assist of the night. Defenseman Nolan Baumgartner buried a one-timer past Glass to knot the game at 2 all. Center Pete Zingoni, who collected a natural hat trick on Saturday, Nov. 11 against the Senators, buried the game-winner at 12:46 of the final period. Philadelphia added a late empty-netter to finish off the scoring. JEFF GLASS finished the game with 36 saves. Mark Cullen leads the Phantoms with 23 points (7+16=23), while Tony Voce is right behind with 20 points (7+13=20).

SENS IN THE COMMUNITY: Goaltender Jeff Glass and defenseman Neil Komadoski will visit George F. Johnson elementary school in Endicott on Wednesday, January 3. The third annual Spaghetti On Ice event will take place on Sunday, Jan. 7. Binghamton Senators' players serve as waiters at this event to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

BINGHAMTON HOCKEY HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS:

The Binghamton Hockey Hall of Fame will induct two new members on Saturday, Jan. 6 in a first-intermission ceremony. Defenseman Gary Jaquith (Broome Dusters, 1974-77) and center Brian McReynolds (Binghamton Rangers, 1990-93) will be the 26th and 27th members of the Binghamton Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gary Jaquith - A stalwart blueliner for the final three seasons of the Dusters' existence in the old North American Hockey League, Jaquith combined a hard hitting style with a knack for making good decisions with the puck. A physical presence in a time period where brawls were frequent, his relatively low penalty numbers (391 in NAHL career) magnify the fact that there were few that wished to tangle with him due to his reputation.

Jaquith also terrorized opponents with a fearsome slap shot in totaling 21 goals and 55 assists for 76 points in 191 career NAHL contests.

Brian McReynolds - A bit of an unsung hero on some high-powered Ranger teams of the early 90's, McReynolds played the supporting role to perfection while others basked in the spotlight. Part of three exceptional Binghamton Ranger clubs that picked of two division titles and a second place finish, McReynolds appeared in 204 AHL games with the Rangers between 1990 and 1993. McReynolds ranks in the top ten on the all-time Binghamton AHL list with 140 assists (5th) and 219 points (8th) and is one of only ten players to accrue 200+ points in their Binghamton AHL career. During the Rangers' AHL record-setting 57 win campaign in 1992-93, McReynolds posted a career-best 70 assists and 100 points and was one of five players to hit the 30-goal plateau that year. His 100 points was second only to the 138 by Don Biggs (Class of 2005) which set a new league record.

Jaquith has confirmed that he will be in attendance for Hall of Fame Night and the induction ceremony between the first and second periods Saturday when the Sens battle the Philadelphia Flyers.

McReynolds has not been able to confirm his attendance as of the date of this release.

SENS SNIPPETS: JEFF HEEREMA is 17 points shy of the 300 point plateau. Defenseman JEAN-FRANCOIS DAVID collected his first AHL tally on Sunday in the 5-4 shootout win over Toronto. DAVID has a three-game point streak (1=2=3).

SENS LEADERS:

POINTS: HEEREMA (17+18=35), EBBETT (8+20=28), HENNESSY (12+14=26)

GOALS: HEEREMA (17), HENNESSY (12), BOIS (10)

ASSISTS: EBBETT (20), HEEREMA (18), VESCE (15)

PPG: POTULNY (5)

SHG: HENNESSY (3)

GWG: HENNESSY (3)

WINS: GUARD (7)

GAA: GUARD 3.66

BSENS ON THE AIR: Catch all the action LIVE on Q107 FM, via webcast or B2 Networks streaming video cast at www.binghamtonsenators.com

GET YOUR TICKETS: Tickets are currently on sale for all regular season home games. Tickets cost $16 for side seating and $15 for end seating. Fans can purchase tickets at the following locations: Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena box office (Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 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.binghamtonsenators.com or by calling (607) 722-SENS.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 2, 2007


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