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Barons Game Notes - January 21

January 21, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Oklahoma City Barons News Release


Oklahoma City Barons (23-16-2-4) at Rockford Icehogs (19-16-1-4)

Game 46 | Road Game 22 | AHL Game 661

Jan. 21, 2011, 7:05 pm CST | Rockford MetroCentre, Rockford, IL

Broadcast: KXY 96.1 FM

TONIGHT: The Barons meet the Rockford Icehogs (Chicago Blackhawks) in the next-to-last game of a 7-game road trip. OKC is 4-1-0-0 in the first 5 games of the trip. Last night's 4-3 shootout win at Milwaukee moved the Barons into a third-place tie with Houston in the West Division, 3 points out of first. This is the fourth of six meetings between the Barons and Icehogs and the third this month. The teams split as pair of games in OKC Jan. 1-2. The Barons prevailed 6-5 in overtime in the first meeting of the year Dec. 11 in the only prior meeting in Rockford.

HELMER NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Bryan Helmer was named on Monday the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday. He's the second Baron to be so honored, as Linus Omark received the award for Nov. 1-7, which included his 5-goal game against Toronto Nov. 7. Helmer had 3 goals, 3 assists and was a +5 in 3 games last week. On Jan. 13 he surpassed John Slaney as the AHL's all-time leading point scorer among defenseman when he collected No. 520.

MORE HELMER: Signed to a PTO Jan. 7 after not playing professionally earlier this season, Helmer has 11 points in 8 games played with OKC. He points in 6 of the 8 games. His 4 goals are the second-most on the club among defensemen behind current Edmonton Oiler Jeff Petry's 7. Already the league's all-time point and assist leader among defensemen and games-played leader (with 138) among players at any position in Calder Cup action, the next milestone in sight for Helmer is 1,000 games in the league. Tonight will be his 991st AHL game dating to 1993. If he plays each scheduled game, he will hit No. 1,000 on Feb. 18 against Abbotsford in a game played at Scotiabank Saddledome, home of the Calgary Flames. The first of OKC's 2-game set with the Heat is in Calgary as part of the NHL Heritage Classic festivities. The Heritage Classic outdoor game is set for Feb. 20 at Calgary's McMahon Stadium between the Flames and Montreal Canadiens.

GIROUX EXTENDS STREAK: All-Star captain Alexandre Giroux enters tonight's game with points in 3 straight (3 points) and 6 of the last 7, totaling 7 goals and 6 assists in that span. In January, Giroux leads the AHL in scoring with 15 points (7G, 8 A). For the season, Giroux's 49 points are second-most in the league behind Binghamton' Corey Locke (55). Giroux remains tied with OKC's Colin McDonald for the second-most goals in the league with 20, trailing the 21 tallies by Chicago's Nigel Dawes, Connecticut's Jeremy Williams and Charlotte's Jerome Samson.

TEEMU NEAR THE TOP: With points in 5 of the last 6 games (1G, 8A), Teemu Hartikainen has moved into a 3-way tie for second in the AHL in rookie scoring with 30 points. Bridgeport's Rhett Rakhshani, currently with the Islanders, leads with 32 AHL points. Hartikainen is +7 in the last 6 games.

JANUARY JUMP: The Barons are 6-3-1-0 in January. They went 4-5-0-3 in December. OKC has won 5 of its last 6 after winning 5 of 15 immediately prior.

ODDS AND ENDS: Milan Kytnar had his first professional 2-goal game last night while linemates Philippe Cornet and Teemu Hartikainen each registered 2 assists...Brad Moran is 10th in the AHL in scoring with 38 points...the Barons lead the AHL in power play opportunities with 245 and have the second-most power play goals (48) behind Chicago's 49...Shawn Belle returned to the lineup last night after missing the first 4 games of the trip with an upper body injury...Johan Motin has missed 3 straight with an upper body injury...Anthony Aiello scored his first AHL goal last night with a power play tally early in the third period...last night was Aiello's third game since arriving from Stockton.

Last 5 games:

Date Opp. Result OKC Goalie (GA,SV) Opp. Goalie Attn.

Jan. 13 @ Peoria W, 7-2 Gerber (2, 25) Allen (7, 26) 4,146

Jan. 14 @ Peoria W, 4-1 Deslauriers (1, 33) Bishop (4, 22) 4,947

Jan. 15 @ SA W, 2-0 Gerber (0, 18) Climie (1, EN, 24) 9,920

Jan. 18 @ LE L, 1-3 Deslauriers (3, 24) Grahame (1, 24) 3,087

Jan. 20 @ Mil W, 4-3 (SO) Gerber (3, 20) Dekanich (3, 30) 2,826

Next 5 games (all times Central):

Date Opp. Site Time Broadcast

Jan. 23 @ Chicago Allstate Arena 3:00 KXY 96.1 FM

Jan. 26 Chicago Cox Center 7:05 KTOK AM 1000

Jan. 28 Texas Cox Center 6:05 KXY 96.1 FM

Jan. 29 Chicago Cox Center 7:05 KXY 96.1 FM

Feb. 3 Peoria Cox Center 7:05 KXY 96.1 FM



American Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2011


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