Barons On Three-Game Win Streak

December 1, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


Flashback... The Barons faced a daunting four-games-in-five-days stretch this past week.

It started on Wednesday night as the Barons played host to the Syracuse Crunch. The Crunch prevailed 3-1 as Jon DiSalvatore scored the Barons lone goal. Dimitri Patzold was impressive in net stopping 28 out of 30 in the loss. The Barons would come back strong against St. John's on Friday night. Ryane Clowe, a St. John's native, scored the game-winning goal in the Barons 5-4 victory over the Maple Leafs. Brad Boyes, who played much of last season for St. John's, played his former team for the first time ever. He made them pay by registering a goal and an assist on the night. Miroslav Zalesak continued his electric offensive play by scoring one goal and adding two assists. Dimitri Patzold gained the victory.

The turnover was short, but the Barons wouldn't mind as they hosted the Utah Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon. In fact, the Barons would use Tavis Hansen's short-handed goal as the game-winner trapping the Grizzlies 3-2. Nolan Schaefer made his American Hockey League debut in net and gained the victory. He saved 24 out of 26 shots on the night. Jon DiSalvatore scored the Barons second goal as he recorded a point in three consecutive games. Rookie defenseman Garrett Stafford added the Barons other goal.

The Barons traveled to Rochester on Sunday for their third contest of the season against the Americans. In the previous two games, the Barons and Amerks played to stalemates. The Barons would not settle for a tie on Sunday though as Dimitri Patzold blanked the Americans for a 2-0 victory. Miroslav Zalesak tallied his team-leading 8th goal of the season to put the Barons ahead 1-0. Tavis Hansen sealed the game with an empty net goal. Patzold earned the shutout by posting 40 saves on the night. With the win, the Barons have now gained at least one point in five out of the last six games. Their three-game winning streak is the longest of the year.

Coming Up... The Barons will return to Gund Arena to start a four-game homestand. The Barons will welcome the St. John's Maple Leafs for the second time in four days. St. John's won't stray far from the Gund as the return to play the Barons on Friday night as well. It will be the third meeting between the two teams in a one-week period. The first contest was quite scrappy as the two teams combined to commit 20 penalties. If the Barons find themselves with a number of power plays, it should bode well for them. Cleveland owns the league's 7th best power play and the top home power play percentage in the league. St. John's meanwhile have the second lowest penalty kill rate in the league, although their 4 short-handed goals soften the blow a little. The Barons will then host the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. Hamilton currently leads the North Division with 30 points on the season. Cleveland has battled Hamilton three times this season. The Barons are 1-1-0-1 in those games. The line of Patrick Rissmiller, Miroslav Zalesak, and Brad Boyes has performed well against the Bulldogs. Rissmiller paces the group with 3 goals and 2 assists. Zalesak has 4 assists, and Boyes has 1 goal and 2 assists. The Barons meet the Bulldogs 10 times this season. That is the most games the Barons will play against any team this season.

Barons Player of the Week... The Cleveland Barons Player of the Week is goaltender Dimitri Patzold. Patzold appeared in three out of the four Barons contests on the week and posted a 2-1 record with a .943 save percentage and a 2.01 goals against average. Patzold posted his third shutout of the season with a 40-save performance against Rochester on Sunday. Patzold's three shutouts tie a Barons franchise record for shutouts in a season. Vesa Toskala posted 3 in the 2001-02 season.

Halloran Holiday Skate With The Barons... The inaugural "Halloran Holiday Skate With The Barons" will be held on Sunday, December 7, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Halloran Park. Mayor Jane Campbell will lace up her skates with the entire Barons roster and Cleveland community. The Barons will skate, sign autographs, and take photographs with all fans in attendance. Admission to the event is free to all. Halloran Park is located on West 117th Street and Linnet Avenue in Cleveland. Donations will be accepted to benefit Halloran Park, the only city-funded ice rink in the Greater Cleveland area. Complimentary food and beverages will be available.

Top Barons... The line of Miroslav Zalesak, Brad Boyes, and Patrick Rissmiller were reunited when Rissmiller was reassigned to the Barons on Friday. The trio hasn't missed a step either. In the three games since Rissmiller returned, the Barons are 3-0. Zalesak posted 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points in the 3 games. His game-winner against Rochester on Sunday extended his scoring streak to three games. Boyes is keeping pace as well. In the three games, Boyes has posted 1 goal and 3 assists for four points. Rissmiller has recorded a goal and an assist in his three games since returning. His five-game point streak was snapped on Sunday night... Miroslav Zalesak has been magical this season. Zalesak is tied for fifth in the league in scoring with 8 goals and 14 assists for 22 points. The four players with more points this season all have played in more games than Zalesak. His seven multi-point games this season lead the team as do his 10 points on the power play. His 4 goals and 6 assists on the power play both lead the Barons. The 4 power play goals are tied for fourth in the league... Dimitri Patzold has been stellar since the recall of Seamus Kotyk. Patzold has started 4 games of the Barons 5 games in that span amassing a 3-1 record with a 1.51 goals against average and a .956 goals against average. Patzold has two shutouts in those four games and has lowered his goals against average from 2.98 to 2.41 and raised his save percentage from .906 to .925. His three shutouts on the season are tied for the second-most in the AHL... Nolan Schaefer made his AHL debut on Saturday and made it memorable. By stopping 24 out of 26 shots, the rookie from Providence College, secured the 3-2 victory... Patrick Rissmiller amassed a five-game point streak from 11/2 - 11/29. In the five games, Rissmiller scored 4 goals and added 5 assists. The 5-game streak is the longest by a Barons player this season... Jon DiSalvatore had his three-game point streak snapped on Sunday. DiSalvatore scored the Barons lone goal on Wednesday, assisted on Friday, and scored his first power play goal on Saturday... Barons team captain Tavis Hansen has scored a goal in the last two games. He tallied the game-winner on Saturday with the Barons first short-handed goal of the season. On Sunday, he iced the game with the Barons second empty net goal of the season... Brad Boyes is currently carrying a three-game point streak. Boyes has an assist in each of the games and a total of 1 goal and 3 assists during the span.

Injuries and Transactions... Patrick Rissmiller was reassigned to the Barons on Friday. In four games with San Jose, Rissmiller did not record a point or penalty minute... Jim Fahey was recalled by San Jose on Saturday night. In five games with the Barons, Fahey recorded four assists... Dan Watson was recalled from Columbus of the UHL in response to the Fahey recall. Watson played with the Barons on Sunday recording a +1 plus/minus rating... Willie Levesque was reassigned to Johnstown of the ECHL on Saturday... Jesse Fibiger is still out of action with an injury.

Pigskin On The Pond II... The Cleveland Barons and Cleveland Browns will host "Pigskin on the Pond II", an event designed to raise money for Cleveland Barons Charities and the Cleveland Browns Foundation, on Friday, December 5th at 7:00pm at Gund Arena. For the second consecutive season, two dollars from every ticket sold to "Pigskin on the Pond II" will be split and donated to the Cleveland Browns Foundation and Cleveland Barons Charities. In addition, the Cleveland Barons will donate tickets to the Cleveland Browns Foundation for their Dream Seats program. The Barons will wear an alternate sweater for the special event. The sweater will be solid brown with white numbering and triple white and orange stripes on the sleeves. Several Cleveland Browns alumni are expected to attend, including: Herman Arvie, Issac Booth, Jamie Caleb, Ben Davis, Ricky Feacher, Judson Flint, Herman Fontenot, Jim Houston, Dante Lavelli, Cleo Miller, Sam Palumbo, and Sam Tidmore.

Rink Buddies... Miroslav Zalesak, Jon DiSalvatore, and Doug Murray will visit the Thorton Park Ice Rink from 7:15-8:15pm on Monday, December 1st as part of the "Rink Buddies" program. Each month, members of the Barons visit a local rink and skate with the public. Thorton Park Ice Rink is located on 20701 Farnsleigh Road in Shaker Heights.

Standings... With the three consecutive wins this week, the Barons have moved into a fourth-place tie with Syracuse with 22 points in the North Division. The Barons own the second-best winning percentage in the division with their 8-5-3-3 record, but have played in the second least amount of games in the AHL. Hamilton is still perched atop the North with 30 points. In the West Division, the Grand Rapids Griffins have secured first place by accumulating a six game unbeaten streak. They are 5-0-1-0 in that time... In the East Division of the Eastern Conference, Bridgeport is beginning to close on Hershey for the first place slot. Bridgeport is unbeaten in the last 13 games posting a 12-0-1-0 record during that time. They are one point behind Hershey for the Division lead. Hartford, with only one loss on home ice, leads the Atlantic Division with 27 points.

Up and West... San Jose has won five consecutive games and have a 7-game unbeaten streak. By gaining at least one point in 14 out of the last 15 games, the Sharks are currently tied for first place in the Pacific Division with 26 points... The streak has been made possible in large part due to the Barons bunch. Vesa Toskala, who spent the last two seasons with the Barons, is second in the league with a .936 save percentage. On the season, Toskala has posted a 5-1-3 record. Toskala is currently backed-up by Seamus Kotyk, who began the season with Cleveland. Niko Dimitrakos has been integral in the Sharks success as well. In back-to-back games this week, the recently recalled Dimitrakos recorded the game-winning assist. He leads the team with a +6 plus/minus rating. In 11 games with the Sharks, Niko has 2 goals and 5 assists. Jonathan Cheechoo, former AHL All-Star with the Barons, is fifth on the team with 11 points. His 6 goals are fourth-best on the Sharks roster. Christian Ehrhoff, the rookie defenseman who spent time in Cleveland this season, has 1 goal and 4 assists in 10 games as well as an impressive +2 plus/minus. Rob Davison has appeared in 22 games for the Sharks giving the team added grit and toughness. His 51 minutes in penalties lead the team. Also on the Sharks roster are Todd Harvey and Jim Fahey who each played with the Barons this season... San Jose faces a difficult schedule this week playing at Calgary on Tuesday, before returning home to face Colorado on Thursday and Dallas on Saturday. Dallas sits in a second-place tie in the Pacific, just one point behind the Sharks. Colorado boasts one of the most explosive offenses in the league as Teemu Selanne will return to San Jose for the second time this season. Calgary features on of the brightest young talents in the game in Jarome Iginla.



American Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2003


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