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Barons Weekly Report

January 12, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


Flashback... The Barons faced a dubious task of competing against the top two Western Conference teams on the road this past weekend. After two overtime games, the Barons snatched 3 out of a possible 4 points on the week. On Friday night, the Barons jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead against the Hamilton Bulldogs. Doug Murray scored his third goal of the season. Interestingly, the two assists were also tallied by defensemen Matt Carkner and Garrett Stafford. Hamilton battled back to score the next two goals and take a 2-1 lead. Yuri Moscevsky then scored his second goal of the season to tie the game back up. Being the best in the Western Conference, Hamilton wouldn't go away easily. They scored the next goal to take a 3-2 lead with 12:00 minutes left in the third. The Barons came roaring back for the second time on the night. This time, Miroslav Zalesak would redirect a Jesse Fibiger shot from the point to send the game to overtime tied at 3. In overtime, Garrett Stafford made a great individual effort to seal the victory. Gaining the puck at center ice, Stafford out-skated a Bulldogs defenseman to get an angle on net. Controlling the puck with one hand, Stafford out-muscled the defenseman and lifted a shot over Olivier Michaud to score the game-winning goal... The Barons then bussed to Grand Rapids to take on the West Division leading Griffins on Saturday night. After falling in a 2-0 deficit, the Barons scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead. Grant Stevenson, Doug Murray, and Brad Boyes recorded the goals for the Barons. Grand Rapids, however, would tie the game late in the third period to send the game to overtime. In overtime, Jiri Hudler scored his second goal of the game to clinch a 4-3 overtime victory for the Griffins. Nolan Schaefer, in net for the second consecutive game, had another solid performance in net.

Coming Up... The Barons will again be game-less during the week before concluding their six-game road trip with three games in three days on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Friday night, the Barons will renew their rivalry with the Rochester Americans. On the season, the Barons hold the advantage in the series with a record of 2-1-2-0. Seamus Kotyk has been stellar in three games against Rochester as he has a 1-0-2 record with a 0.95 GAA, a .973 save percentage, and one shutout. Miroslav Zalesak leads the Barons with 4 points against the Americans in five games. On December 20th, these two teams combined for 129 penalty minutes in Rochester's 5-2 victory... The Barons will remain in the Empire State to take on the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday night. The Barons began this road trip in Syracuse, as the Crunch handed the Barons a 6-4 loss. Syracuse scored five goals in the third period to overtake the Barons. Dimitri Patzold began the game in net for the Barons, but was injured in the second period with a 3-1 lead intact. On the season, the Barons are 1-3-0-0 against Syracuse this season. Garrett Stafford has been exceptional against the Crunch in four games this season. In those games, Stafford has scored 3 goals and 4 assists, one goal being the Barons only game-winner against the Crunch. Something will have to give as the Barons have the fewest losses in regulation on the road in the league, while the Crunch have the fewest regulation losses at home in the AHL... The Barons will then finish off their season series with the Hershey Bears on Sunday night. The series with the Bears is the only out-of-conference action for the Barons this season. In their only meeting of the season, Hershey grabbed a 2-1 overtime victory. Miroslav Zalesak scored the Barons lone goal just 17 seconds into the game. Interestingly, every goal scored in the game was scored within the first minute of the respective period. Historically, this series has been dominated by Hershey as the Barons have yet to record a victory in seven tries (0-6-0-1). Hershey has held the Barons to one goal or fewer in 6 of those contests. Pasta Lear's Hitting The Books With The Barons... Dimitri Patzold will join SlapShark at Rocky River Primary School on Monday, January 12th at 1:30pm. Rocky River Primary School was awarded as the Class of the Month as part of the "Pasta Lear's Hitting The Books With The Barons" program. Patzold will lead the Kindergarten class in a coloring session. In addition to the player visit, the entire class will be treated to a pizza party compliments of Pasta Lear's Pizzeria and Deli located on 6310 Engle Road in Brookpark.

Barons Player of the Week... The Cleveland Barons Player of the Week is defenseman Doug Murray. Murray scored a goal each game this week. On Friday night, Murray began the game on a good note for the Barons scoring the contest's first goal. Murray then tallied a power play goal against Grand Rapids on Saturday night. The 6'3", 240-pounder was even for the week and took 6 shots.

Top Barons... Miroslav Zalesak has recorded a point in 15 out of the last 16 games. During that span, Zalesak has recorded 23 points on 13 goals and 10 assists. On the season, Zalesak is tied for second among all AHL scorers with 42 points. His 21 goals are third in the AHL and his 24 assists are tied for fourth in the league. With 16 points on the power play, Zalesak is tied for fourth among all AHL scorers. His 7 power play goals are tied for third... Rookie defenseman Garrett Stafford is making his presence felt. After snapping a season-high five-game pointless streak, Stafford put together a five-game point-streak. In that span, he has recorded eight points in on 2 goals and 6 assists. His 23 points on the season are the fifth most among all AHL defensemen. His 7 goals are tied for second among all defenseman and his 15 assists are tied for seventh. Among all AHL rookies, Stafford ranks first in points by a defenseman, sixth in points overall, and tied for tied for third in assists. Stafford has set a career high with his current five-game point-streak... Second year pro Brad Boyes has recorded at least one point in 7 of the last 8 games. By doing so, Boyes is now tied for 12th among all AHL scorers with 33 points. His 21 assists are tied for 11th in the league. In Boyes' seven multi-point games this season, the Barons have yet to lose a game in regulation with a record of 6-0-0-1... Barons defenseman Matt Carkner leads the team in plus/minus boasting a +11 rating. He is the first player in franchise history to eclipse the +10 plateau. Appearing in 35 games for the Barons this season, Carkner is second among all AHL defensemen in minor penalties with 28. By recording an assist on Friday night, Carkner set a career-high with 6 points. The six assists are also a career high... Marcel Goc recorded a point in five consecutive games before having the streak snapped on Saturday. Goc had 2 goals and 3 assists in that span with a +4 plus/minus. One of Goc's goals was a game-winner... Doug Murray's 2 goals this weekend put him towards the top of a few categories among defensemen. His 4 power play goals are tied for second among AHL defensemen. Meanwhile, his 13.3% shooting percentage is the second best total among blue-liners... Tomas Plihal has registered a point in his last four games. In those games, Plihal has 1 goal and 3 assists. He has also recorded a point in five of his last six games... Yuri Moscevsky has recorded a point in the last two games. He scored his second goal of the season on Friday night. The two goals marks a career high. His three points on the season tie his career high as well.

Interesting Statistic Of The Week... Miroslav Zalesak set a Barons franchise record by recording a goal in five consecutive games from December 31st to January 9th. The five-game goal-streak is tied for the longest span in the AHL this season.

WDOK Breakaway With The Barons... The Cleveland Barons will host the fourth and final WDOK Breakaway With The Barons on Monday, January 12th at Gilmour Academy from 7:15-9:15pm. Admission is free and all high school students and children 14-and-under will receive one complimentary ticket to a future Barons game courtesy of SoftRock 102.1 WDOK. Gilmour Academy is located on the corner of Route 91 and Cedar Road in Gates Mills. Adding to the excitement of "WDOK Breakaway With The Barons" is the "WDOK 1-on-1 With The Barons" promotion. One lucky person will be chosen out of the crowd to receive personal instruction from Cleveland Hockey Legend Jock Callander and four tickets to a future Barons game. Following "WDOK Breakaway With The Barons", Jesse Fibiger and Seamus Kotyk will appear at the Fox and Hound English Pub and Grille courtesy of Labatt Blue. Fox and Hound is located on 1479 S.O.M. Center Road in Mayfield Heights. Kotyk's Classroom... Barons goaltender Seamus Kotyk will team up with Cleveland Hockey Legend Jock Callander and host a "Hockey 101" at Henry Longfellow School. Kotyk and Callander will address the third through fifth grade classes for the program. "Hockey 101" will begin at 2pm At Henry Longfellow which is located on 650 East 140th.

Studying With Stafford... Garrett Stafford will visit the third graders at Redwood Elementary School on Wednesday, January 14th at 1:30pm. Redwood Elementary School is located on 32967 Redwood Blvd in Avon Lake.

Loyns Traded... Left wing Lynn Loyns was traded on Friday to the Calgary Flames for future consideration. Loyns was with the Barons during all 3 seasons that they have been in Cleveland. In his first game with Calgary on Saturday, Loyns recorded a short-handed assist in the Flames loss. In Cleveland, Loyns appeared in 142 games with the Barons over 3 seasons, he scored 21 goals and 26 assists.

Standings... The Barons are amidst a logjam in the North Division. Five points are all that separate second place and sixth place. The Barons fall in fourth place in the division and sixth in the conference. Hamilton still holds first place in the North Division and Western Conference with 51 points... Grand Rapids is in second place of the Western Conference as they sit atop the West Division with 49 points. With a 5-4-1-0 record in the last 10 games, Grand Rapids treading on thin ice as Chicago is making a push. The Wolves are 6-2-2-0 in their last 10 and have moved within 4 points of Grand Rapids. The Houston Aeros have not won a game in eight contests. Fortunately, they have only lost one game in regulation during that time as they are 0-1-6-1... The Bridgeport Sound Tigers continue to lead the AHL with 55 points. Philadelphia and Hershey aren't giving the audio cats much room for comfort as they are tied for second with 49 points. Philadelphia has won four consecutive games... Hartford has not lost a game in 5 chances (4-0-1-0) and lead the Atlantic Division with 50 points. They lead Manchester by 45 points. Up and West... The San Jose Sharks have gained a point in the last 14 home games. On Saturday afternoon, the Sharks extended that streak to 14 with a5-2 win over Atlanta. The game was head coach Ron Wilson's 100th game with the Sharks. 100 was a lucky number that day. Evgeni Nabokov won his 100th game as a Shark. He is the first Sharks goaltender to ever have 100 wins with the organization. Niko Dimitrakos played a huge role in the win scoring the game-winning goal and adding an assist... Dimitrakos has been the best plus/minus man in San Jose organization this season. With the Sharks, Dimitrakos leads the team with a +9 mark. In Cleveland, Niko had a +7 mark. His +16 plus/minus rating overall is the highest mark in the organization... San Jose has increased their first place hold in the Pacific Division to 5 points. Phoenix is trailing San Jose with 46 points on the season in large part due to the recent 5+ games worth of shutout hockey posted by goaltender Brian Boucher. Boucher set a modern-day NHL record with his shutout span... The Sharks will host Dallas and Vancouver this week before traveling to Colorado. Dallas is currently in third place of the Pacific Division with 44 points.

Barons Broadcasts... Friday and Sunday night's games can be heard live on Fox Sports Radio WTOU-1350am. All games this season can be heard live by Crashing The Net at www.clevelandbarons.net.

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