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Barons Weekly Report

January 26, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


Flashback... The Barons kicked a 4-games-in-5-days stretch in grand fashion knocking off the Houston Aeros 3-1 on Wednesday night. The Barons controlled much of the game, only allowing 23 shots to the Aeros, who lead the league in shots. After falling into a 1-0 hole, the Barons scored three unanswered goals to knock off the defending AHL champions. Brad Boyes, Tavis Hansen, and Greg Labenski scored the Barons goals. Nolan Schaefer was excellent in net turning away 22 of 23 shots... The Barons won their fourth consecutive game on Friday night against the Houston Aeros by a score of 5-3. The Barons used a 5-goal explosion in the first two periods to put the Aeros away. The Barons were sparked by a goal by Robert Mulick. Mulick, a five-year AHL professional, scored his first AHL goal in his 239th game. The Barons received multi-point games from five players on the night (Boyes (3), Clowe, Hansen, Stafford, and Zalesak). Seamus Kotyk was spectacular in making 40 saves on the night to secure his first home victory of the season... The Barons four-game win streak was snapped in Grand Rapids, as the West Division-leading Griffins defeated them 4-2. Three power play tallies for Grand Rapids put the Baron into a hole that they were not able to dig out of. After closing the deficit to 3-2, the Barons received a 5-minute power play. They couldn't convert and Nathan Robinson added an insurance goal to ice the game for the Griffins... The Barons traveled back to Cleveland to host the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on Sunday evening. The Barons fought hard in tallying a goal in each period to knock off the Mighty Ducks 3-2. The victory gave the Barons a 1-0-0-0 series lead in the "Labatt Blue Cup". Brad Boyes began the night assisting on Miroslav Zalesak's 23rd goal of the season. Boyes then capped the night by receiving a Zalesak pass to put away the game-winning goal. Seamus Kotyk was victorious yet gain for the Barons, stopping 27 shots on the night.

Coming Up... The Barons will get a bit dose of Canada this week. On Tuesday, the Barons will play their fifth game in seven day when they host the Toronto Roadrunners. It is the second time this season that the Barons will play five games in seven days. Roadrunners have given the Barons fits at times this season, as the Barons hold a 1-1-1-1 record against their division foes this season. Twice this season, the Roadrunners have made up 4-1 third-period deficits to send the game to overtime against the Barons. Miroslav Zalesak has been outstanding against the Roadrunners, leading the Barons with 7 points, 3 goals, and 4 assists against Toronto. Each team's power play unit has stepped up in the series. The Barons are converting 27.8% of their power plays against the Roadrunners this season. Toronto, meanwhile, has converted 22.2% against the Barons... The Barons will then visit the St. John's Maple Leafs for back-to-back games in St. John's, Newfoundland. The game will mark a homecoming of sorts for two players. Brad Boyes, a member of the Maple Leafs for the majority of last season, will make his first trip back to the eastern city. Boyes has performed well against his former mates this season, recording 2 goals and 2 assists in the 4 games. Ryane Clowe will actually return home. Clowe, a Newfoundland native, will play in front of his home crowd for the first time in his professional career with the back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday. Clowe has done well for himself against the Maple Leafs recording 2 goals, including a game-winner, and an assist. The Barons have had major success against St. John's in the third period outscoring them 8-5. Nolan Schaefer will look forward to the trip. The last time he faced the Maple Leafs, Schaefer allowed just 1 goal on 43 shots playing much of the game on a sprained knee.

Barons Player of the Week... The Cleveland Barons Player of the Week is center Brad Boyes. In four games, Boyes posted 4 points on 4 goals and 2 assists. Boyes' performance on the power play helped lead the Barons to a 3-1 record on the week. On the power play, Boyes had two goals and one assist. Boyes' week was highlighted by a 2-goal, 1-assist performance in the Barons 5-2 victory over Houston on Friday night. In addition, Boyes led the Barons to a 3-2 victory, and a 1-0 lead in the Labatt Blue Cup, against Cincinnati by scoring the game-winning goal and assisting on the first Barons tally.

Top Barons... Miroslav Zalesak is the AHL leader in the scoring race with 52 points. Zalesak leads Manchester's Pavel Rosa by two points. Zalesak has registered a point in the last 10 Barons home games, the longest current streak in the league. The longest home scoring streak this season is 13 games. League-wide, the Slovakia native is third in goal scoring (23), fourth in assists (29), tied for third in power play points (19), and tied for fourth in power play goals (8). Zalesak will represent the Barons at the 2004 Pepsi AHL All-Star Classic on February 9th at Grand Rapids. He has registered at least one point in 20 out of the last 23 games. Zalesak has recorded a point in 73.3% of the Barons games this season (33/45)... Brad Boyes is hot on the tale of Miroslav Zalesak in scoring. With his 6-point week, Boyes is now just 10 points behind the league leader with 42 points. Boyes is tied for seventh in scoring (42), tied for tenth in assists (25), and tied for eleventh in goals (17)... Seamus Kotyk has been more than steady in between the pipes for the Barons. He is unbeaten in his last seven decisions. In those seven games, Kotyk owns a 6-0-1 record with a 1.84 GAA (13 GA) and a .954 save percentage (270-283). Kotyk was injured in the first period during his start on 1-2-04 resulting in a no decision. During his unbeaten streak, Kotyk's GAA has dropped from 2.58 to 2.30 and his save percentage has risen from .924 to .935. In fact, with a .935 goals against average, Kotyk has the sixth best mark in the AHL... Garrett Stafford has been tremendous as of late and it shows in the league leaders. The rookie defenseman is leading all defensive scorers with 29 points. Amongst defensive scorers, Stafford is tied for third in goals (8) and assists (21), and second in shooting percentage (12.1%). His numbers among rookies are quite impressive as well. Among rookies, Stafford is third in points (29), second in assists (21), and tied for third in power play points (12)... Tomas Plihal has registered a point in 8 of the last 11 games. In those contests, Plihal registered 3 goals and 5 assists. He has also recorded a point in nine of his last thirteen games (3-6=9)... Robert Mulick, a fifth year professional, tallied his first career goal in his 239th career game on Friday night against Houston, snapping the longest scoring drought in the history of the AHL. Mulick added an assist the next night to give him a two-game point-streak. It marked the first time with the Barons that Mulick recorded a point in back-to-back games. With 5 points on the season, Mulick is just one point shy of his career high (6 - 00/01).

Interesting Statistic Of The Week... The Barons have been dominating at home as of late. Besides winning four consecutive home games, the Barons have a few other streaks at home. With a goal in 3 consecutive home games, Brad Boyes has the second longest current streak in the AHL. With an assist in his last four home games, Ryane Clowe is tied for the longest current streak in the AHL. And finally, Miroslav Zalesak has recorded a point in the last 10 home games. That is the longest current streak and the third longest streak all season long.

Transactions... The Sharks reassigned left wing Milan Michalek to the Cleveland Barons on Wednesday night. Michalek was selected by San Jose in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Michalek appeared in two games with the Sharks this season. In his first NHL game, Michalek scored his first NHL goal. During the second contest, Michalek injured his knee and was placed on injured reserved. Michalek is one of three 1st round draft choices on the Barons roster. Brad Boyes (2000, 24th) and Marcel Goc (2001, 20th) were also 1st round selections... Jim Fahey was reassigned to the Barons on Monday night. This marks Fahey's third stint with the Barons this season. Fahey has posted two points (two assists) in 13 games with the Sharks this season, while adding eight penalty minutes and an even plus/minus rating.

Standings... With a 3-1 week, the Cleveland Barons grabbed sole possession of second place in the North Division, just 5 points behind front-running Hamilton. The Barons began the week in fourth place. Hamilton isn't making it easy on the Barons though. They are unbeaten in their last four games... Grand Rapids is unbeaten in 11 straight games. They are 7-0-4-0 in that span. With 62 points this season, the Griffins have compiled the largest divisional lead this season. They currently lead Chicago, who has won four consecutive games, by seven points. The bottom of the division is struggling mightily. Both San Antonio and Utah are winless in the last five games... Philadelphia has dislodged the Bridgeport Sound Tigers from first place in the East Division. The Phantoms are riding a four game win streak. Philadelphia is only holding Bridgeport off by on point and Hershey by four... Lowell has the hot hand in the Atlantic Division. The Lock Monsters have won six consecutive games to get in the playoff hunt. Hartford is leading the Atlantic Division with 58 points.

Up and West... Right wing Jonathan Cheechoo and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff will compete in the NHL YoungStars Game on Saturday, Feb. 7 at Xcel Energy Center that will be telecast live at 5 p.m., by ESPN. Both players have been members of the Barons at one time. Speaking of the All-Star Weekend, Sharks forward Patrick Marleau was selected as a reserve to the Western Conference All-Star squad... Former Barons forward Niko Dimitrakos currently leads the Sharks with a +13 plus/minus rating. Lately, Dimitrakos has provided much more than a sparkling +/-. With his game-winning goal last night against Minnesota, Niko has scored the game-winning goal in the last two Sharks home wins. Combined with his Barons efforts, his +20 mark cannot be touched within the organization... Evgeni Nabokov posted his 5th shutout of the season Saturday night, tying him for second in the NHL. That gives Nabokov 22 career shutouts, bringing him closer to the NHL Milestone of 25. Nabokov is two shutouts shy of tying his single-season high... Todd Harvey And Tom Preissing each posted two assists against Minnesota for their first two-point games of the season. Harvey spent time in Cleveland earlier this season... After starting the season with just one win in their first nine games (1-5-3-0 from Oct. 9-28), the Sharks have roared back to post a 23-8-7-2 record in their past 40 games... San Jose has earned points in 38 of their 50 games this season, including 34 of their last 41.

Barons Broadcasts... Friday and Saturday night's games against St. John's 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.



American Hockey League Stories from January 26, 2004


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