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Barons Weekly Report

March 8, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


Flashback... The Barons broke a string of eight consecutive weeks with a winning record this past week by posting a 0-2-0-2 mark. It all started on Tuesday night when the Barons posted a franchise record 55 shots on net. San Antonio netminder Travis Scott stopped all 55 shots enroute to a 1-0 overtime victory. Seamus Kotyk was solid in net for the Barons stopping 26 shots. A scary moment occurred in the overtime stanza as Kotyk collided with a Rampage forward as they were both trying to get to a loose puck. Kotyk stayed on the ice for several minutes before getting to his feet. He remained in the game, but would miss the next three contests. Jon DiSalvatore recorded a Barons franchise-high 10 shots on net in the game... The Barons kicked off a three-games-in-three-days set against Hamilton on Friday night. The Barons took an early 2-0 lead as they tallied two power play goals on the Bulldogs 4-minute double minor. Hamilton would then score the next two goals to even things up. A fluky goal by Hamilton would give them a 3-2 victory. A floating puck deflected of Marcel Hossa and caromed over Nolan Schaefer. Doug Murray, in his first appearance in eight games, ripped a career-high 9 shots on net, scoring on one. Tavis Hansen, followed Murray's goal with one of his own... On Saturday afternoon, the Rochester Americans came to town. Although it was just approximately 14 hours following the game on Friday night, the Barons featured a completely different lineup. Forwards Brad Boyes and Miroslav Zalesak, the Barons top two scorers, were recalled by San Jose due to an injury to Marco Sturm. Defensemen Matt Carkner and Robert Mulick were injured in Friday night's game and missed the game as well. The Barons did their best with the patch-work lineup and managed a point with an overtime loss to the Americans, 3-2. Grant Stevenson earned the game's third star with a solid game highlighted by a breakaway goal. Jon DiSalvatore scored the Barons second goal. Nolan Schaefer was tested all day as he stopped 27 shots... The worn down Barons then hosted the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on Sunday evening in the third game of the Labatt Blue Cup. Dimitri Patzold made his first start in net for the Barons since being injured on January 4th and looked a bit rusty. Patzold allowed three goals in the first period before being pulled in favor of Nolan Schaefer. Schaefer, playing two periods, stopped 13 out of the 14 shots he faced in his first AHL relief appearance. The Barons tallied their sixth short-handed goal of the season during the game. Marcel Goc grabbed a puck near mid-ice and skated in all alone on a breakaway. His shot was saved by Ilya Bryzgalov, but the rebound floated out to a free Jon DiSalvatore who put the puck away for his 16th goal of the season.

Coming Up... With the Barons completing their seven-game homestand on Sunday, they will travel to Winnipeg to battle the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday and Friday. The Barons and Moose have split the season series, each winning 3 games thus far. The Barons had a breakout game against Manitoba on December 13th, beating the Moose 7-2. In that game, Miroslav Zalesak scored a franchise and career high 5 points on 3 goals and 2 assists. Zalesak then added another hat trick against the Moose on 12/31/03. Five of the six games in the series have decided by three or more goals. Nolan Schaefer was solid in his only performance against Manitoba this season. He posted a win by saving .962 percent of the shots on net. The Barons have outscored the Moose 10-6 in the third period... The Barons will then travel to Chicago for their first matchup of the season with the Chicago Wolves. The Barons have struggled against Chicago in the two previous years. They have combined to go 1-7-0-0 against the 2001-02 AHL Calder Cup Champions. Chicago is currently in third place of the West Division behind Milwaukee and Grand Rapids. They are playing well having gone 6-3-1-0 in their last 10 contests. The Wolves own one of the best home records in the league with an 18-8-3-1 at home. The Barons meanwhile are tied for the least amount of road losses with a 15-8-4-3 record.

Barons Player of the Week... The Cleveland Barons Player of the Week is right wing Jon DiSalvatore. DiSalvatore scored two goals in four games on the week. On Tuesday, the rookie forward managed 10 shots in the 1-0 overtime loss to San Antonio. Those 10 shots are a Barons franchise record. For his efforts, DiSalvatore earned the game's third star. DiSalvatore scored the Barons second goal in the 3-2 overtime loss against the Rochester Americans. He then scored the Barons lone goal against the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on Sunday. It was his second career short-handed goal.

Interesting Statistics Of The Week... The Barons will have nine first year players set career highs in goals, assists, and points. The Barons also already have had several players surpass their career highs. Goals: Zalesak, Mulick, and Moscevsky. Assists: Zalesak, Boyes, Rissmiller, and Carkner. Points: Zalesak, Carkner, and Moscevsky. Several Barons are also on pace to set career highs in these categories. Goals: Boyes. Assists: Fibiger, Mulick, and Moscevsky. Points: Boyes, Rissmiller, Fibiger, Mulick.

Les Cunningham Award Candidates Swimming With Sharks... Miroslav Zalesak and Brad Boyes were recalled by the San Jose Sharks on Saturday morning. They are the only two teammates in the AHL that have 60+ points this season. Their 128 points are the most between a pair of teammates. Manchester's Pavel Rosa and Steve Kelly are the second most productive tandem as they share 115 points. Both Boyes and Zalesak have to be considered for the Les Cunningham Award, given to the league's Most Valuable Player.

It's All In The Name... Garrett Stafford must be strongly considered for Dudley "Red" Garrett Trophy, given annually to the league's most outstanding rookie. If he wins, Stafford would be the first player to share the award's namesake in either his first or last name. The University of New Hampshire product leads all rookie defensemen in points, goals, and assists. Overall among all rookies, the blueliner is fifth in scoring, first in assists, tied for second in power play points, and tied for third in power play assists. Among all defensemen, Stafford is tied for first in points, second in assists, and tied for sixth in goals.

Top Barons... Seamus Kotyk has been stellar between the pipes for the Barons. He is 9-5-1 in his last 15 decisions. In those 15 games, Kotyk owns a 2.25 GAA (34 GA/905:02) and a .935 save percentage (492-526). Kotyk was injured in the first period during his start on 1-2-04 resulting in a no decision. Kotyk's .929 save percentage is ninth in the AHL this season... Nolan Schaefer has bolstered the Barons success by gaining at least one point in 13 of his 17 starts. The team has a winning percentage of .676 by earning 23 of a possible 34 points when Schaefer is in net... Jon DiSalvatore set the Barons franchise record for shots in a game by managing 10 on 3/2/04. He is tied for 11th in rookie scoring with 32 points. Among all rookies, he is tied for 5th in goals (16), tied for 21st in assists (16), and second in shots (156). He has recorded at least one point in the six out of the last eight games with 5 goals and 3 assists. He also has recorded at least one point in 11 out of the last 15 games. During that time, he has recorded 6 goals and 7 assists... Ryane Clowe is another rookie having a great season. Among all rookies, Clowe is 14th in scoring (31), tied for fifth in assists (21), and tied for 10th in plus/minus (+10)... Defenseman Jesse Fibiger has a point in 5 of the last 7 games. During that span, he has 2 goals, 3 assists, and a +5 plus/minus rating...

Up and West... The San Jose Sharks experienced a tumultuous week. The week began well enough with a 4-3 victory in which former Baron Niko Dimitrakos scored his fourth game-winning goal of the season. The four game-winners are tied for the second most among all rookies in the NHL. On Friday night, things took a turn for the worse as Marco Sturm, the second leading scorer, suffered a serious leg injury. The Sharks lost the game to Colorado by a score of 5-1. The injury forced San Jose to recall Miroslav Zalesak and Brad Boyes. With the two prospects in the lineup, the Sharks saw flashes of things to come, as their passing was accentuated. But the Sharks lost by a 4-0 count. Tom Preissing went down with a similar looking injury as Sturm, but was able to skate off the ice as San Jose dodged a bullet. That play sparked five fights throughout the evening. The Sharks will look to turn things around with a three game homestand that begins on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.

Standings... As the race for the playoffs heat up, the North Division grows ever-tighter. The Barons sit in third place, just one point behind Syracuse. Hamilton, meanwhile, has extended their lead in the division to eight points over the Crunch. Toronto and Rochester, tied with 66 points, sit just 4 points behind the Barons... Grand Rapids became the first team to clinch a playoff spot. But their lead in the West Division has closed just a bit. Milwaukee is making a serious run as they have posted a 7-2-1-0 record over the last ten games. Only four points stand in Utah's quest for the final playoff spot in the West Division. Utah is currently in last place of the West... Philadelphia and Bridgeport are tied at the top of the East Division. They hold an eight point lead over Norfolk, who is making a late charge. The Admirals have gone 8-2-0-0 over the last ten games... The largest division lead belongs to the Hartford Wolf Pack, who sits atop the Atlantic Division by 10 points. They have not lost a game in regulation over the last ten contests (6-0-3-1). Meanwhile, Worchester is attempting to better position themselves for the playoff run. The Ice Cats have won three consecutive games and now sit just two points out of second place.

Barons Broadcasts... The game on March 10th can be heard on Fox Sports Radio 1350-AM. All games this season can be heard live by Crashing The Net at www.clevelandbarons.net.



American Hockey League Stories from March 8, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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