Barons Weekly Report

March 15, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


Magic Number... The Cleveland Barons magic number to clinch a berth in the AHL playoffs now stands at 20 points. Any time the Barons gain a win, tie, or overtime loss, and every time the 6th place team (currently St. John's) loses in regulation or has a game go into overtime, the magic number is decreased.

Flashback... Nolan Schaefer started the week off with his first career AHL shutout. Unfortunately for the Barons, Moose goaltender Alex Auld was up to the task and blanked the Barons as well. The scoreless tie was the first in the history of the Barons. Schaefer and Auld were two of six goaltenders who posted a shutout on Wednesday... The Barons met the Moose on Friday night and fell 5-1. Miroslav Zalesak, in his first game back from a two-game recall with the Sharks, scored his 31st goal of the season. Barons leading rookie scorers, Garrett Stafford (40 points) and Jon DiSalvatore (35 points) assisted on the goal. Following Zalesak's goal, the Moose scored 4 unanswered goals... On Saturday night, the Barons played their first game against the Chicago Wolves. After falling in a 4 goal deficit, the Barons battled back but ran out of time falling 4-2. Brent Kelly scored his first goal as a Cleveland Baron. Goaltender Dimitri Patzold was credited with one of the assists, his first point as a professional. Patzold was kept busy as he faced 38 shots on the night. Christian Ehrhoff, in his second game with the Barons following his reassignment from the Sharks, assisted on Jon DiSalvatore's goal.

Coming Up... The Cleveland Barons will host the division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day, at 7pm at Gund Arena. The Barons are 3-4-0-1 against the Bulldogs on the season series. Four of the eight games in the series have been decided by just one goal. Three of the remaining four games have been separated by two goals. Miroslav Zalesak has performed well against the Bulldogs this season recording 10 points, the most by any player in the series, in 8 games. Patrick Rissmiller owns 4 goals and 4 assists in his 8 games against the Bulldogs this season... The Barons will then head south for a weekend set against intra-state rival Cincinnati as the Labatt Blue Cup heads to the Queen City for the first time this season. The Barons lead the Labatt Blue Cup points standings with a 2-1-0-0 record against the Mighty Ducks. The Barons have been led by solid third period play against the Mighty Ducks. The Barons have outscored them 4-1 in the third stanza this season. The third period is the best stanza of play for the Barons as they have a +12 goal differential in the all-important final period.

Barons Player of the Week... The Cleveland Barons Player of the Week is right wing Jon DiSalvatore. DiSalvatore was named the Barons Player of the Week for the second consecutive time. On the week, DiSalvatore recorded one goal and one assist in three games.

Les Cunningham Award Candidate ... Miroslav Zalesak has been the model of consistency for the AHL this season. Zalesak has missed a total of three AHL games due to a two-game call up to the Sharks. Zalesak has recorded a point in 71.4% of the games he has appeared in (45/63). Currently, his 69 points are third in the AHL, his 31 goals are second, his 38 assists are tied for sixth, and his 11 power play goals are tied for fourth.

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 and assists and is tied for 2nd in goals. Overall among all rookies, the blueliner is sixth 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 third in points, third in assists, and tied for eighth 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 14 of his 19 starts. The team has a winning percentage of .632 by earning 24 of a possible 38 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 10th in rookie scoring with 35 points. Among all rookies, he is tied for 5th in goals (17), tied for 19th in assists (16), and second in shots (156). He has recorded at least one point in the eight out of the last eleven games with 6 goals and 4 assists. He also has recorded at least one point in 13 out of the last 18 games. During that time, he has recorded 7 goals and 8 assists... Ryane Clowe is another rookie having a great season. Among all rookies, Clowe is 13th in scoring (32), tied for fifth in assists (22), and tied for 14th in plus/minus (+9)...

Cleveland Clinic Visit... Garrett Stafford and Tomas Plihal will visit the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital on Tuesday, March 16th from 2-4pm. The players will visit with a group of 100 children from the hospital.

Kiss Me – I'm SlapShark... SlapShark, the Barons mascot, will walk in the annual Cleveland St. Patrick's Day Parade. SlapShark will have a busy day as he will be home in time for the Barons game against Hamilton.

Up and West... The Sharks own a three-point lead in the Pacific Division over the Dallas Stars. The Sharks are coming off a 3-1 win over division and state rival Los Angeles. Nils Ekman, Alyn McCauley and Alex Korolyuk are all riding three-game points streaks, with Ekman posting multiple points in each contest. In addition, Ekman has 18 points in the last 18 games... Jason Marshall made his Sharks debut against Los Angeles and played 14:45 on the afternoon... With four games this week, the Sharks will keep busy. The week begins on Tuesday when the Sharks battle the second place Stars. In total, three of the four games will be against divisional rivals.

Standings... The Barons have now fallen into a third place tie in the North Division with Toronto and Rochester. Hamilton's magic number has been trimmed to just 8 points... The West Division features Grand Rapids and Milwaukee, the league's only teams that have clinched a playoff spot. They are currently tied with 88 points... In the East Division, Philadelphia leads Bridgeport by just two points. Meanwhile, Hershey may be slipping out of the final playoff spot. The Bears are just 3-7-0-0 in their last game as they cling to fifth place by just one point... In the Atlantic Division, Hartford holds a six-point lead over Manchester, the largest division lead in the league. Manchester is making up ground though as they have won six consecutive games.

Practice Makes Perfect... Below is the Barons schedule for the week. Practice times are subject to change. For information, contact the Barons at 216-420-0000...

Date Event Location Time
3-16 Practice Barons Arena 10:30am
3-17 Pre-Game Skate Gund Arena 10:00am
3-17 vs. Hamilton Gund Arena 7:00pm
3-18 Practice Barons Arena 10:30am
3-19 @ Cincinnati Cincinnati Gardens 7:35pm
3-20 @ Cincinnati Cincinnati Gardens 7:35pm

Barons Broadcasts... Both road games 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 15, 2004


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