Barons Weekly Report

October 25, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


Flashback

10/20/04 Milwaukee 4 – Cleveland 3 OT... Jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second period, the Barons were able to hang on to gain one point in an overtime loss to the defending Calder Cup Champion Milwaukee Admirals. Goaltender Seamus Kotyk made his return to Cleveland in gaining the victory. Kotyk played the previous three seasons, his entire professional career, with the Barons. He made 24 saves on the night. Barons center Marcel Goc extended his AHL leading home-ice goal-scoring streak to 7 games, scoring on a short-handed penalty shot. In a reoccurring theme this season, Christian Ehrhoff scored the first goal of the game, which was his first of the season. Doug Murray rounded out the Barons scoring.

10/22/04 Cleveland 5 – Houston 2... The Barons got off to a good start in Texas led by Marcel Goc and Dimitri Patzold. Goc scored two goals, one on the power play and one short-handed, and added an assist in his second three-point performance of the season. Dimitri Patzold, appearing in his first game since the season opener on 10/15 was up to the task stopping 34 out of a possible 36 shots. Scott Dobben recorded his second goal of the season in just his third professional game. Patrick Rissmiller recorded his first goal of the season to cap the Barons scoring.

10/23/04 Cleveland 4 – Houston 1... Dimitri Patzold brought his A game to Texas for the weekend. In defeating the Aeros for the second time in as many nights, Patzold stole the show with a 39-save performance. The win pushed Patzold's record to 2-0-1 on the season. For the fifth consecutive time, the Barons jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a Shane Joseph goal, his first of the season. Joseph's college teammate at the University of Minnesota State-Mankato, Grant Stevenson added the second Barons goal, his first of the season as well. Josh Prudden and Nick Bootland would each add empty net goals in the last minute of the game.

Coming Up

10/29 & 10/30/04 Cleveland @ St. John's – Mile One Stadium

This will mark the first of two weekend sets between the division rivals in Newfoundland. St. John's owns a 1-3-0-1 record this season and sit in sixth place of the North Division. The Barons owned the season series against the St. John's Maple Leafs last season with a 6-1-1-0 record, including a 3-0-1 record in Newfoundland. The last time the Barons went into St. John's, they defeated the Maple Leafs in a 6-1 rout on February 21, 2004. The Barons dominated the special teams last season. Cleveland possessed a 29.2% power play rate and had a 5.4% penalty kill percentage against the Leafs. Nolan Schaefer was amazing in net against the Maple Leafs last season. Posting a 2-0-1 record, the Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan native owned a 1.62 goals against average and a .960 save percentage. Marcel Goc was the third leading scorer for the Barons against the Toronto farm team last season. In eight games, the highest draft choice of German descent in the history of the NHL, posted two goals, four assists and a +4 rating. Also, Garrett Stafford will make his season debut on Saturday night after serving a 6-game league suspension. The reigning Barons Rookie of the Year was tied for third on the Barons with 6 points (1-5-6) and led the team with a +8 against the Maple Leafs last season. Kyle Wellwood led the Maple Leafs with 7 points against the Barons last season. His 55 points were tied for third on St. John's.

Barons Player of the Week

The Cleveland Barons Player of the Week is goaltender Dimitri Patzold. Patzold was phenomenal in the two-game sweep of the Houston Aeros in Texas over the weekend. On Friday, Patzold stopped 34 shots and allowed 2 goals leading the Barons to a 5-2 victory. On Saturday night, Patzold was even better stopping 39 shots and only allowing 1 goal in a 4-1 victory. On the week, Patzold was 2-0-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and a .961 save percentage. With the week, Patzold has a 2-0-1 record with a 1.62 goals against average and a .951 save percentage. He has yet to allow more than two goals in a game thus far.

Interesting Statistics Of The Week

The Cleveland Barons like getting out to a fast start. In fact the Barons are one of only three teams in the league (Hartford and Manchester) to score the first goal in every game played thus far. The Barons are 2-1-1-1 on the season.

A Special Team The Barons have scored seven of their 18 goals via special teams play. In all, the Barons have five power play goals and two short-handed goals. Also, two of the Barons 18 goals have come at full strength on an empty net.

Patzold Strikes Gold Dimitri Patzold has been stellar in his last eight AHL starts dating back to last season. In those games, Patzold owns five wins, two losses, and one shootout loss (5-2-1). Those eight games encapsulated 483:14 and Patzold has a .943 (267/283) and a 1.99 goals against average.

Oh My Goc!

Marcel Goc leads the Barons in scoring and goals with 8 points on 5 goals and 3 assists. His eight points are tied for ninth in the league. Goc owns a seven-game goal-scoring streak at home (9-2-11), which is the longest active streak in the AHL. Goc also has at least one goal in nine of his last 14 AHL games (12-4-16). During that time, he is a +8. Goc converted his first AHL penalty shot on Wednesday night against Milwaukee.

The Best Defense Is A Good Offense

Christian Ehrhoff, a defenseman, has led the Barons in shots on goal in two out of the five games this season. His 18 shots are tied for first on the Barons and are tied for fifth among all AHL defenseman. Ehrhoff has registered a point in three of the last four games (1-2-3). Last season, he averaged nearly three shots per contest in 27 games with the Barons. During the Playoffs, Ehrhoff led the Barons with 36 shots in 9 games.

The Power Of Plihal

Center Tomas Plihal has been pretty consistent this season for the Barons. The second-year pro scored a one goal in each of the first two games for the Barons. In the next two games, he recorded an assist. On the season, Plihal has 2 goals, 2 assists, and a +2 rating. Plihal's most noticeable contribution to the ice though, has been his aggressive fore-check that has led to several Barons scoring opportunities.

Clowe-ser To Home

Ryane Clowe, a native of St. John's, will spend the weekend in his hometown. Against the Maple Leafs last season, Clowe scored 3 goals, including one game-winner, and one assist. He scored one of those goals in St. John's. On the season, Clowe is tied for second on the Barons with 4 points (1-3-4). His three assists are tied for first on the team.

Nice Return

After sitting out the first two games of the season, Barons defenseman Matt Carkner is playing well for the Barons. The physical, defensive-minded Carkner has recorded an assist in each of his three games back. The three-game point-streak ties the longest in his career that was previously set from 3/24/04 – 3/27/04.

Go BoSox The Barons have several die-hard Boston Red Sox fans. Jim Fahey, Patrick Rissmiller, Josh Prudden, Mike Hoffman, and David Cunniff are among the loyal supporters of the American League representatives in the World Series. On a side note, none of them will discuss the supposed curse.

National City Breakaway with the Barons

The Cleveland Barons will host the first National City Breakaway with the Barons presented by WDOK and Marc's on Tuesday, October 26th at Winterhurst Ice Rink from 7-9pm. The Barons will hold a one-hour practice that is open to the public. Following the practice, the Barons will take the ice with the fans. It is the perfect opportunity to get autographs from and photographs with the team. Winterhurst Ice Rink is located on 14740 Lakewood Heights Blvd. in Lakewood.

Following The National City Breakaway with the Barons

After the National City Breakaway with the Barons concludes, a select group of Barons players, including Grant Stevenson and Shane Joseph, will head over to the Buffalo Wild Wings courtesy of Labatt Blue. Buffalo Wild Wings is located on 20412 Center Ridge Road in Rocky River.

Rink Buddies

The Barons will begin their year-long Rink Buddies campaign this week. The Rink Buddies program takes three Barons out to a local hockey rink in the Greater Cleveland area to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Wednesday, October 28th – IceLand USA – 6:15-7:15pm (15382 Royalton Road)

Tim Conboy, Christian Ehrhoff, and Garrett Stafford

Monday, November 1st – Rocky River Recreation Center – 5:30-6:30pm (21018 Hilliard Blvd.)

Nick Bootland, Nolan Schaefer, and Josh Prudden

Wednesday, November 3rd – Thorton Park Ice Rink (Shaker Heights) – TBA (20701 Farnsleigh Rd)

Ryane Clowe, Josh Gorges, Glenn Olson

Schedule Change

The Cleveland Barons will now host the Edmonton Road Runners on Tuesday, November 9th in San Jose, CA. at HP Pavilion, home of the San Jose Sharks. The game will start at 10:30pm EST and will be aired on WKNR 850-AM. Due to the new travel schedule, the game on Thursday, November 11th originally scheduled for 10:30am at National City Rink in Gund Arena will now start at 7:00pm.

Practice Makes Perfect

Below is the Barons schedule for the week. Practice times are subject to change. All practices at Barons Arena are open to the public. For information, contact the Barons at 216-420-0000...

Date Event Location Time

10-26 National City Breakaway Winterhurst Ice Rink 7:00pm

10-27 Practice Barons Arena 10:30am

10-29 @ St. John's Mile One Stadium 6:35pm

10-30 @ St. John's Mile One Stadium 6:35pm

Barons Broadcasts

All road games this week can be heard live on The Voice of the Fan WKNR 850-am. All games this season can be heard live by Crashing The Net at www.sportstalkcleveland.com.



American Hockey League Stories from October 25, 2004


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