Barons Weekly Report

Published on January 2, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Oklahoma City Barons News Release


Season record: 22-8-1-3, 1st, West Division, +2

- NELSON GETS ALL-STAR NOD: The race to determine the Western Conference's head coach for the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic went to the last possible day on Jan. 1, but the Barons emerged with the conference's best record after a 6-0 win at Houston to put Todd Nelson behind the bench for the game at Atlantic City Jan. 30. Had the Barons lost at Houston, Abbotsford coach Troy Ward would have received the honor.

- IS THIS RUNNING THE TABLE?: The Barons experienced every possible result in the 4 games following the Christmas break, going 1-1-1-1. They dropped an overtime game on Tuesday against Rochester and followed with a shootout loss on Wednesday against the same club before falling in regulation 4-3 to San Antonio on Saturday. A season-high 3-game winless drought ended with Sunday's 6-0 blanking of Houston..

- WEST STILL BEST: OKC begins this week atop the West Division with 48 points, 22 wins and a .706 standing point percentage. The Barons lead the entire AHL in points and point percentage and share the league high in wins with Abbotsford, which is the second place club in the West. The Barons are the only AHL team with a point percentage above .700. The West Division has the AHL's top three teams by points, as Abbotsford is second with 46 and Houston third with 45.

- THE WEEK AHEAD: The Barons embarked on a 4-game trip on New Year's Day with a 6-0 win over the Houston Aeros. The Barons' 3 remaining games on the trip are this week, Wednesday at Lake Erie, Friday at Toronto and Sunday afternoon at Hamilton. It will be the first meetings of the season with Lake Erie and Hamilton. OKC beat Toronto 3-1 on a Field Trip day game at the Cox Center Nov. 8.

- BREAKING IT OPEN: Prior to Sunday's 6-0 win at Houston the Barons had played 8 straight games decided by 1 goal, featuring four straight 3-2 finals from Dec. 10-18 followed immediately by a quartet of 4-3 decisions from Dec. 20-31. They went 3-2-1-2 in those 8 games. The Barons have played 34 games this season and a league-high 23 have been decided by 1 goal. OKC is 13-6-1-3 in 1-goal finals. A stretch of 16 straight contests decided by 1 goal or 1 plus an empty-net tally ended on New Year's Night. The Barons went 9-4-1-2 in that span. Twenty-three of OKC's last 25 games have ended with a 1-goal final or 1 plus an empty-netter.

- NETMINDING: OKC's goalies are 4-5 in the league in goals against average. Yann Danis' third shutout of the season on Sunday (and second over Houston) dropped his GAA to fourth-best at 2.20. David LeNeveu is right behind at 2.21. Danis is sixth in save percentage at .924 after stopping all 23 shots on Sunday. Danis is 5-0-0 against Houston this season with a 1.33 GAA and .945 save percentage.

- BARONS AMONG AHL LEADERS: Philippe Cornet is part of a multiple-way tie for fourth in the AHL with 16 goals. The leaders, Norfolk's Cory Conacher and Syracuse's Kyle Palmieri, have 19. Cornet and Ryan Keller are part of a group tied for second in the AHL with 4 game-winning goals. Cornet remains No. 1 in shooting percentage at 34.0. Hunter Tremblay is tied for the league high with 3 shorthanded goals.

This week's games (times listed as Central)

Date Opponent Time Arena Radio

Wednesday, Jan. 4 @ Lake Erie 6 pm Quicken Loans Arena 1340 The Game

Friday, Jan. 6 @ Toronto 6 pm Ricoh Coliseum KXY 96.1 FM

Sunday, Jan. 8 @ Hamilton 2 pm Copps Coliseum KXY 96.1 FM

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from January 2, 2012


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.

OurSports Central