Barons Win Big... Qualifying Round Begins Thursday

April 10, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


CINCINNATI, OH- Patrick Rissmiller scored three goals and Miroslav Zalesak scored two more as the Barons blew away the Mighty Ducks 8-3. The Barons clinched the inaugural Labatt Blue Cup trophy winning the season series against Cincinnati with a 4-2-2-0 record. The eight goals are a franchise record for the Cleveland Barons.

With very important points in the standings on the line, both teams played close to the vest for the first period of action. Stanisalv Chistov snuck behind the Barons defense just past the five-minute mark to score the game's first goal on a breakaway. Joel Stepp assisted on the goal taking advantage of a Barons line change that left Chistov alone along the right wing. The Barons answered with help from one of the team's newcomers. Shawn Mather, signed to a PTO agreement earlier in the day from Johnstown of the ECHL, set up Matt Carkner for a one-time slap shot and a tie score. Carkner's second of the year was also assisted by Ryane Clowe and was scored just past the halfway mark of the first stanza.

The line of Patrick Rissmiller, Miroslav Zalesak and Tavis Hansen decided to take the game over in the second period scoring all three of the Barons goals in the stanza. Rissmiller stole a puck from Cincinnati defenseman Andy Reierson just 7-seconds into the stanza and converted on the unassisted goal for the Barons 10th short-handed tally of the year. Only 28-seconds later, Miroslav Zalesak surprised Ducks netminder Ilya Bryzgalov with a slap shot from the blue line for his 34th of the season and a 3-1 lead. Rissmiller and Hansen assisted on the goal. Chistov scored his second of the game and fifth of the year to pull the Ducks back to within one on a nice pass play designed while Cincinnati enjoyed a 5-on-3 power play. Rissmiller answered with his second of the period to re-establish the two-goal margin after two periods of play.

Cincinnati converted their second power play goal of the game to chisel the Barons lead back to one. Mike Mottau's 9th of the year cruised untouched through traffic trimming the Barons' lead to 4-3. The Barons put away Cincinnati and claimed the inaugural Labatt Blue Cup with the next four goals of the game to blow out Cincinnati 8-3. Rissmiller began the barrage completing the hat trick with his 14th of the season on an assist from Hansen. Grant Stevenson (13), Jon DiSalvatore (22), and Zalesak finished the scoring for your Barons. DiSalvatore's goal came while the Barons were on a 5-on-3 power play. His 22nd of the season set a Barons franchise rookie record, breaking Chad Wiseman's 21 in 2001-02.

The Barons will play the Qualifying Round at IceLand USA in Strongsville beginning on Thursday at 7pm. The game can be heard live by Crashing The Net at www.clevelandbarons.net. Tickets are available by calling the Cleveland Barons front office at 216-420-0000 or at IceLand USA beginning on Monday afternoon.

*OFFICIAL BOX SCORE AVAILABLE:
http://www.theahl.com/SlamScoreboard/ahl-frameset.html

BARONS QUALIFYING SERIES SET
Qualifying Round To Be Played At IceLand USA On Thursday, Saturday, And Sunday

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Barons completed their 80-game regular season schedule with an 8-3 victory against Cincinnati on Saturday night. The Barons finished the season in a third-place tie with Rochester in the North Division, clinching their first berth in the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. Since the Barons and Americans have the same amount of victories this season (37), the tiebreaker falls to head-to-head standings. Rochester holds the edge in the season series making the Barons the fourth seed in the North Division.

The fourth seed in each division is required to play a best-of-three series against the fifth seed (Toronto), all at the fourth seed's home arena. Due to scheduling conflicts with Gund Arena, the Barons will host the Toronto Roadrunners at IceLand USA in Strongsville. IceLand USA is located on 15382 Royalton Road.

The Barons will host the Toronto Roadrunners on Thursday, April 15th at 7pm, Saturday, April 17th at 7pm, and, if necessary, Sunday, April 18th at 4pm. Fans can purchase the three-game playoff package for $30. Single-game tickets are available as well for $10 per ticket. Full Season Ticket Holders will have a reserved general admission seating section, while all other seating is general admission. Parking for the games is free of charge.

Qualifying Round tickets can be purchased through the Cleveland Barons front office by calling 216-420-0000 or at IceLand USA beginning Monday afternoon. Seating is very limited.

For any Qualifying Round game not played, fans may exchange their tickets at the Gund Arena Box Office for cash value credit toward the next round of playoffs or receive a full refund.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE vs. TORONTO:
Thursday, April 15th @7:00pm
Saturday, April 17th @ 7:00pm
Sunday, April 18th @ 4:00pm *if necessary

The Cleveland Barons are set to make their first Calder Cup Playoff Appearance. For more information regarding the team or tickets, call the Barons front office at 216-420-0000 or Crash The Net at www.clevelandbarons.net.



American Hockey League Stories from April 10, 2004


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