Cleveland Barons Weekly Report

February 13, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


2/9/2006 Toronto 4, Cleveland 3 -Out-shooting the Marlies 41-29 wasn't enough for the Barons as they fell to Toronto on Thursday night. Patrick Rissmiller gave the Barons the early 1-0 lead, scoring his 12th of the year. Tomas Plihal earned an assist on Rissmiller's goal, bringing his total assists up to fifteen on the season. The Marlies answered at even strength on Jeremy Williams' first goal of the night, and 15th of the season with 2:18 remaining in the first period. The Marlies came on strong during the second period with goals from Tyler Beechey and Williams' second of the night. The Barons were able to come within one on Rissmiller's second goal of the night on a power-play deflection. Skating five-on-three, Josh Hennessy ripped a shot-on-goal, which Rissmiller and Ryane Clowe both got a stick on in front of the Marlies goal. Clowe went on to score the only goal of the third period, forcing an overtime session. Rissmiller and Hennessy assisted on the goal, securing multi-point nights for both players. Both teams managed two shots-on-goal in overtime, but were failed to score. It took six rounds of shootouts to decide the game. Colin Murphy scored twice for the Marlies, including the game winning goal.

2/10/2006 Chicago 5, Cleveland 3 - The Barons failed to come-from behind and fell to the Chicago Wolves with a final score of 5-3. The first period was tightly played, with both teams scoring. Striking first was Justin Morrison for Chicago, who earned his 8th goal of the season at the 15:53. The Barons retaliated with a rebound goal by Mike Iggulden, his 14th of the season with 2:13 remaining on the clock. The Barons took the lead in the second period with a power play strike by Patrick Rissmiller. The lead was short lived, as Chicago scored just 21-seconds later on a shot by Mark Popovic. Ramzi Abid re-established the Wolves 3-2 lead, and earned his 25th goal of the season. Scott Barney took the lead to 4-2 just 60-seconds later, with his 13th of the year. Garrett Stafford's third period goal, his 10th of the year wasn't enough for the Barons who would never regain the lead. Barney scored once again, sealing the win for Chicago with his second of the night with just 2:10 remaining in the game.

Coming Up

2/15/06 Cleveland vs. Houston- National City Rink at the Q

Cleveland faces off against Western Division leaders the Houston Aeros for the fourth and final time this season. The Barons are 0-3-0-0 against Houston this year, and 8-10-0-1 lifetime. The Aeros are lead by the number one and two scorers in the AHL. Erik Westrum, holds the number one ranking with 24 goals and 52 assists, for 76 points. Kirby Law is in the second spot with 30 goals, and 40 assists for 70 points. The Aeros currently own a record of 35-14-1-2, while Cleveland has a record of 20-32-2-2. Game time is 7:05pm ET.

2/16/06 Cleveland vs. Grand Rapids - National City Rink at the Q

The Grand Rapid Griffins travel to Cleveland for game six of ten this season. The Barons are 1-4-0-0 in the series. The Griffins' Jiri Hudler is ranked number three in scoring among AHL leaders, with 25 goals, and 40 assists for 65 points. Also leading the way for the Griffins' is Donald Maclean, who owns 36 goals, and 19 assists for 55 points. Cleveland's Mike Iggulden has four points (2-2-4) in five games against the Griffins this season. Game time is 7:05pm ET.

2/18/2006 Cleveland @ Syracuse - War Memorial at Oncenter

The Cleveland Barons face the Syracuse Crunch in the final of six meetings this season. The Barons trail in the season series, 1-4-0-0. Josh Hennessy has six points (assists) against Syracuse this season and Crunch left wing Joakim Lindstrom has four goals and two assists for six points against the Barons.

2/19/2006 Cleveland @ Rochester - Blue Cross Arena

The Barons and the Rochester Americans meet up in the seventh of eight match-ups this season. Cleveland leads the series 4-2-0-0. Barons Player of the Week Patrick Rissmiller has recorded nine points (3-6-9) against the Americans this season.

Barons Player of the Week

The Cleveland Barons nominee for Player of the Week is left wing Patrick Rissmiller. Rissmiller had three goals and an assist for four points in two games last week. He was honored for his efforts as second star of the game on Thursday, where he scored two goals and assisted on the game tying goal. His goal on Friday extended his point streak to four games. Rissmiller is currently second on the Barons in scoring with 44 points (14-30-44) and leads the team in assists. He has appeared in all 56 games for the Barons so far this season.

Home Cooking

The Barons are in the midst of a nine-game home stand, the longest in franchise history. The Barons own a record of 0-6-0-1 thus far in the home stand and are 3-6-0-1 in their last ten games at home. The Barons will play two games at home this week before playing five games on the road.

Keeping Them Close

The Barons have kept their games close as of late, as four of the Barons past six games have been decided by just one goal. The Barons have a record of 7-7-2-2 in one-goal games.

Heni-Powered

Rookie center Josh Hennessy has seven points (assists) in his past five games and 13 points (4-9-13) in his past 10 games. Currently on a four game point streak, Hennessy leads the team in scoring and is 5th among AHL rookies with 45 points (16-29-45) in 56 games this season.

Don't Get Bernier-ed

Barons rookie Steve Bernier has been reassigned by the San Jose Sharks to the Cleveland Barons. At the time of his recall on Jan 30, Bernier led the team in scoring and had a four-game point streak intact (1-4-5). Currently, Bernier is third on the squad with 42 points (19-23-42) in 44 games. He also ranks 7th among AHL rookie scoring leaders. The native of Quebec City, Quebec has already made his mark on the Barons record books by establishing franchise records for scoring streak to begin a career (7 games, 4-5-9) and consecutive point streak to begin a season. He also established a new single season high for game winning goals with six. The six-foot-two, 230 pound right wing needs just eight points to tie a franchise record for best season for a rookie (Chad Wiseman had 50 points in 01-02) and three goals to tie the rookie mark set by Jon DiSalvatore (22) in the 03-04 season.

Rubbermaid Player of the Game

At the end of each game the Barons select a Rubbermaid Player of the Game, given to the player who displays toughness and durability throughout the game. At the end of the season, the player with the most selections will receive a prize package courtesy of Rubbermaid. Currently, Josh Hennessy leads the race for the Rubbermaid with six selections and Steve Bernier is second with five picks. Matt Carkner, Brad Staubitz, Mike Iggulden and Shane Joseph are tied for third place with four selections apiece.

Player Appearances

On February 20, Ray DiLauro and Brad Staubitz will be at Joseph Beth Bookstore in Legacy Village at 7pm to sign autographs. The same day, Josh Hennessy will be at Winterhurst Ice Arena for a mite practice at 5:45pm.

Breakaway With The Barons

The season's fourth and final National City Breakaway with the Barons, presented by the United States Air Force and WDOK SoftRock 102.1 will now take place on Tuesday, March 21 at Iceland USA in Strongsville Ohio. The event had originally been scheduled for March 20. Each Breakaway features a one-hour Barons practice session, followed by a post-practice skate with the team. This is the perfect opportunity for fans to get photographs with and autographs from the team.

Barons Broadcasts

All games this season will be broadcast live and in their entirety on-line via the B2 Networks. Fans can enjoy the play-by-play action of Barons hockey provided by the "Voice of the Barons" Jamie Smock, by Crashing the Net at www.clevelandbarons.net. Fans can watch the game via B2 Networks' Live Video Stream of the game on a pay-per-view basis of $6.00 per game. There is also a free audio version of the broadcast offered. Every Barons game broadcast begins with a pre-game show 15-minutes prior to face-off.



American Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2006


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