Cleveland Barons Weekly Report

March 20, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


Flashback

3/17/2006 Cleveland 2, Grand Rapids 3- Even with a solid effort from goalie Nolan Schaefer Cleveland fell to Grand Rapids Friday night in Michigan. Schaefer had a 39-save performance against the Griffins who improved to 7-1-0-0 on the season against the Barons. Craig Valette scored the evening's first goal and his forth of the season at the 10:06 mark in the first period. Cleveland extended their early lead to 2-0 on a power play goal from Aaron Power three minutes later. Tom Cavanagh, Mike Iggulden, Matt Carkner, and Bracken Kearns all earned assists on the night. The Griffins struck back as Nate DiCasmirro scored his 16th goal of the season with just 17-seconds remaining in the period. Grand Rapid tied the game on a power play goal from Darryl Bootland, his 24th of the year. The game-winning goal came just 51-seconds into the final frame on a short-distance goal from Matt Ellis. With a little more than two minutes remaining in the game, Josh Hennessy tried to even the score for the Barons. His shot deflected off the goal, sealing a 3-2 win for the Griffins.

Coming Up

3/23/2006 Cleveland vs. Grand Rapids - National City Rink at the Q

The playoff bound Grand Rapids Griffins travel to Cleveland for game nine of ten between the teams this season. Leading the way for the Griffins are the number three and four scorers in the league, Jiri Hudler (35-52-87), and Donald MacLean (52-28-80). In eight games against Cleveland, Hudler has earned four goals and ten assists for 14 points. Mike Iggulden has managed 6 points (3-3-6) for the Barons against the Griffins with Lukas Kaspar and Tom Cavanagh not far behind with four apiece. The action begins at 7:05pm.

3/24/2006 Cleveland @ Rochester - Blue Cross Arena

The Barons face off against the Rochester Americans for the final time this season. Cleveland currently leads the series 5-2-0-0. In their last meeting the Barons won with a final score of 4-2. In seven games against Rochester, Josh Hennessy has three goals, and four assists for seven points with Mike Iggulden, Ryane Clowe, and Shane Joseph each earning five points. Mark Mancari and Chris Taylor each have six points this season against the Barons. Rochester is currently in fifth place in the North Division with a record of 32-32-2-2. Game time is 7:35pm ET.

3/25/2006 Cleveland @ Toronto - Ricoh Coliseum

The Barons head up North to take on the Toronto Marlies for game seven of eight this season. The last time the two teams faced off, Toronto earned the win with a 4-3 shootout victory in Cleveland. The Marlies top scorer, John Pohl has a total of 61 points (32-29-61) this season in 51 appearances. Cleveland rookies Josh Hennessy and Mike Iggulden have both appeared in all six previous games against the Marlies with Hennessy earning 6 points (2-4-6) and Iggulden scoring 5 points (3-2-5). Face-off is 4:00pm ET.

Barons Player of the Week

The Barons Player of the Week is goaltender Nolan Schaefer. Schaefer stopped 39 of the 42 shots on goal he faced in the Barons game on Friday against Grand Rapids. His solid play lead to him being honored as the 3rd Star of the Game. Schaefer is currently 12-18-1 with a 3.36 goals against average and a .889 save percentage.

Drawing First Blood

The Barons scored the first goal of the game on Friday for just the sixth time in their last 29 games. They are 14-12-2-1 when they score the opening goal of the game and 9-30-0-0 when their opponent scores first. They also lost in a shootout the one game where neither team scored in regulation.

Special Teams

The Barons have allowed only four power play goals in their last seven games. During that time period, they have gone 39-for-44 on the penalty kill (87%). Overall, the Barons have allowed 89 power play goals in 406 penalty kill situations (78%). They have scored 66 goals this season in 466 chances with the extra man. That marks a 14% success rate on the power play.

Heni-Powered

Barons rookie forward Josh Hennessy is currently having the most prolific offensive season for a rookie with 54 points (21-33-54) in 69 games. The native of Belmont, MA is just one goal shy of tying the franchise record for goals by a rookie. Jon DiSalvatore set the record by scoring 22 goals in his rookie season. Hennessy is currently 5th among AHL rookie scoring leaders, tied for 8th in rookie goals, and 5th in rookie assists.

In The Show

Left wing Patrick Rissmiller earned his first NHL goal as the Sharks lost to the Dallas Stars, 4-3. Rissmiller was recalled by the Sharks on March 15th. At the time of his recall, he was second on the Barons in scoring with 52 points (15-37-52) in 68 games played.

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 eight selections and Mike Iggulden is in second place with six selections.

Player Appearances

On March 21st, Craig Valette will be visiting Goddard School. Riley Armstrong and SlapShark will be making an appearance at St. Columbkille school in Parma on March 21st.

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 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 March 20, 2006


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