Falcons Begin Three-Game Week in Worcester on Wednesday

February 1, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


Springfield, Mass. – The Springfield Falcons face three Atlantic Division rivals this week including the Manchester Monarchs and Providence Bruins, who will visit The Nest on Friday and Saturday nights respectively. The Falcons will first travel to face the Worcester IceCats at the DCU Center on Wednesday for a 7:05 p.m. contest. The game will mark the club's third consecutive road game. The Falcons have won three of the last four meetings with the IceCats.

The Falcons will return to the home ice of the Civic Center to challenge the first-place Monarchs on Saturday night. Game time is 7:35 p.m. Manchester C Michael Cammaleri leads the AHL in goals (29) and ranks second in points (65). The Monarchs had six players chosen to skate in the upcoming AHL All-Star Classic, which will be played in the team's home arena of Verizon Wireless Arena, although forwards Yanick Lehoux and Tom Kostopoulos are currently out of Manchester's lineup due to injuries and will likely miss the league event.

C Patrice Bergeron and the Providence Bruins will come to town on Saturday to meet the Falcons in the eighth of ten match-ups between the clubs this season. Springfield RW Shane Willis scored with 1:59 remaining in regulation to provide the Falcons with a 2-1 win in the last encounter on Jan. 22 at The Nest.

Team Notes: Falcons D Nikos Tselios registered the 100th point of his professional career with an assist at Norfolk on Saturday.... D Harlan Pratt's next game will be the 400th of his pro career.... LW Nikita Alexeev led the Falcons during January with six goals and seven points.... RW Evgeni Artukhin registered five assists in January to pace Springfield.... D Gerard Dicaire was a team best +5 during the month.

Roster Update: C Jason Jaspers, who played for the Falcons on Jan. 22 after missing a couple of games with an injury, was held out of both games last weekend due to the same injury.... D Brian Chapman has missed the last seven games with an injury.... RW Darren Reid returned to the lineup to play both games last weekend after missing a game with an injury.... RW Adam Henrich missed both games last weekend with the flu.

Upcoming Opponents:

Falcons at Worcester IceCats

DCU Center

Wednesday, Feb. 2

The Falcons take on the IceCats (26-15-3-2, 57 pts) in the seventh of ten meetings between the clubs this season. It will be the fourth visit of the campaign to Worcester for the Falcons.... The game is the third of three straight road games for the Springfield is 3-3-0-0 against the ‘Cats this season, including a 3-1 record over the last four match-ups.... The Falcons are 40-50-14 in the all-time series.... C Nick Tarnasky has recorded five points, all on assists, versus Worcester this season to lead the Falcons.... Rookie D Doug O'Brien has tallied a goal and an assist and is +4 against the ‘Cats.... Worcester D Dennis Wideman has registered a team–best eight points (2g, 6a) versus the Falcons.... IceCats C Blake Evans, who has taken over the club's scoring lead with 30 points (12g, 18a), has scored four goals among seven points against Springfield this season.... Worcester has converted eight of 40 power plays (20.0%) in the season series.... The ‘Cats have won two of their last three games.... Evans led the IceCats in scoring during January with 12 points (5g, 7a) in 15 games.... G Jason Bacashihua posted a 5-3-0 record, 1.75 goals against average, and .935 save percentage in January.

Falcons vs. Manchester Monarchs

Springfield Civic Center

Friday, Feb. 4

The Falcons host the Monarchs (32-9-3-2, 69 pts) at The Nest for the fourth time this season in the sixth overall meeting between the teams.... Springfield is 0-5-0-1 this season and 8-16-1 all-time against the Monarchs.... LW Ryan Craig has scored three goals among four points versus Manchester this season.... Cammaleri has tallied 11 points (4g, 7a) to pace the Monarchs against the Falcons.... G Mathieu Garon has accumulated a GAA of 1.33 and .954 SV% versus Springfield.... The Monarchs posted a record of 8-3-1-1 in January.... Four of Manchester's nine regulation losses this season have come against the Lowell Lock Monsters.... The Monarchs share the AHL's highest point total with the Rochester Americans and own the league's top winning percentage (.750).... Manchester is 2-2-0-1 over the team's last five games.... The Monarchs rank fourth in the AHL in power-play success (20.4%), but have surrendered a league-high 12 shorthanded goals to their opponents.... Cammaleri leads the league in both goals (29) and power-play goals (14).... Manchester's Dennis Grebeshkov shares the AHL lead in assists among defensemen (30).... Cammaleri posted 20 points (7g, 13a) in 13 games in January to lead the Monarchs.

Falcons vs. Providence Bruins

Springfield Civic Center

Saturday, Feb. 5

The Falcons meet the Providence Bruins (22-18-2-6, 52 pts) at the Civic Center in the eighth overall encounter and fourth in Springfield this season.... The Falcons snapped a five-game losing streak against the P-Bruins with the 2-1 victory on Jan. 22.... Springfield carries a 2-5-0-0 season record and 45-61-5 all-time mark against the Bruins.... Jaspers has tallied four points (1g, 3a) in four games against Providence this season.... Henrich has also posted four points (3g, 1a) for Springfield in the season series.... Providence LW Andy Hilbert (4g, 5a) and C Brad Boyes (2g, 7a) lead their club against the Falcons with nine points each this season.... The P-Bruins have scored seven power-play goals in 29 opportunities (24.1%) in the season series.... G Hannu Toivonen has guarded the Providence net in each of the seven previous meetings, recording a 1.87 GAA and .931 SV%.... Hilbert posted 16 assists including 10 goals in 13 January games to pace the Bruins during the month.... Providence ranks second in the league with a 21.9% success rate with the man advantage.... Hilbert is tied for fourth in AHL scoring with 54 points (26g, 28a) and leads the league in shots (209).

Radio Broadcasts: Tune into The ZONE – Sports Radio 640 to hear each Falcons' games this week. The Voice of the Falcons, Marc Shelanski, calls the action. The pre-game show begins 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. Fans can also listen via the Internet by clicking on the MassLive.com Cybercast icon on the Falcons' official web site, www.falconsahl.com.

Tickets: Tickets for all Falcons' home games can be ordered in person or by phone through the Springfield Civic Center box office located along East Court Street. To order by phone, please call (413) 787-6600 or (800) 639-8602. Tickets can also be ordered online by visiting the Falcons' official web site, www.falconsahl.com. Groups of 15 or more can receive discount savings by contacting the Falcons' team office at (413) 739-3344. Group tickets must be ordered in advance.

This Weekend's Game Schedule:

Wed. Feb. 2 Falcons at Worcester IceCats 7:05 PM DCU Center The ZONE

Fri., Feb. 4 Falcons vs. Manchester Monarchs 7:35 PM Springfield Civic Center The ZONE

Sat., Feb. 5 Falcons vs. Providence Bruins 7:05 PM Springfield Civic Center The ZONE



American Hockey League Stories from February 1, 2005


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