Falcons Fodder
Published on December 6, 2002 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Syracuse Crunch meet for the first time this season and for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The last time these two teams played was on February 9, 2001 at the Springfield Civic Center with the game ending in a 3-3 tie. The Falcons and Crunch have played 22 times in franchise history with Springfield posting a record of 11-5-5-1 over that span. The Crunch will also be the only Western Conference team the Falcons play this season. These two teams will conclude their season series on Saturday, December 21st in Syracuse.
The Falcons enter tonight's game on a two-game winning streak and on a five-game home-winning streak. It is the Falcons longest home-winning streak since they won five straight games during the 1998-99 season (March 12, 1999-April 2, 1999). Springfield also won five straight home games during the 1995-96 and 1997-98 seasons and have not won six straight at home since the 1994-95 season when they set the franchise record for consecutive home wins at eight straight games. Springfield beat the Lowell Lock Monsters, 2-1 in their last game played this past Sunday. Frank Banham had the game-winner and added one assist earning the game's first star. Ramzi Abid also scored his team leading 13th goal of the season in the win. Springfield also recorded their first shutout of the season last weekend when they blanked the Binghamton Senators on Saturday night, 3-0. Falcons goaltender Evgeny Konstantinov has won his last two starts posting a 1.13 goals against average and .945 save percentage, including his first pro shutout on Saturday against Binghamton. The Falcons will play four of their next five games at home where they are 7-5-0 this season. The Falcons collected their 300th franchise win on Sunday, November 24th and they will wrap up their weekend when they play host to the Manitoba Moose on Saturday night.
Syracuse played host to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on Wednesday night and beat the Mighty Ducks, 4-3 in overtime. Andrej Nedorost led the Crunch with two goals, including the game-winner in ot, and six shots on goal in Syracuse's win earning the game's first star. Pauli Levokari also collected one goal and one assist and a +2 rating for Syracuse in Levokari's season debut with Syracuse. Crunch goaltender, Karl Goehring made 27 saves in collecting his 6th win of the season. Syracuse is 4-4-1-0 against the Eastern Conference this season. Syracuse is in 5th place in the Central Division with a record of 9-10-1-0 good for 19 points, one point behind fourth-place Rochester and two points behind third-place Cleveland.
UP AND DOWN: Falcons defenseman, Darren Rumble was recalled by the Lightning on Wednesday, but reassigned back to the Falcons on Thursday. Rumble did not play any games for Tampa Bay. Rumble is currently tied for the AHL lead in scoring among defensemen with four goals and 17 assists for 21 points in 25 games played. He is only one of two Falcons players to have played in every game this season. Rumble is 2nd on the Falcons in scoring and 1st in assists. He is also 2nd on the team in shots on goal with 67.
STEADY GEORGE: Falcons goaltender, Evgeny Konstantinov has won his last two starts posting a 1.13 goals against average and .945 save percentage in that span. He collected his first pro shutout last Saturday against Binghamton when he made 21 saves in the Falcons 3-0 win.
TOP SCORER: Syracuse right wing, David Ling leads the Crunch in scoring with four goals and 19 assists for 23 points in 20 games played and leads the team in penalty minutes with 57. Ling is 2nd in the AHL in assists, one behind the league leader, Benoit Gratton. Ling is in his 2nd season with Syracuse after collecting 19 goals and 41 assists for 60 points and 240 penalty minutes in 71 games with the Crunch last season. He also played in five games with Columbus during the 2001-02 season not registering a point. Ling has played in 286 AHL games collecting 265 points and 875 penalty minutes.
TOP GOALTENDER: Syracuse goaltender, Karl Goehring leads the American Hockey League in goals against average at 1.59, in shutouts with four, and is tied for the league lead in save percentage at .945%. Goehring, who is from the same hometown as the Falcons Erik Westrum (Apple Valley, Minnesota), is in his 2nd season of pro hockey after leading North Dakota to the 1999-00 National Championship.
American Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2002
- Rosa's Late Goal Earns Monarchs A Road Point - Manchester Monarchs
- Good Fortune at Home Runs Out - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Falcons win 6th straight at home - Springfield Falcons
- Bulldogs Come from Behind to Win - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Manitoba Ends Sound Tigers' Streaks With Shutout - Bridgeport Islanders
- Phantoms lose 3-1 to Hershey - Adirondack Phantoms
- Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Announce Roster Moves - Cincinnati RailRaiders
- Duvie Westcott Recalled By Columbus - Syracuse Crunch
- What's Going on with the Griffins - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Sound Tigers Announce Special Holiday Packages - Bridgeport Islanders
- Sound Tigers Team Shop Opens At Shoppingtown - Bridgeport Islanders
- Falcons Fodder - Springfield Falcons
- Red Wings Recall Lamothe - Grand Rapids Griffins
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Flames Sign Jacques - Saint John Flames
- Admirals Team Up with The Virginian-Pilot, 106.9 the Fox to Raise Money for the Joy Fund - Norfolk Admirals
- Governor's Traffic Safety Committee Night Returns December 7 - Syracuse Crunch
- Scott Balan Returning to Norfolk - Norfolk Admirals
- Bulldogs in Holiday Spirit with Food Drive and Toy Toss - Hamilton Bulldogs
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.
