Falcons Fodder
January 20, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Albany River Rat will meet for the fifth time this season and second time in Springfield. The Falcons are 1-3-0 against Albany this season with the River Rats winning the last three meetings this season. Albany has outscored Springfield 11-3 in the last three contests, including a 4-0 shutout on November 8th at "The Nest." Scott Clemmensen shutout the Falcons on November 8th making 23 saves and he has started three of the four games against the Falcons this season posting a record of 2-1-0 with a 1.01 goals against average and .967 save percentage. Ray Giroux leads the Rats offense against the Falcons this season with two goals and three assists for five points in four games played. These two teams just played each other last Sunday, January 12th at the Pepsi Arena with Albany winning that game, 3-2. The River Rats got out to a 3-0 lead in that game on goals from Scott Cameron, Greg Crozier, and Mikko Jokela, but the Falcons battled back and cut their deficit to 3-2 on goals from Gaetan Royer and Alexander Svitov. Springfield outshot Albany 31-25 in their last meeting, including 13-5 in the final period.
The Falcons will look this afternoon to try and bounce back from a 4-1 loss they suffered Saturday night in Hartford. Springfield defeated the Pack on Friday night, 3-1. Springfield goaltender, Jean-Marc Pelletier was the game's first star in that game with 33 saves. Sheldon Keefe scored his 1st goal of the season for the Falcons on Friday night and Jason Jaspers recorded the game-winner. The Falcons will start a busy stretch of games today. They will play four games in six days this week, including three home games. Springfield will host St. John's Thursday, travel to Hartford Friday, and host Manchester on Saturday night. The Falcons are currently two points behind Albany in the East Division standings.
Albany enters today's game having lost to the Binghamton Senators, 4-3 yesterday in Binghamton. After falling behind 2-0 in the opening 20 minutes, the River Rats battled back and tied the score at 2-2 with goals by Jason Lehoux and Mikko Jokela in the second period. Jason Spezza netted the game-winner at 16:26 of the third period, 20-seconds after Greg Crozier tied the score at 3-3 for Albany. Tonight will be the Rats third game in three days. They lost to Providence on Saturday night, 3-2. Albany's last six games have been decided by one goal and they have a record of 2-4-0 in that span. The River Rats have been involved in 19 one-goal games this season, the second most in the American Hockey League.
FALCONS TRANSACTIONS: The Springfield Falcons have a few new faces on their roster for today's game. Left Winger, Brad Ralph was recalled from Augusta of the East Coast Hockey League on Saturday and played in his first game with the Falcons this season on Saturday night in Hartford. Ralph collected nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 35 games with the Lynx this season. Ralph was limited to 16 games last season due to injury and he also played in 50 games with Springfield during the 2000-01 season. Ralph scored his first two pro goals as a member of the Falcons on December 3, 2000.....The Falcons also announced today that Tampa Bay reassigned defenseman Darren Rumble to Springfield and Phoenix reassigned forward Darcy Hordichuk to Springfield. Rumble has played in six games with Tampa not collecting a point. Rumble leads all Falcons defensemen in scoring this season with 22 points in 32 games......Hordichuk has played in two games with the Falcons this season and 25 games with the Coyotes not registering a point.
RIVER RATS STREAKS: The Albany River Rats enter today's game with a few players that are hot offensively. Scott Cameron leads Albany in scoring over the last five games with two goals and five assists for seven points. Cameron is on a six-game scoring streak collecting two goals and six assists in that span.....Defenseman Ray Giroux has points in four-straight games and leads Albany in scoring with 32 points in 44 games played.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2003
- Checkers Get Three-Day Rest for All-Star Break - Charlotte Checkers
- Farkas traded, Nielsen and Herperger acquired and assigned by the Canucks to the Moose - Manitoba Moose
- Flames Weekly - Saint John Flames
- Griffins Embark on East Coast Swing - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Sound Tigers Complete Second Leg Of Seven Game Trip - Bridgeport Islanders
- Wolves Auction Items in Memory of Jennifer Ferraro - Chicago Wolves
- Rochester Heads to Cincinnati for Two Games this Week - Rochester Americans
- Daigle named American Hockey League Player of the Week - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Rookies, 1st-Rounders Top AHL All-Star Rosters - AHL
- Checkers Takahito Suzuki Heads For All Star Game - Charlotte Checkers
- Daigle Named AHL Player of the Week - AHL
- Moose Start Six-Game Homestand Tuesday - Manitoba Moose
- Bulldogs Unbeaten in 14 Games on the Road - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Phantoms Weekly - Adirondack Phantoms
- Columbus/Syracuse Shuttle Adds Extra Flights - Syracuse Crunch
- Admirals Finish Week with Win, Tie, Loss - Norfolk Admirals
- Falcons Fodder - Springfield Falcons
- Bears Square off with Pens, Sens and Admirals this Week - Hershey Bears
- Pirates' Hot Streak Cools off - Portland Pirates
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.
