Falcons Hit Road for Interdivisional Contests

Published on January 20, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


Springfield, MA – The Springfield Falcons (13-21-5-2, 33 pts) will take on three East Division opponents in four road games this week. The club will meet the Hershey Bears for the first time in nearly two years on Wednesday night before traveling to Norfolk to face the Admirals in back-to-back contests on Friday and Saturday evenings. The Falcons will then return north to challenge the Philadelphia Phantoms on Sunday.

Last week, Springfield split a home-and-home series with the Worcester IceCats, and then dropped a pair of games to the Lowell Lock Monsters on Saturday and Sunday. Right wing Peter Ferraro led the Falcons offensively during the week by posting three goals and an assist in the four tilts.

Week in Review (1-3-0-0):

Falcons – 1 at Worcester – 3

Wednesday, January 14

Goran Bezina scored midway through the second period to pull the Falcons into a 1-1 tie. However, Worcester center Mike Glumac potted his second goal of the game with 2:02 remaining in the frame as the IceCats regained the lead. Glumac also assisted when defenseman Terry Virtue capped the game's scoring 3:31 into the third period. Worcester goaltender Curtis Sanford stopped 29 of 30 shots in gaining the victory. Glumac's tallies marked his fourth and fifth goals against the Falcons this season – the most by a Springfield opposing player this campaign.

SOG: 30 SOGA: 27 PP: 0-for-5 PK: 4-for-4

Falcons – 3 vs. Worcester – 1

Friday, January 16

Peter Ferraro scored twice in the second period as the Falcons reversed the fortunes of their previous contest versus the IceCats. Springfield defenseman Dustin Wood opened scoring on a wrist shot from the right point 4:46 into the contest. Rookie netminder David LeNeveu earned his eighth win of the season by turning aside 36 of 37 shots before being forced to leave the game late in the third period with leg cramps. Falcons center Erik Westrum collected two assists in the win.

SOG: 21 SOGA: 37 PP: 0-for-4 PK: 5-for-5

Falcons – 2 vs. Lowell – 4

Saturday, January 17

The Lock Monsters scored each of their four goals over the final 12 minutes of the second period en route to the win. Peter Ferraro opened scoring with his tenth goal of the season to provide the Falcons with a lead 40 seconds into the middle frame. However, left wing David Inman began Lowell's flurry with a power-play goal at the 8:08 mark. Matt Davidson, Brett Lysak, and Tomas Malec followed with markers for the Lock Monsters. Springfield defenseman Nikos Tselios connected in the third period to conclude scoring.

SOG: 41 SOGA: 35 PP: 0-for-3 PK: 2-for-3

Falcons – 1 vs. Lowell – 5

Sunday, January 18

Springfield took an early lead when center Jason Jaspers scored with the man advantage 3:49 into the contentious contest. Two minutes later, forward Tomas Kurka tallied the first of five unanswered goals for the Lock Monsters. Kurka (1g, 1a), Mike Zigomanis (1g, 1a), and Martin Sonnenberg (0g, 2a) each registered two points in the game for Lowell. Former Springfield goaltender Patrick DesRochers stopped 24 of 25 shots in collecting his 11th win of the season. The teams combined for 162 penalty minutes (PIM) in the game. The Falcons accumulated a season-high 88 PIM. A pair of brawls in the final two minutes resulted in 108 PIM for the opponents.

SOG: 27 SOGA: 39 PP: 1-for-5 PK: 5-for-7

Team Notes: Wood's goal versus the IceCats on Friday was the first of his AHL career.... Falcons assistant coach Gord Dineen had his #2 jersey retired by the Utah Grizzlies in a pre-game ceremony prior to the club's contest versus the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday. Dineen played for the Denver/Utah Grizzlies from 1994 to 2000.... Peter Ferraro's two-goal effort in Friday's win over Worcester ended a 17-game goalless drought. Ferraro has now registered eight points (3g, 5a) over his last nine games.... Left wing Trevor Gillies leads the AHL in major penalties this season with 20.... The Falcons rank second in the league in penalty-killing success at home (90.7%).... Center Krystofer Kolanos has scored six of his nine goals with the Falcons this season in road games.... LeNeveu has posted a record of 3-2-0, 1.82 goals against average (GAA) and .956 save percentage (SV%) over his last five appearances.... The Falcons' current stretch of five straight road games matches their longest of the season.... Right wing Frank Banham played in his 300th career AHL game on Friday.... Westrum is five points shy of 100 for his professional career.... Rookie Frantisek Lukes skated for the Falcons versus Lowell on Saturday and Sunday after being a healthy scratch in six of the Falcons' previous seven games. The left wing collected an assist on Jaspers' goal on Sunday.... The Falcons' 88 PIM in Sunday's game at Lowell were the most by the team since March 28, 2002 when Springfield accumulated 96 minutes versus Worcester at the Civic Center.

Roster Update: The Falcons released right wing Billy Tibbetts from his professional tryout agreement on Monday. Tibbetts collected two assists and 25 PIM in six games with the club.... Defenseman Matthew Spiller was recalled by the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday. The rookie registered two points (1g, 1a) in eight games with the Falcons.... Defenseman Todd Reirden was assigned to the Falcons by the Phoenix Coyotes after the NHL club acquired the blueliner from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in exchange for future considerations on Saturday. The rearguard made his debut for the Falcons on Sunday.... Kolanos was recalled by Phoenix late Thursday before being reassigned on Saturday. The Calgary native skated in pre-game warm-ups of the Coyotes game in Detroit against the Red Wings on Friday, but was a healthy scratch.... Defenseman Mike Wilson was injured in Wednesday's game at Worcester. The blueliner was behind the Falcons' bench as an assistant coach over the weekend while Dineen was in Utah.... Rookie center Kiel McLeod sat out the Falcons' final two games of the weekend due to an injury he suffered versus Worcester on Friday. His status is day-to-day.... Center Chris Ferraro has been skating in practice, but has not yet returned to game action after suffering an injury at Hartford on December 31st.... Defenseman Bryan Helmer continues to rehabilitate from an injury he suffered during Coyotes' training camp.

Upcoming Week:

Falcons at Hershey Bears

Wednesday, January 21

The Falcons will make their first-ever visit to the GIANT Center as the club will face the Bears in the first meeting between the traditional AHL cities since February 16, 2002. Right wing Branko Radivojevic scored twice, but Springfield fell to the Bears in that game, 5-2, at Hersheypark Arena. Forward Cail MacLean scored two goals for the Bears.... The Falcons hold an all-time record of 7-9-6 against the Bears.... The Falcons will host the Bears in the season's second and final encounter between the teams on April 4th.... Hershey is 4-2-1-0 over their last seven games, although the club lost their last game to the Cleveland Barons, 3-1, on Sunday. Former Falcon Shane Willis scored the Bears' lone goal.... Willis has posted 25 points (13g, 12a) and is +10 in 27 games for Hershey this season.... Another former Springfield skater Sheldon Keefe has recorded 23 points (10g, 13a) in 40 contests.... Former UVM forward Eric Perrin is the AHL's fourth-leading scorer with 45 points (17g, 28a).... Bears defenseman Pascal Trepanier leads AHL blueliners in points (28) and assists (22).... Shrewsbury native Marc Busenburg leads Hershey as well as all AHL defensemen in plus/minus at +15.... Bears netminder Tom Lawson ranks third in the league with a .940 SV%. Lawson ranks eighth in the AHL with a 2.07 GAA despite Hershey yielding the second-most shots on goal per game (34.53) to their opponents on the campaign.... The Bears have surrendered a league-high eight shorthanded goals against this season.

Falcons at Norfolk Admirals

Friday, January 23 &

Saturday, January 24

The Falcons will complete their season series against Norfolk this weekend with the third and fourth meetings of the campaign with the club.... The teams exchanged shutouts in their first two encounters at the Civic Center. Jean-Marc Pelletier made 27 saves in a 1-0 overtime shutout of the Admirals on October 29th. Jeff Taffe scored the game-winner with 53 seconds remaining in the extra session. Norfolk goaltender Craig Anderson stopped each of the 18 shots he faced in a 3-0 Admirals' win on November 7th.... The Falcons are 3-3-0 all-time against the Admirals.... Norfolk's leading scorer Marty Wilford is tied for second among AHL defensemen in assists (21) and sixth in points (24).... Anderson, who was recalled by the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, is tied for 12th in the league with a GAA of 2.13.... The Blackhawks reassigned goaltender Michael Leighton to Norfolk on Thursday. Leighton registered a 2.97 GAA in 25 appearances with Chicago this season and was named the NHL's Defensive Player of the Week for December 22-28.... The Admirals are currently riding a four-game losing streak with two of the defeats coming in overtime.

Falcons at Philadelphia Phantoms

Sunday, January 25

The Falcons look to avenge January 9th's 3-2 overtime loss to the Phantoms at the Civic Center. Philadelphia forward Kirby Law knocked in the game-tying goal with four seconds left in regulation and set up defenseman John Slaney's power-play game-winning goal in the extra session for his third point (2g, 1a) of the game.... Sunday's contest will be the second of two encounters between the teams this season.... The Falcons hold an all-time record of 5-6-2 versus the Phantoms.... Philadelphia is 6-1-0 over their last seven games and have won each of their last four home games.... The Phantoms leads AHL teams in penalty minutes (1,295) by a margin of 259 PIM.... Philadelphia ranks sixth in the league in power-play success (16.8%) this season.... Law is tied for sixth in the AHL in scoring with 42 points (17g, 25a) this season.... Phantoms goaltenders Neil Little and Antero Niittymaki have each registered a 2.13 GAA this season.... Philadelphia has suffered a league-high three regulation losses this season when leading after the second period.... The Phantoms are 11-5-0-1 in one-goal games this season.

Upcoming Promotions:

Scout Night – Friday, January 30th – The Falcons will hold their next Scout Night of the season on January 30th when the club will again face the Worcester IceCats. Scouts can receive discounted tickets to the game as well as a commemorative patch for their uniform. One troop from participating councils will present that evening's colors and lead in the scout promise. Scouts are encouraged to wear their uniform to the game.

This Week's Game Schedule:

Wed, Jan. 21 Falcons at Hershey Bears 7:30 PM GIANT Center

Fri., Jan. 23 Falcons at Norfolk Admirals 7:30 PM Norfolk Scope

Sat., Jan. 24 Falcons at Norfolk Admirals 7:30 PM Norfolk Scope

Sun., Jan. 25 Falcons at Philadelphia Phantoms 5:05 PM Wachovia Spectrum

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2004


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