Falcons Host Monarchs Tonight

April 7, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


The Springfield Falcons and Manchester Monarchs will meet for the tenth and final time this season tonight at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons are 3-4-1-1 against the Monarchs this season, including 1-2-0-1 on home ice. These two Atlantic Division rivals play the back end of a home-and-home series tonight. The Falcons traveled to Manchester on Wednesday night and defeated the Monarchs 6-3 at the Verizon Wireless Arena scoring five unanswered goals erasing an early 1-0 deficit. Zdenek Blatny (2), Norm Milley (2), Ryan Vesce, and Jason Jaspers all scored for Springfield while goaltender Jonathan Boutin made 36 saves earning the game's first star. Both Mitch Fritz and P.J. Atherton each added a pair of assists in the Springfield victory. Konstantin Pushkarev, Tim Jackman, and Alexandre Daigle tallied for the Monarchs.

The Falcons continue a busy stretch of games this week as they will host the Monarchs tonight, followed by the Providence Bruins on Saturday. Springfield will travel to Providence on Sunday to conclude their season series with the Bruins at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

The Monarchs head into tonight's action with five games remaining in the regular season. Manchester has clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs and enter tonight's game with a record of 40-28-3-4 good for 87 points and third place in the Atlantic Division standings.

O'BRIEN BACK WITH FALCONS: The Springfield Falcons announced Tuesday that defenseman Doug O'Brien was reassigned to Springfield by their NHL affiliate, the Tampa Bay Lightning. O'Brien was recalled by the Lightning on March 26 and appeared in three games with Tampa Bay bringing his season totals to five games played with the Lightning this year. O'Brien made his NHL debut on January 29 against the Washington Capitals. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of St. John's, Newfoundland has six goals and 24 assists this season in 68 games with the Falcons. He currently leads all Springfield defensemen in points this year.

In 2003-04 he appeared in 74 games with the Falcons and scored four goals with 13 assists and 76 penalty minutes. He led all Falcon defensemen in points and had one game winner. He also skated in three games with Johnstown of the ECHL and recorded two penalty minutes. O'Brien was selected by the Lightning in the sixth round, 192nd overall, at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

MAKING AN IMPRESSION: Falcons rookie defenseman P.J. Atherton collected two assists in the Falcons' 6-3 win on Wednesday night improving his season totals to one goal and three assists for four points in four games played. Atherton signed an Amateur Tryout Agreement with Springfield on March 27 after concluding his senior season with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Atherton scored a goal in his professional debut on March 31 against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

POINT LEADERS MATCH-UP: Falcons center Jason Jaspers and right wing Norm Milley are the leaders in points against Manchester this year. Jaspers has five goals and six assists in nine games against the Monarchs this season. Milley follows him with four goals and five assists in seven meetings. Monarchs right wing Konstantin Pushkarev has six goals and four assists against Springfield while defenseman Marty Wilford has one goal and five assists against the Falcons.

CALLED UP: Manchester defenseman Richard Petiot was recalled by the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. He made his NHL debut on January 17 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Petiot has four goals and nine assists for 13 points with the Monarchs this season. In addition, Falcons defenseman Timo Helbling is currently on recall to the Lightning. Helbling made his NHL debut back on October 5, 2005. In eight games with the Lightning he has collected one assist.

The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Basel, Switzerland native has collected 21 points (7g, 14a) in 60 games with the Springfield Falcons this season.

IN THE NET: Manchester netminder Adam Hauser has a 21-16-2 record with Manchester this season, including 2-3-0 against the Falcons. He has a 2.61 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. Fellow goaltender Barry Brust, a rookie out of Swan River, Manitoba, posts a record of 17-13-1 for the season and 3-0-0 in games against Springfield. Falcons goaltender Jonathan Boutin played his first game against Manchester on Wednesday evening, earning the 6-3 win. Falcons rookie goaltender Gerald Coleman earned his first professional shutout against Manchester back on December 3, 2005, a 1-0 overtime victory.



American Hockey League Stories from April 7, 2006


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