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Falcons Host Monarchs Tonight

November 21, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


GAME SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Manchester Monarchs will meet for the fifth time this season as they celebrate the night before Thanksgiving at the MassMutual Center starting at 7:00 pm. Wednesday is also the third meeting during the month of November between the Falcons and Monarchs with Manchester winning the last three head-to-head match-ups, including a 4-3 win in overtime on Saturday, November 17.

The Falcons are 1-2-1-0 against Manchester this season and each team has won a contest in the extra session. Rob Schremp gave Springfield a 3-2 overtime win back on October 7 with the game-winning marker. Falcons center Patrick Thoresen leads Springfield with four goals and one assist for five points in four games against Manchester this season. Gabe Gauthier and Peter Harrold lead Manchester in scoring against Springfield this year with one goal and five assists for six points in four games. David Meckler leads the Monarchs with three goals against the Falcons, while Brian Boyle led the Monarchs in the last meeting against Springfield with two goals, including the game-winner in overtime. Boyle is eighth in the league in rookie scoring with six goals and six assists for 12 points in 15 games.

The Falcons enter tonight's game having earned a point in their last six games going 4-0-1-1 taking 10 of a possible 12 points in the standings in that span. Springfield most recently defeated the Providence Bruins in Providence this past Sunday by a score of 3-2. Patrick Thoresen, Sebastien Bisaillon and Colin McDonald all tallied power play goals in the win, while goaltender Jeff Deslauriers stopped 29 of 31 shots for his team-leading eighth win of the year. The Falcons currently have a record of 9-5-1-3 good for 22 points and second place in the Atlantic Division. Springfield will play three games in the next four days around the Thanksgiving holiday, including a trip to Norfolk, Virginia this weekend. The Falcons have won their last three home games and look for a season-high fourth straight home win Wednesday.

The Monarchs head into Springfield having snapped a three-game losing streak with their victory over the Falcons last Saturday. Manchester has a record of 6-7-1-1 good for 14 points and sixth place in the Atlantic Division. The Monarchs will celebrate the Thanksgiving weekend with three games in three days including a home contest against Worcester on Friday. Manchester will head to Portland on Saturday and Providence on Sunday.

FALCONS RECALL FARYNUK FROM STOCKTON: The Falcons announced Tuesday that they have recalled defenseman Brad Farynuk from their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. Farynuk has played in 14 games for the Thunder this season and is leading all Stockton defensemen in scoring with one goal and seven assists for eight points. The 6-foot, 220-pound native of Enderby, British Columbia started the season in Falcons training camp spending the preseason with Springfield.

Farynuk is in his second season of professional hockey after splitting the 2006-07 campaign between the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL and Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. In 47 games with Dayton, Farynuk collected four goals and 19 assists for 23 points finishing third among all Bombers' defensemen in scoring. Farynuk led all Dayton blueliners in post-season scoring registering four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 22 playoff contests. In 16 regular season games with Syracuse last season, he picked up one assist.

FALCONS TEAM NOTES: Falcons defenseman T.J. Kemp has recorded at least a point in six straight games collecting one goal and seven assists for eight points in that span. Kemp scored his first goal of the year on Saturday, November 17 at Manchester, while adding three assists on Sunday, November 18 at Providence. Kemp now leads all Springfield defensemen in scoring with one goal and nine assists for 10 points in 11 games.

Center Patrick Thoresen had a strong weekend scoring two shorthanded goals and two shootout goals in a 5-4 shootout win on Friday, November 16 over the Norfolk Admirals. Thoresen scored the game-tying marker on Saturday, November 17 at Manchester and also tallied a power play goal on Sunday, November 18 at Providence giving him four goals in three games over the weekend. Thoresen was the game's first star on Friday against Norfolk. Thoresen leads the team in goals with nine.

Defenseman Sebastien Bisaillon tallied his second goal of the year on Sunday, November 18 at Providence giving him one goal and one assist for two points in his last two games.

Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers collected two wins on the weekend giving him eight on the season, good for second in the AHL in that category. Deslauriers has a record of 8-2-3 with a 2.33 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Netminder Devan Dubnyk was also steady over the weekend stopping 35 of 39 shots in Manchester on Saturday in a 4-3 overtime loss.

Rob Schremp collected four assists for four points in his last two games and he currently is tied with Patrick Thoresen for the team lead in scoring with three goals and 12 assists for 15 points in 16 games played.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS: The Monarchs have recalled center Patrick Jarrett from the ECHL's Reading Royals. Jarrett, 23, has appeared in 14 games with the Royals this season and collected 11 points (2-9=11) and six penalty minutes. He played the last two seasons in Germany with the Berlin Polar Bears (DEL). In 85 games from 2005-07, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, collected 40 points (16-24=40) and 93 penalty minutes. Prior to going to Germany, Jarrett played with the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League for four years and recorded 220 points (72-148=220) and 155 penalty minutes in 225 games. Jarrett was selected by the Nashville Predators in the fifth-round (138th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He will wear No. 18 for the Monarchs.

Manchester has recalled goaltender Jonathan Quick from the ECHL's Reading Royals and assigned goaltender Daniel Taylor to Reading.

Quick, 21, has backstopped 13 games for the Royals this season with a record of 7-5-1, a goals-against-average of 2.46 and a .907 save-percentage. Two years at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst brought this 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Milford, Connecticut, to a record of 23-22-6, a goals-against-average of 2.30 and a .926 save-percentage in 54 games from 2005 to 2007. Quick will wear No. 29 for Manchester.

Taylor, 21, served as the back-up netminder for the Monarchs in one game this season but has yet to see playing time. The 5-foot-11, 186-pound native of Plymouth, England, spent the 2006-07 season with the ECHL's Bakersfield Condors, the Wheeling Nailers and the Texas Wildcatters. Between the three teams, Taylor collected a record of 7-10-1, a 4.13 goals-against-average and a .871 save-percentage in 20 games.

MONARCHS LEADERS: Manchester's rookie forward Teddy Purcell leads the league in scoring with seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points in 15 games, while Gabe Gauthier is second in the league in points with seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points in 15 games.

Purcell helped the University of Maine advance to the 2007 Frozen Four by scoring 43 points (16-27=43) in 40 games. He finished third on the Black Bears in points and goals and his 27 assists led the team. Purcell was tied for fourth in the nation among rookies in points. Purcell signed with the Los Angeles Kings as an unrestricted free agent on April 27, 2007.

Gauthier is in his second season of pro hockey after collecting 14 goals and 28 assists for 42 points in 69 games with Manchester last year. He made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings against the Dallas Stars on March 11, 2007.



American Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2007


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