Falcons Host Sound Tigers Tonight

Published on April 1, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


The Springfield Falcons and Bridgeport Sound Tigers meet for the ninth time this season when they get together on Friday night at the MassMutual Center starting at 7:30 pm. The Falcons are 6-1-0-1 against the Sound Tigers this year, including a 4-0 record at The Nest. These two teams haven't played since February 16th when Springfield beat Bridgeport in a shootout, 4-3, on home ice.

Tomas Kubalik leads the Falcons in scoring against the Sound Tigers this year with three goals and seven assists, for 10 points in eight games. Trevor Frischmon has seven assists in eight games versus Bridgeport. Goaltender Gustaf Wesslau is 3-0 against the Sound Tigers this season posting a 2.27 GAA and a .914 save percentage.

Rhett Rakhshani is the Sound Tigers leading scorer against the Falcons this year with two goals and eight assists for 10 points in five games. Rakhshani leads the league in rookie scoring with 20 goals, 35 assists and 55 points and he was recently named to the AHL's All-Rookie Team. Rakhshani recorded a hat trick on March 25th against the Portland Pirates, and is bringing a seven-game point streak into the week that has seen him put up five goals and six assists.

Former Falcon Rob Hisey is also enjoying a successful season with the Sound Tigers. Hisey has recorded 14 goals and 28 assists, good for 42 points this year, including one goal and six assists against Springfield.

WELCOME TO SPRINGFIELD: On Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed forward Cam Atkinson to a two-year entry level contract. Atkinson, 21, just completed his junior season at Boston College, where he registered 31 goals and 21 assists for 52 points, 28 penalty minutes and a +21 plus/minus rating in 39 games. He set a career high in goals, which led the nation for the second consecutive season, while ranking third (tied) in points and sixth (tied) in power play goals (11). He led Hockey East in goals, points (tied) and shorthanded goals (4-tied), was third in game-winning goals (5-tied) and fourth in power play goals.

The Riverside, Connecticut native finished his career at Boston College with 68-56-124, 86 penalty minutes and a cumulative plus/minus rating of +42 in 117 games. He had 30-23-53, 30 penalty minutes and was +26 in 42 games in 2009-10, helping the Eagles win the National Championship. He was named the NCAA Northeast Regional Most Outstanding Player and was selected to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Prior to his collegiate career, he tallied 69-81-150 and 38 penalty minutes in 80 games for Avon Old Farms (Conn.) High School, helping the school win the New England Ice Hockey Championship in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

On Tuesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed goaltender Allen York to a standard two-year entry level contract. York, 21, just completed his junior season at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (R.P.I.), where he went 18-11-4 with a 2.17 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and two shutouts in 34 games. He was named Third Team All-ECAC after he finished the season ranked third in the league in wins and goals-against average and fifth in save percentage.

The Wetaskiwin, Alberta native finished his career at R.P.I. with a record of 37-33-8, 2.47 GAA, .915 SV% and four shutouts in 83 career games. He ranks first all-time among R.P.I. goaltenders in GAA and is fourth in SV%. He was named Second Team All-ECAC and was a finalist for Ken Dryden Award, given to the ECAC Goaltender of the Year, in 2009-10.

WELCOME TO SPRINGFIELD (cont): On Thursday, the Falcons announced they signed Denny Kearney to an Amateur Tryout Agreement. Kearney recently finished his collegiate career with Yale University where he registered 45 goals and 86 assists for 131 points in 138 games. Kearney improved his point production all four years at Yale and collected a career high 16 goals and 41 points in 36 games this past season.

Atkinson, York and Kearney join Aaron Bogosian, Wade MacLeod, Paul Dainton and Anton Blomqvist as first year players who have joined the Falcons during the month of March.

MAKING HIS NHL DEBUT: The Blue Jackets added right wing Tomas Kubalik to the roster on emergency recall from the Springfield Falcons on Thursday. Kubalik joined Columbus in Washington where he made his NHL debut against the Capitals recording two assists.

Kubalik, 20, has registered 22 goals and 28 assists for 50 points and 43 penalty minutes in 73 games for Springfield this season. The Blue Jackets' sixth pick, 135th overall, in the 2008 Entry Draft, is playing his first professional season and leads the Falcons in goals, assists (tied), points and power play goals (6).

The Plzen, Czech Republic native tallied 33-42-75, 95 penalty minutes and was +16 in 58 games with Victoriaville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2009-10, his first season in North America. He led the club (tied) and ranked sixth (tied) in the QMJHL in game-winning goals (7). He also ranked third on the club in points (tied), fourth in goals and fifth in assists. Prior to his North American career, he spent four seasons playing for Plzen in the Czech Elite and Czech-2 leagues. He combined to record 36-32-68 and 222 penalty minutes in 136 games from 2005-09.

RAKHSHANI NAMED TO ALL-ROOKIE TEAM: The American Hockey League has announced that Sound Tigers forward Rhett Rakhshani has been named to the 2010-11 AHL All-Rookie Team.

Rakhshani, 23, earns his second notable league honor this season after representing the Sound Tigers at the 2010-11 AHL All-Star Classic earlier this season. The Islanders fourth-round pick (100th overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft currently leads the Sound Tigers in goals (20), assists (35) and points (55), and is best among AHL rookies in assists, points, and power-play goals (10). In addition, Rakhshani recorded his first professional hat trick against Portland on Mar. 25, 2011, surpassing Jeremy Colliton's team record for points in a season by a rookie (53). The Huntington Beach, Calif. native has also enjoyed two separate seven-game scoring streaks as well as a six-game multi-point streak and made his NHL debut this season, appearing in two contests with the New York Islanders.

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



American Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2011


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