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Falcons Look To Gobble Up River Rats This Wednesday

February 6, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


WEEK IN REVIEW

FEBRUARY 3 Springfield-2, Manchester-4

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

FEBRUARY 8 Springfield vs. Albany River Rats 7:05 PM MassMutual Center

FEBRUARY 10 Springfield at Norfolk Admirals 7:15 PM Scope Arena

FEBRUARY 11 Springfield at Norfolk Admirals 7:15 PM Scope Arena

FEBRUARY 12 Springfield at Philadelphia Phantoms 4:05 PM Wachovia Spectrum

*Radio Broadcasts on WMAS 1450 AM

*Watch Live on the B-2 Network

THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS

--WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2006 VS. ALBANY RIVER RATS--

The Springfield Falcons will host the Albany River Rats on Wednesday for the third time this season. Albany is in seventh place in the AHL's Atlantic Division. The Falcons have a record of 2-2-0-0 against the River Rats this season with both the Falcons and Rats winning a game at home and on the road. The last meeting between these two teams resulted in a 4-1 loss for the Falcons in Albany on January 4th with Marek Kvapil scoring Springfield's lone goal. The River Rats last visited Springfield on December 4th and beat the Falcons 6-2. Albany forward David Clarkson is sixth in the league in penalty minutes with 192 pims. River Rats right wing Aleksander Suglobov leads the River Rats in points with 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points in 40 games. Suglobov played alongside Falcons rookie Ryan Vesce in last week's AHL All-Star Game. Springfield's point leader, center Jason Jaspers, has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games played. Newly acquired Albany goaltender Gregg Naumenko has yet to face the Falcons as a member of the River Rats. In three games with Albany, Naumenko has a record of 1-1-0 with a 3.04 goals against average and .898 save percentage. Netminder Frank Doyle has played in 36 games for Albany this year posting a record of 14-19-2 with a 3.08 goals against average and .911 save percentage.

--FRI. FEBRUARY 10, 2006 & SAT. FEBRUARY 11, 2006 AT NORFOLK ADMIRALS--

The Falcons will travel to Norfolk on Friday for back-to-back games against the Admirals. This is Springfield's only trip to Norfolk this season. The Falcons defeated the Admirals 5-2 on January 20 with Mitch Fritz scoring a pair of goals for Springfield. Norfolk is currently ranked third in the AHL's East Division with a record of 24-18-2-3. Norfolk center Mark Cullen is 16th in the league in points with 20 goals and 29 assists for 49 points and had one goal against the Falcons in their first meeting of the year. Fellow center Nathan Barrett is third in the league in power play goals (14). Admirals center Martin St. Pierre is currently sixth in the AHL in rookie scoring with 42 points. Springfield forward Ryan Vesce is ranked ninth with 40 points. Norfolk goaltender Corey Crawford has a 12-13-1 record this season with a 2.77 goals against average and .896 save percentage.

--SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2006 AT PHILADELPHIA PHANTOMS--

The Falcons final game of the week will take place at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia. This will be the Falcons first and only trip to Philadelphia this season and only the second time they will play the Phantoms this year. On October 30, 2005, the Falcons hosted the Phantoms in a 3-2 win for Springfield. Defensemen Alexandre Picard and John Slaney scored Philadelphia's two goals while Jason Jaspers and Ryan Vesce scored two of Springfield's three markers. Falcons center Dan Cavanaugh was in the Phantoms' lineup for the last meeting between these two teams, while Philadelphia forward Jim Campbell was a member of the Falcons. The Phantoms are 10-7-1-3 at home this season and the Falcons are 9-11-2-1 on the road. Phantoms goaltender Martin Houle has a record of 7-11-1 with a 2.41 goals against average and .911 save percentage this season. Veteran goaltender Jamie Storr has posted a record of 8-8-3 with a 2.87 goals against average and .903 save percentage in 20 games with Philadelphia this season.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

---Game 1 - Springfield at Manchester, February 3 - L 4-2---

The Springfield Falcons lost to the Manchester Monarchs, 4-2, Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Monarchs built an early 2-0 first period lead, only to Springfield even the score when Timo Helbling and Chris Dingman tied the score at 2-2 just 22-seconds apart midway through the opening period. Manchester regained a two-goal advantage in the second period when Matt Ryan tallied at 8:17 of the second period, followed by Brad Smyth at 11:32 of the middle period. Gerald Coleman made 19 saves between the pipes for the Falcons. The two teams played a scoreless third period.

PLAYER / TEAM NOTES:

Falcons defenseman Tim Helbling extended his scoring streak to six games on Friday night in Manchester when he scored a first-period goal. Helbling has four goals and two assists in that span.

Chris Dingman extended his scoring streak to four games on Friday night in Manchester when he also tallied in the first period. Dingman has two goals and four assists in that span and also has points in five of his last six games played.

Rookie Ryan Vesce represented the Falcons at the 2006 AHL All-Star Game last week collecting one assist. Vesce became the first Falcons rookie forward since Jeff Taffe (2002-03) to collect a point in an All-Star Game.

INJURY REPORT

Falcons forward Steve McLaren and right wing Darren Reid missed games due to injury.

TRANSACTION REPORT

1-30-06 - Tampa Bay Lightning reassign Jason Jaspers to the Springfield Falcons.

2-1-06 - Tampa Bay Lightning reassign Doug O'Brien to the Springfield Falcons.

2-3-06 - Tampa Bay Lightning reassign Jay Rosehill from the Springfield Falcons to the Johnstown Chiefs.

2-3-06 - Tampa Bay Lightning reassign Brian Eklund from the Springfield Falcons to the Johnstown Chiefs.

ON THE FARM - JOHNSTOWN CHIEFS

The Johnstown Chiefs lost to the Dayton Bombers in a 4-3 shootout loss on Saturday night despite a 39-save effort from goaltender Brian Eklund. It was Eklund's first ECHL game since playing with the Pensacola Ice Cats in the 2003-04 season. Randy Rowe became the team's first 20-goal scorer this season at 3:16 of the first period. It was Johnstown's second shootout loss this past weekend to the Bombers, as they also fell in a 3-2 SOL on Friday night. The Chiefs started last week by beating the Trenton Titans 5-0 on February 1 with goaltender Morgan Cey earning the shutout.

FALCONS NEW TICKET PLANS:

A new ticket plan the Falcons unveiled was a Five-Game Flex Pack, offering fans even more flexibility to attend Springfield home games. The Five-Game Flex Pack is a block of five vouchers that can be redeemed for tickets to any remaining Falcons home game. Vouchers may be redeemed at the MassMutual Center Box Office either in advance or the day of the game. Seat locations are subject to availability.

Five-Game Flex Pack Pricing and Benefits:

- Sideline Seating - $65 for adults and $45 for youth/students/seniors

- Goal Zone Seating - $62.50 for adults and $40 for youth/students/seniors

- Savings off the box office price

- Chance to win autographed Falcons goalie stick

- Playoff Priority

- Falcons Team Store discount (10%)

COMMUNITY

FAMILY FUN NIGHTS AT FRIENDLY'S RETURN: Friendly Ice Cream is proud to announce "Family Fun Nights at Friendly's" to benefit Springfield Falcons Charities, Inc. Falcons players and Screech meet and greet fans at area Friendly's Restaurant throughout the Pioneer Valley:

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH 6-8 P.M. 1811 Boston Rd., Springfield

#18 David Spina & #39 Darren Reid

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH 6-8 P.M. 1094 Riverdale Rd., West Springfield

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH 6-8 P.M. 430 Cooley St., Springfield

MONDAY, MARCH 13th 6-8 P.M. TBD

MONDAY, MARCH 27th 6-8 P.M. TBD

BLEED FALCON BLUE: The Springfield Falcons are proud to announce that they will be hosting a Blood Drive to benefit the American Red Cross Blood Services on Tuesday, February 7th from 12-7 p.m. at the Blood Services Center, 3500 Main St., Springfield. #29 Mitch Fritz, Screech and friends will be on hand to give tickets to donors for the Thursday, February 23rd game v. Lowell at 7:05 p.m. (February vacation week game). Mitch Fritz will be at the Blood Drive from 3 to 7pm.

PINK RIBBON POWER PLAY: This program was started by #9 Ryan Vesce, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor. For each power play goal scored by the Falcons starting with the December 9th game, sponsors will donate funds that will benefit area breast cancer centers. We are looking for sponsors, both from an individual and corporate level, to pledge any amount. For example, if Screech pledged $1 for each

power play goal and the Falcons score 20 power play goals for the rest of the season, Screech will donate $20 to the breast cancer cause. To join the Pink Ribbon Power Play, contact Carole Appleton at 413-739-3344 x.112.

USED EQUIPMENT COLLECTION: Time to clean out those closets of used athletic equipment? Bring it to a Falcons game to benefit Sport-2-Sport. The Falcons, Reminder Publications, and Sport-2-Sport have teamed up to collect used athletic equipment and deliver it to local children organizations in need. Collection dates run from January 28th v. Providence to February 18th v. Wilkes-Barre. Sport-2-Sport is a non-profit organization that was created by East Longmeadow teenager, Jon Tremblay, to assist children-related organizations that need assistance in obtaining athletic equipment.

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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.

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