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Falcons Weekly Notes

January 29, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME CAPSULES

---WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2003 VS. BINGHAMTON SENATORS---

The Springfield Falcons and Binghamton Senators will meet for the fifth time this season when they face off on Wednesday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Civic Center. The Falcons are 1-3 against the Senators this season, including 0-1 in Binghamton. Binghamton is currently in first place in the East Division with a 24-14-7-1 record for 56 points. Binghamton is 6-0-2 in their last eight games played. The Senators won the last meeting between these two teams 5-4 in Binghamton. Jason Spezza leads the team in scoring with 17 goals and 19 assists for 36 points. Spezza's 17 goals also leads the team. Joe Murphy is second on the team in scoring with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points. Antoine Vermette leads the team in power play goals with five. David Hymovitz leads the team in shorthanded goals with four. Dennis Bonvie leads the team in penalty minutes with 118. Ray Emery has a 17-10-5 record with a 2.38 GAA and a .921 save percentage. Simon Lajeunesse has a 5-3-1 record with a 2.68 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Binghamton has the 26th ranked power play in the AHL scoring on 12.7 percent of their power play opportunities. Binghamton is 6th in the AHL in penalty killing, killing 86.5percent of their shorthanded situations. Binghamton won the last meeting between these two teams 5-4 in Binghamton. Chris Kelly and Frank Banham made it a 1-1 game after the first period. Kelly would open the scoring in the second period for Binghamton before Springfield took the lead at 3-2 on goals from Boyd Kane and Nikita Alexeev. Alexandre Giroux would score to tie the game at 3-3 after two periods. Spezza and Brad Smyth scored in the third period going into the final minutes of the game. Banham would cut the lead to 5-4 with 53 seconds remaining in regulation and Binghamton held on for the win.

---FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2003 VS. PORTLAND PIRATES---

The Springfield Falcons and Portland Pirates will meet for the third time this season when they face off on Friday in Springfield. The Falcons are 1-1 against the Pirates this season with the road team winning each game. Portland is currently in third place in the North Division with a 23-15-4-5 record for 55 points. Portland has won two of their last three games, including a 3-2 loss against Lowell on Monday. Colin Forbes (17 goals and 23 assists) and Peter Ferraro (14 goals and 26 assists) are tied for the team lead in scoring with 40 points each. Trent Whitfield is third on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points. Graham Mink is tied with Forbes for the team lead in goals scored with 17. Mink also leads the team in power play goals with eight. Mel Angelstad leads the team in penalty minutes with 87. Maxime Ouellet has a 16-6-2 record with a 2.00 GAA and a .942 save percentage and seven shutouts. He leads the AHL in shutouts and save percentage, and is second in the league in wins and goals against average. Ratislav Stana has a 4-7 record with a 2.89 GAA and a .917 save percentage and one shutout. Portland has the second ranked power play in the AHL scoring on 20.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Portland is sixth in the AHL in penalty killing, killing 86.5 percent of their shorthanded situations. Ramzi Abid and Boyd Kane scored for the Falcons in the 2-1 win in Portland, with Kane netting the game-winner. Whitfield scored for the Pirates. Zac Bierk made 33 saves in recording the win.

---SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2003 VS. PROVIDENCE BRUINS---

The Springfield Falcons and Providence Bruins will meet for the seventh time this season when they face off on Saturday night in Springfield. The home team has won every meeting this year. Providence is currently in first place in the North Division with a 29-11-6-2 record for 66 points. Providence lost their last game to Portland 7-4, but they are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. Matt Herr leads the team in scoring with 21 goals and 27 assists for 48 points, including nine game-winners, which leads the AHL in that category. Keith Aucoin is second on the team in scoring with 15 goals and 31 assists for 46 points. Andy Hilbert leads active players with eight power play goals. Brantt Myhres leads active players in penalty minutes with 91. Andrew Raycroft has a 15-8-2 record with a 2.66 GAA, a .913 save percentage and one shutout. Tim Thomas has a 13-5-3 record with a 2.77 GAA and a .907 save percentage. Providence has the 11th ranked power play in the AHL scoring on 16.9 percent of their power play opportunities. Providence is 13th in the AHL in penalty killing, killing 85.0 percent of their shorthanded situations. Herr, Pat Leahy, and Martin Samuelsson scored for Providence in a 3-2 win in Providence on 11/22/02. Frank Banham and Michael Schutte scored for the Falcons in the loss. The Falcons won the last meeting in Springfield 4-1 on 11/11/02. Schutte, Peter Fabus, Martin Grenier, and Alexander Svitov scored for the Falcons while Chris Paradise score the lone Bruins goal. Zac Bierk made 35 saves in recording the win.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTABLES:

Frank Banham has recorded a point in five straight games collecting four goals and one assist in that span. He has had two four-game goal-scoring streaks in January.

Brian Holzinger has recorded a point in his last six games collecting two goals and six assists in that span. Holzinger was the game's first star on 1/25/03 against Manchester with the game-tying goal and one assist.

Jean-Marc Pelletier is 3-1-1 since joining the Falcons, and is 2-0-1 with a 2.00 goals against average and .938 save percentage in his last three starts.

Darcy Hordichuk scored his first goal of the season on 1/23/03 against St. John's earning the game's third star.

TRANSACTIONS:

January 23, 2003 – Tampa Bay Lightning recall defenseman Darren Rumble from the Springfield Falcons.

January 23, 2003 – Springfield Falcons recall defenseman Jeremy Van Hoof from Pensacola of the East Coast Hockey League.

January 27, 2003 – Springfield Falcons sign defenseman Todd Gill to a Professional Tryout Agreement.

WEEK IN REVIEW (2-1-1-0):

JANUARY 20 Springfield-3 vs. Albany-1

JANUARY 23 Springfield-4 vs. St. John's-2

JANUARY 24 Springfield-1 at Hartford- 2

JANUARY 25 Springfield-3 vs. Manchester-3 (OT)

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

JANUARY 29 Springfield at Binghamton 7:05 PM Broome County Veterans Memorial Civic Center

JANUARY 31 Springfield vs. Portland 7:35 PM Springfield Civic Center

FEBRUARY 1 Springfield vs. Providence 7:35 PM Springfield Civic Center

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