Falcons Weekly Notes

Published on February 4, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME CAPSULES

---WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2003 AT BINGHAMTON SENATORS---

The Springfield Falcons and Binghamton Senators will meet for the sixth time this season when they face off on Wednesday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Civic Center. The Falcons are 1-4 against the Senators this season, including 0-2 in Binghamton. The Senators have won the last four games against Springfield. Binghamton is currently in first place in the East Division with a

26-15-7-1 record for 60 points. Binghamton is 7-1-2 in their last ten games played. The Senators won the last meeting between these two teams 5-3 in Binghamton on January 29th. Jason Spezza leads the team in scoring with 19 goals and 23 assists for 42 points. Spezza also leads Binghamton in scoring against the Falcons with four goals and four assists for eight points in four games, including being named the game's first star in both games in Binghamton. Joe Murphy and Antoine Vermette are tied for second on the team in scoring with 16 goals each. Vermette leads the team in power play goals with six and Murphy leads the team in plus/minus at +17. David Hymovitz leads the team in shorthanded goals with four. Dennis Bonvie leads the team in penalty minutes with 129. Ray Emery has a 19-11-5 record with a 2.41 GAA and a .925 save percentage. Emery is also tied for second in the AHL with four shutouts among active goalies in the league. Binghamton has the 26th ranked power play in the AHL scoring on 13.4% of their power play opportunities. The Senators are 8-28 on the power play against the Falcons this season for a success rate of 28.6%. Spezza (3), Chris Kelly (2), and Murphy (2) lead the Senators in power play goals against Springfield. The Falcons are 2-22 (9.1%) against Binghamton on the power play. Binghamton is 8th in the AHL in penalty killing, killing 86.1% of their shorthanded situations. Binghamton won the last meeting between these two teams 5-3 in Binghamton.

---FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2003 VS. LOWELL LOCK MONSTERS---

The Springfield Falcons will face Lowell for the fourth time this season on Friday night at "The Nest." Springfield is 2-0-1-0 against Lowell this season. The Falcons tied Lowell in their last meeting 5-5 on December 14th at Paul Tsongas Arena. Jeff Taffe leads the Falcons in scoring against Lowell with one goal and three assists for four points. Jeff Daw, Jeremiah McCarthy, Steve Halko, and Ryan Bayda all lead Lowell in scoring against Springfield with three points each. Goaltender Evgeny Konstantinov has started every game in goal for the Falcons against Lowell this season posting a goals against average of 2.59. Lowell has lost their last two games on the road. Center Jeff Daw is the active leader for Lowell in goals with 12 goals on the season, while forward Ryan Bayda leads the team in scoring with 39 overall points (11-28-39). Jeff Heerema leads the team in goals with 15, but he is currently on recall to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Lock Monsters currently have a record of 13-33-4-2 for 32 points and 14th place in the Eastern Conference. Lowell is 5-17 on power play opportunities against the Falcons scoring at a percentage of 29.4% of their opportunities. Lowell is 19th in the AHL in power play scoring, as they have scored on 15.1% of their opportunities. Lowell is also ranked 28th in the AHL in penalty killing, killing 77.4% of their shorthand situations. The Falcons have gone 3-13 for a success rate of 23.1% on the power play against Lowell this season. This will be the first meeting between these two teams since the Phoenix Coyotes traded goaltender Patrick DesRochers to Carolina in exchange for Jean-Marc Pelletier on December 31st. DesRochers has a record of 3-7-1 with a 2.78 goals against average and ..917 save percentage in 11 games with Lowell. Pelletier has a record of 5-1-1 with a 2.12 goals against average and .934 save percentage in seven games with the Falcons.

---SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2003 VS. MANITOBA MOOSE---

The Falcons and Manitoba Moose will meet for the fourth and final time this season on Saturday night. Manitoba leads the season series at 2-1. These two teams last played each other on December 7th with the Moose making their first ever visit to Springfield beating the Falcons, 3-2. Manitoba is led by center Brandon Reid who leads the team in scoring with 13 goals and 24 assists for 37 points in 52 games played. Left wing Jason King leads the team in goals with 15. Manitoba goalie Alex Auld is 13th in the AHL with a GAA of 2.53 and a .910 save percentage. Darren Rumble leads the Falcons in scoring against Manitoba with one goal and three assists for four points. Erik Westrum, Martin Cibak, and Jeff Taffe are the active leaders in scoring against the Moose with three points each. Ryan Ready leads the Moose in scoring against the Falcons with two goals and three assists for five points in three games. Ready is second the team in scoring with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 40 games played, and he leads Manitoba in power play goals with eight.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTABLES:

Shane Willis recorded his first hat trick of the season and added one assist in a 5-4 win on 2/1/03 against Providence earning the game's first star. It was his first game back since December 14th after missing 21 games due to a broken foot.

Sheldon Keefe scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win on 1/31/03 against Portland earning the game's third star. He added one goal and one assist on 2/1/03 earning the game's second star against Providence extending his goal-scoring streak to four games tying him with Frank Banham for the Falcons longest goal-scoring streak of the season.

Jean-Marc Pelletier made 28 saves in recording his first shutout as a member of the Falcons on 1/31/03 earning the game's first star.

Jeff Taffe scored the game-winning goal in a 5-4 win against Providence on 2/1/03.

TRANSACTIONS:

January 27, 2003 – Springfield Falcons sign defenseman Todd Gill to a professional tryout agreement.

January 29, 2003 – Phoenix Coyotes reassign forward Jeff Taffe to the Springfield Falcons

January 30, 2003 – Springfield Falcons reassign defenseman Jeremy Van Hoof to Pensacola of the ECHL and forward Brad Ralph to Augusta of the ECHL.

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

JANUARY 29 Springfield-3 at Binghamton-5

JANUARY 31 Springfield-1 vs. Portland-0

FEBRUARY 1 Springfield-5 vs. Providence-4

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

FEBRUARY 5 Springfield at Binghamton 7:05 Broome County Veterans Arena

FEBRUARY 7 Springfield vs. Lowell 7:35 Springfield Civic Center

FEBRUARY 8 Springfield vs. Manitoba 7:35 Springfield Civic Center



American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2003


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