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Falcons Weekly Notes

January 17, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS

--FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2007 at Providence Bruins--

The Falcons return to Providence in search of redemption of a 7-2 loss suffered in their first trip to Providence on January 7. Friday will be Springfield's third matchup against the Bruins in a 13-day span. The Falcons are 1-2 against the Bruins this season and have lost the last two games against Providence. The Bruins have currently won four straight games after snapping a five-game skid against the Falcons back on January 7. Springfield trails Providence by two points in the Atlantic Division standings.

Rookie Kris Versteeg continues to lead the Bruins this season with 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points in 36 games played. Versteeg is currently ranked fourth in the league in rookie scoring. Fellow first-year pro David Krejci is third on the Bruins in scoring with 10 goals and 28 assists for 38 points in 34 games, while also ranking sixth in the league in rookie scoring.

--SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2007 vs Worcester Sharks--

The Falcons will meet Worcester for the third time in January and will look to rebound from a pair of losses suffered against the Sharks over the last two weeks of the season. Springfield and Worcester are even in their season series at 3-3. The Falcons and Sharks are also separated by only two points in the Atlantic Division standings heading into this weekend. AHL All-Star Mathieu Darche continues to lead Worcester in scoring with 25 goals and 22 assists for 47 points in 40 games. Darche has three goals and three assists for six points in six games against the Birds, while Mike Iggulden is second in scoring against the Falcons with three goals and one assist for four points in five games. Worcester's power play is currently fourth in the AHL with a success rate of 20.5%, while the Falcons are 14th at 16.9%.

Falcons left wing Eric Healey leads Springfield in scoring against Worcester this season with three goals and six assists for nine points in six games. Center Daniel Corso has produced two goals and six assists for eight points in fives games against the Sharks.

--SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2007 at Hartford Wolf Pack--

The Falcons head back to Hartford for the third time this season after splitting the first two games in Hartford this year. Springfield and Hartford are even in their season series at 2-2. Hartford is 7-0-1-0 in their last eight games and 8-1-1-0 in their previous 10 contests heading into this weekend moving up to second place in the Atlantic Division standings.

Rookie Ryan Callahan leads Hartford in scoring with 24 goals and 13 assists for 37 points in 37 games and is curently third in the AHL in rookie scoring. Fellow rookie Dane Byers is second on the Pack in scoring with 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points in 39 games played.

Hartford has used both Steve Valiquette and Al Montoya between the pipes this season with Valiquette playing in 23 games and Montoya appearing in 22 games. Valiquette has a record of 13-9-9 with a 2.30 goals against average, while Montoya is 9-10-0 with a 2.36 goals against average.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

--FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2007 VS Providence Bruins L - 3-2-

The Falcons took the 1-0 lead, while on the power play during the opening period when David Spina shot it past Providence goaltender Jordan Sigalet. Bruins forward T.J. Trevelyan tied the score at 1-1 at 14:25 of the first period when he slid a shot past Falcons goaltender Karri Ramo.

The P-Bruins began the second period on the power play and only 22 seconds into the middle frame, they took a 2-1 lead with a skillful goal by David Krejci, followed at 12:31 by Bobby Allen who lifted the puck up over Ramo's left shoulder. In the third period, the Falcons made their move and scored at the 18:04 mark to pull within a goal when Doug O'Brien scored his second goal of the season with Healey and Spina grabbing the assists.

--SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 2007 VS Worcester Sharks L - 4-2--

Looking to snap their three-game losing streak, the Springfield Falcons hosted the Worcester Sharks Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. Sylvain Dufresne opened the scoring at the 12:07 mark of the first period when his slap shot found the back of the net assisted by David Spina and Daniel Corso. Worcester answered back with goals from Matthieu Darche and rookie Brady Leisenring, whose first AHL goal of the season would be followed by his second marker in the third period. Also scoring in the third period was Lukas Kaspar, which ended Worcester's scoring for the night. Daniel Corso completed the scoring, his eighth of the year on a breakaway.

--MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2007 VS Manchester Monarchs L - 5-2--

Manchester opened the scoring at 15:25 of the first period as John Zeiler scored his 11th goal of the year. The Falcons didn't let that discourage them and left wing Randy Rowe evened the score at 1-1 with his second tally of the season at 17:36 of the opening frame. Center Dan Cavanaugh and Mitch Fritz earned assists on the play. The Falcons took their only lead of the game at 7:37 of the second period with left wing David Spina's fifth tally of the season. The next three goals came on the power play off the sticks of Monarchs center Shay Stephenson, center Patrick O'Sullivan and Matt Moulson. In the third period, the Falcons came out strong and outshot Manchester 11-3, but just couldn't find the back of the net as Gabe Gauthier added an empty net goal capping of the win for the Monarchs.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTES:

Falcons forward David Spina extended his scoring streak to five straight games on Saturday night when he added one assist against the Worcester Sharks. Spina was the game's second star on Friday night when he scored his fourth goal of the year and added one assist against Providence. Spina has two goals and five assists for seven points in his last five contests. Spina is three games shy of 100 for his AHL career.

Falcons center Daniel Corso was the game's second star on Saturday night when he added one goal and one assist. Corso has registered at least a point in five of his last six games registering four goals and three assists for seven points in that span.

Falcons defenseman Andy Delmore played in his 300th career AHL game on Saturday night against the Worcester Sharks. Delmore continues to lead all Springfield defensemen in scoring with 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 40 games played. In 300 career AHL games, Delmore has 54 goals and 130 assists for 184 points.

INJURIES

Norm Milley and Justin Keller missed games due to injury.

ON THE FARM - JOHNSTOWN CHIEFS

The Wheeling Nailers beat the Johnstown Chiefs by a score of 2-1 on Monday at the Cambria County War Memorial.

Wheeling got on the board first when Joe Guenther scored a power-play goal on a wraparound at 11:25 of the first period. Johnstown evened the score when Andrew Martens banged home the rebound of a shot from the top of the circle by Zbynek Hrdel at 17:10. Richard Colwill scored his fifth goal of the season on a wrap-around at 14:48 of the third period to secure the win for Wheeling. The Chiefs went 1-for-5 on the power play, and Morgan Cey made 24-of-26 saves, earning the loss. The Chiefs are home on Friday night when they host the Dayton Bombers at 7:30 p.m.

OUT AND ABOUT IN THE 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 Restaurants throughout the Pioneer Valley.

February 13 @ 65 Sumner Ave., Springfield

March 19 @ Southampton Rd., Westfield (at Mass Pike entrance)

Icing and Blue Line Candle - Pilgrim Candle: The Falcons are proud to partner with Pilgrim Candle to introduce the Falcons Icing and Blue Line Candle. The candle features the Falcons' blue colors and the scents of Butter Cream Cookie together with Blackberry Bramble. These delightful and charitable decorations will be sold at scheduled Falcons games throughout the season and Pilgrim Candle stores in Westfield and South Hadley. Great for home, the office or anywhere to show your Falcons spirit and enjoy an engaging scent, the candles cost $18.25 with proceeds benefiting Springfield Falcons Charities, Inc. The program has thus far donated over $375,000 to children related organizations over the last nine seasons. Special thanks to Pilgrim Candle, Dion Label and Aucella & Associates for making this project happen.

WEEK IN REVIEW

JANUARY 12 Springfield - 2 vs Providence Bruins - 3 (Goal Scorers - Spina, Corso)

JANUARY 13 Springfield - 2 vs Worcester Sharks - 4 (Goal Scorers - Dufresne, Corso)

JANUARY 15 Springfield - 2 vs Manchester Monarchs - 5 (Goal Scorers - Rowe, Spina)

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

JANUARY 19 Springfield at Providence Bruins 7:05PM Dunkin Donuts Center

JANUARY 20 Springfield vs Worcester Sharks 7:05PM MassMutual Center

JANUARY 21 Springfield at Hartford Wolf Pack 4:05PM Hartford Civic Center

*Radio Broadcasts on The Zone 640 AM

*Watch Live on the B-2 Network



American Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2007


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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