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AHL Bridgeport Islanders

First Place Sound Tigers Open Seven Game Road Trip

January 13, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


The Sound Tigers opened a seven-game road trip with three games in four nights last week beating the Philadelphia Phantoms 2-1 in overtime Wednesday and losing 3-1 to the Norfolk Admirals Friday and 3-2 to the Hershey Bears Saturday. They finished the week in first place in the East Division with 47 points and a 19-14-8-1 record including 11-5-3-0 at home, 8-9-5-1 on the road and 1-2 on the road trip.

WED JAN 8th at PHI, 2-1 OTW: ERIC MANLOW opened the scoring with an unassisted power-play goal, and DANIEL TKACZUK scored with :12.1 left in overtime. RICK DiPIETRO made 28 saves and assisted on the deciding goal for the Sound Tigers who were 1 for 5 on the power play, 4 for 4 on the penalty kill and had a 35-29 shots on goal advantage.

FRI JAN 10th at NOR, 3-1 L: SVEN BUTENSCHON scored his second power-play goal in three games, his second goal of the season, and RICK DiPIETRO made 23 saves, but MIKE PELUSO scored twice while KENT HUSKINS had two assists to lead Norfolk. The Sound Tigers were 1 for 5 on the power play and 4 for 4 on the penalty kill. The Admirals had a 26-21 shots on goal advantage.

SAT JAN 11th at HER, 3-2 L: The Sound Tigers rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits on ERIC MANLOW's shorthanded goal and DANIEL TKACZUK's pretty redirection goal, but BRIAN WILLSIE and ERIC BERTRAND notched a goal and an assist apiece to lead Hershey. STEVE VALIQUETTE stopped Willsie on the first-ever penalty shot, for or against, in Sound Tigers' history at 10:31 of the second period. The Sound Tigers were 0 for 5 on the power play while the Bears were 1 for 3 and had a 31-29 shots on goal advantage.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – C DANIEL TKACZUK

Tkaczuk had points in all three games last week scoring in overtime Wednesday, assisting on the Sound Tigers' only goal Friday and adding another goal Saturday. Since joining the Sound Tigers on re-assignment from the NHL's St. Louis Blues in November, he has five goals, six assists, 11 points and 18 penalty minutes in 31 games.

THIS WEEK – Road Trip Continues Through Portland, Manchester and Worcester The Sound Tigers will play three road games in four days once again this week visiting the Portland Pirates Thursday, the Manchester Monarchs Saturday and the Worcester IceCats Sunday afternoon.

THU JAN 16th at POR, 7:05 p.m.: This will be the second and final of two meetings, the first and only in Portland, this regular season. The Sound Tigers are 3-2 all-time, 1-0 this season, versus the Pirates who enter this week in third place in the North Division with 49 points and a 20-13-4-5 record including 13-5-2-2 at home and 7-1-1-1 in the last ten games. They have also won two games in a row including their franchise-record eighth shutout of the year, 3-0 over the Saint John Flames Sunday. Portland enters this week with the AHL's second-ranked power play, 19.9%, and does not play again until Thursday. C TRENT WHITFIELD leads the team with 22 assists and 36 points and enters this week on the longest active assist and point streaks in the league with six assists in six games and 15 points in ten games.

SAT JAN 18th at MCH, 7:35 p.m.: This will be the second of four meetings, the first of two in Manchester, this regular season. The Sound Tigers are 2-2-1 all-time, including a 3-2 overtime win at home in November, versus the Monarchs who enter this week in second place in the North Division with 52 points and a 23-9-3-3 record including 11-6-1-0 at home. C MIKE CAMMALLERI enters this week tied for the AHL's second-longest active scoring streak with 15 points in seven games. Manchester enters this week with the league's top-ranked power play, 23.8%, and seventh-ranked penalty kill, 86.6%. The Monarchs will host Worcester Friday.

SUN JAN 19th at WOR, 4:05 p.m.: This will be the first of two meetings this season, as well as this month. The Sound Tigers will host Worcester Friday, January 31st. They are 2-1-1 all-time versus the IceCats who enter this week in fourth place in the North Division with 44 points and an 18-16-7-1 record including 8-4-5-0 at home. C JOHN POHL enters this week leading Worcester in assists and points and ranked second in goals and points and third in assists among all AHL rookies with 16 goals, 25 assists and 41 points. The IceCats will host the Springfield Falcons Wednesday, visit Manchester Friday and host the Lowell Lock Monsters Saturday.

SOUND TIGERS TEAM LEADERS (active roster)

Goals – ERIC MANLOW 12
Penalty Minutes – RAFFI TORRES, 52
Assists – ALAN LETANG, 15
Wins – RICK DiPIETRO, 11
Points – ERIC MANLOW, 24
Goals Against Average – RICK DiPIETRO, 2.22
Plus / Minus – TOMI PETTINEN & RAY SCHULTZ, +6
Save Percentage – RICK DiPIETRO, .921

SOUND TIGERS SPECIAL TEAMS

Power Play – 33 for 236, 14.0%; 22nd S
horthanded Goals Against – 9
Penalty Kill – 194 for 220, 88.2%; 3rd
Shorthanded Goal For – 5

SOUND TIGERS STREAKS

The Sound Tigers are in the middle of a seven-game road trip which will be followed by a four-game homestand and enter this week on a two-game losing streak. C DANIEL TKACZUK (2g,1a) enters this week on a three-game point streak.

CLAW MARKS

Hershey, Norfolk, the San Antonio Rampage and Manitoba Moose are the only AHL teams the Sound Tigers have played but never beaten during the regular season. G STEVE VALIQUETTE's save on Hershey's BRIAN WILLSIE Saturday marked the first penalty shot, for or against, in franchise history. D SVEN BUTENSCHON has scored twice on the power play in the last four games marking his only goals this season. The Sound Tigers are 15-7-4-1, 5-4-3-1 on the road, versus Eastern Conference Teams this season. They are 5-0-1-0, 1-0 on the road, versus North Division teams this season. This weekend will mark the Sound Tigers' only visits to Portland and Worcester this regular season.

SOUND TIGERS TRANSACTIONS

D RADEK MARTINEK, RW MATTIAS WEINHANDL, RW ERIC GODARD and RW TRENT HUNTER are on recall to the Islanders. D ALAIN NASREDDINE had knee surgery last week and is out of the lineup for approximately three weeks.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR & PROMOTIONAL NEWS

The team mascot STORM will visit Calf Pen Meadow Elementary School in Milford Wednesday at 2:45 p.m. STORM will also visit Fox Run School in Norwalk at 11:30 a.m. and Marvin Elementary School in Norwalk at 2 p.m. Thursday. Saturday, January 25th will be "Milford Appreciation Night" at Arena at Harbor Yard with discounted tickets for Milford residents. STORM will visit Milford to promote the event this Saturday, January 18th. STORM will also visit Sunnyside School in Shelton Friday, January 24th and the Jane Ryan School in Shelton Sunday, January 26th.

SOUND TIGERS ON THE AIR

All games are broadcast live on "The ZONE" FOX Sports Radio 1300 and at www.soundtigers.com. WSTC/WNLK 1400/1350 also broadcasts road games. D ALAIN NASREDDINE will be the guest for the return of "The Sound Tigers Report" on "The ZONE" this Tuesday from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. Fans can also email questions and comments to Voice of the Sound Tigers BILL McLAUGHLIN by clicking on "Ask The Broadcaster" at www.soundtigers.com.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

The Sound Tigers will practice at the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. and Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. They will leave for the road Wednesday afternoon and will practice in Portland Thursday and Friday and Manchester Saturday. Call 203-334-4625 to confirm practice times and locations.

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