Fresno Falcons Weekly

April 9, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release


LAST WEEK: Fresno went 0-2-1 during the final week of the regular season to finish the campaign with an overall record of 34-24-9 for 77 points. The Falcons finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division, and sixth overall in the National Conference.

Wednesday, April 4 @ Stockton Thunder 4 FALCONS 2

Fresno concluded its season series against Stockton with a 4-2 loss at Stockton Arena. The Falcons led 1-0 after one period on a Dustin VanBallegooie power-play goal 10:39 into the opening period. Stockton forged ahead with three goals in the final 5:11 of the second period, then added to the lead 7:45 into the third. Brian McConnell closed the gap to two at 12:15, but that would be as close as the Falcons would get.

Friday, April 6 vs. Long Beach Ice Dogs 4 FALCONS 2

Brian McConnell gave the Falcons the early lead, tallying his ninth goal of the season 7:44 into the opening period. Long Beach tied the game at 14:33, then took the lead just 35 seconds into the second period. Ash Goldie scored his second goal of the night on a power play at 8:24 of the third period extending the Ice Dogs' lead to 3-1. A John Wroblewski power-play goal at 12:07 sliced the Falcons' deficit to one, but an empty-net tally from Chris Collins at 19:30 sealed the win for Long Beach.

Saturday, April 7 vs. Idaho Steelheads 1 FALCONS 0 (OT)

Needing one point to secure sixth place in the National Conference, the Falcons responded with an overtime against Idaho, which saw the Steelheads win the game with just 24.8 seconds remaining in the extra session. Ryan MacDonald stepped up to ensure the one point for Fresno, stopping all 35 shots he faced in regulation, and 40 overall on the night.

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

GAME 1 - Tuesday, April 10 @ Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

GAME 2 - Thursday, April 12 @ Fresno 7:30 p.m.

GAME 3 - Friday, April 13 @ Bakersfield 7:00 p.m.

GAME 4 - Sunday, April 15 @ Fresno 5:00 p.m.

For the second straight season, the Falcons take on their Highway 99 rival Bakersfield in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Last season, Fresno eliminated Bakersfield four games to three in the Pacific Division Finals. During the regular season, the Falcons were 2-4-3 against the Condors with seven of the nine games being decided by one goal, with five of those contests going beyond regulation. The other two games in the series were decided by two goals. Bakersfield finished the regular season in second place of the Pacific Division with an overall record of 41-19-12 94for 94 points. The Condors struggled down the stretch, ending the season with a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) and a 2-6-2 record in their last 10 games.

FALCONS NOTES

- John Wroblewski appeared in all 72 games for the second straight season, and for the third time in his four seasons with the Falcons. Wroblewski has appeared in 191 straight games. He joined Matt O'Dette as the only Falcon players to play all 72 games this season.

- Fresno finished eighth in the ECHL with an average attendance of 5,116 fans per game. That is an increase of 13.1% over last season's attendance, the highest per-game increase among all ECHL teams.

- Fresno set a new team record this season for fewest goals allowed, giving up 197 goals, eight fewer than last season.

- The Falcons 85.6% penalty kill percentage is the highest in team history.

FALCONS LEADERS

Goals Morlang 27

Assists Curtin 54

Points Curtin 74

+/- Morlang /Beaulieu +12

Penalty Minutes O'Dette 178

Shots Morlang 242

Power-Play Goals Wroblewski 12

Shorthanded Goals Curtin 6

Game-Winning Goals Wroblewski 6

FALCONS TICKETS

Tickets for games two and four are available at the Save Mart Center Box Office (9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday) or charge by phone at (559) 485-TIXS. Tickets can also be purchased on-line at www.ticketmaster.com. Discounted group tickets for groups of 20 or more are available by calling the Falcons office at (559) 485-7825.

FALCONS ON THE AIR

All Falcons' games can be heard on 1550 Sporting News Radio and on-line at www.fresnofalcons.com with the Voice of the Falcons, Joe Babik. Each broadcast begins 15 minutes prior to face-off with the Port of Subs Pre-Game Show. In addition, all Falcons games are available to watch on a pay-per-view basis in conjunction with B2 Networks. The B2 Networks feed can be accessed through the Falcons' website at www.fresnofalcons.com.

MATT THOMAS SHOW

The Matt Thomas Show airs tonight live from 5:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. from Chukchansi Park. Join Falcons head coach and general manager Matt Thomas and director of broadcasting and media relations Joe Babik as they discuss Falcons hockey. The show airs live on 1550 and 96.1 Sporting News Radio throughout the season. Fans are invited to participate in the show by calling their questions to (559) 23-SPORT or e-mailing them to jbabik@fresnofalcons.com.



ECHL Stories from April 9, 2007


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