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AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Notes: San Antonio at Texas

December 3, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas and San Antonio meet for the fourth time this season and 16th time in history. The two teams played a total of 12 times last year with the Stars taking the season series by posting an 8-4-0-0 mark against the Rampage. The Stars took the first three games of the season series this year with a pair of wins in October and one in November over the West Division leaders. The two teams will meet a total of ten times this season.

Texas enters tonight's game having won seven of its last nine games. Over that span, the Stars have outscored their opponents 34-13. The Stars are coming off a 5-2 win at home over Oklahoma City on Tuesday night at Cedar Park Center. After rattling off seven straight wins, San Antonio has suffered back-to-back losses for the second time this season. San Antonio has not suffered three straight losses all season. The Rampage are coming off a 5-3 loss at home to Milwaukee on Sunday.

Texas is 9-5-0-0 at home this year and 7-3-0-0 in the last ten games played. The Stars are four games into a seven-game home stand and will not see a road game until December 8th at Rockford. Texas is 3-1-0-0 over the lengthy home stand. San Antonio is 5-2-1-0 on the road this season and 7-3-0-0 in the last ten games played. The Rampage are second in the Western Conference with 31 points and tied for second in the AHL with 15 wins.

Through three games of the season series, Texas left wing Scott McCulloch and center Travis Morin lead all scorers with four points each. McCulloch has three goals in two games against San Antonio, while Morin has two goals and two assists. Texas forwards Francis Wathier and Greg Rallo, as well as defenseman Brad Lukowich, each have three points in the season series. San Antonio has seven players with two points in the season series, including former Stars right wing Mathieu Beaudoin, who has two goals in three games against his former team. Texas goalie Richard Bachman is 1-0-0 with a 2.00 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. Former Texas goalie, Matt Climie is 0-3-0 with a 3.68 goals against average and a .893 save percentage against his former team.

Dallas Assigns Defenseman Severin Blindenbacher to Texas

The Dallas Stars announced on Tuesday that the club has assigned defenseman Severin Blindenbacher to the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Blindenbacher, 27, did not play in Dallas during his recall. So far this season, he has appeared in eight games for Texas, scoring one goal and three assists for four points with four penalty minutes. He represented Switzerland at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, recording one goal and one assist in five games. Blindenbacher signed as a free agent with Dallas on July 1, 2010.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

Saturday, Dec. 4 vs. Houston 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

Tuesday, Dec. 7 vs. Manitoba 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, Dec. 8 at Rockford 6:35 PM 1530 AM

Friday, Dec. 10 at Grand Rapids 6:00 PM 104.9 FM

Saturday, Dec. 11 at Milwaukee 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

* All times listed are local time

Upcoming Home Games and Promotions:

Houston at Texas on Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 7:00 PM - * First 2,500 fans will receive a Texas Stars Scarf compliments of Sweet Leaf Tea

* State Farm Family Four Pack (4 tickets, 4 sodas, 4 hot dogs $44)

Manitoba at Texas on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 7:30 PM - * H-E-B Tuesday ( bring any non-perishable H-E-B food item to the box office and receive a $5 discount)

GAME RECAPS:

Oklahoma City 2 at Texas 5 11/30/10

The Texas Stars defeated the Oklahoma City Barons 5-2 in front of 3,368 fans on Tuesday night at Cedar Park Center. Five different goal scorers helped Texas earn its seventh win in the last nine games. Forwards Luke Gazdic, Travis Morin, Colton Sceviour and Francis Wathier each scored a goal on the night, as Texas improved to 2-1-0-0 against Oklahoma City this season. Center Mathieu Tousignant notched a goal and added an assist as the Stars improved to 9-5-0-0 at home. Texas goalie Richard Bachman (8-3-0) stopped 29 of 31 shots for the win. Barons goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (3-4-1) took the loss with 12 saves on 15 shots in the first 20 minutes of play.

San Antonio 2 at Texas 5 11/27/10

The Texas Stars defeated the San Antonio Rampage 5-2 in front of 5,961 fans on Saturday night at Cedar Park Center. Stars forwards Greg Rallo and Francis Wathier each scored and added an assists as Texas snapped San Antonio's seven-game winning streak. Defenseman Brad Lukowich also set up two goals as Texas improved to 8-5-0-0 at home this season. Texas forwards Raymond Sawada, Fabian Brunnstrom and Sean Backman also scored as the Stars improved to 3-0-0-0 against the West Division leaders this season. Texas goalie Richard Bachman (7-3-0) stopped 19 of 21 shots for the win. San Antonio goalie Matt Climie (9-4-0) stopped 27 of 31 shots for the loss.

Milwaukee 1 at Texas 0 11/26/10

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Milwaukee Admirals 1-0 in front of 5,198 fans on Friday at Cedar Park Center. Milwaukee goalie Mark Dekanich (9-3-2) stopped 29 shots for his third shutout of the season, ending the Admirals four-game winless skid (0-3-0-1). Milwaukee center Steve Begin broke a scoreless game with 6:34 left in the third period to give the Admirals the win. Texas goalie Richard Bachman stopped 28 of 29 shots in the loss.

The Texas Stars

After 21 games of action, center Travis Morin leads Texas in scoring with eight goals and 18 points. Right wing Greg Rallo has moved into second on the team in scoring with 13 points in 21 games played. Left wing Francis Wathier and center Mathieu Tousignant are tied for third in team scoring with 11 points each. Wathier is tied for the team lead with eight goals scored and first with five power-play markers. Tousignant leads the team with 37 penalty minutes. Dan Spang is fifth on the team with ten points, and he is the leader among team defensemen in scoring.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany split time in net for Texas. Brent Krahn is currently out with an injury. Krahn has appeared in nine games, posting a 5-4-0 mark, a 2.93 goals against average and a .898 save percentage. Bachman has appeared in 13 games, going 8-3-0 with a 1.94 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Bachman ranks seventh overall in the AHL for goals against average and in save percentage. Beskorowany is 0-1-0 with a 3.01 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.

The Stars 25-man roster is composed of three goalies, eight defensemen and 14 forwards. Texas returns 15 players from the 2010 Western Conference Championship squad. The players range from ages 20 to 34 with an average age of 24.16. Eight players are 22-years old or younger. The roster is made up of six different nationalities. The roster also features 17 NHL draft picks, including ten Dallas Stars draft picks.

Strong November

Texas finished the month of November in strong fashion. Forwards Greg Rallo and Travis Morin led the way with ten points each. The Stars went 7-4-0-0 in November, with goalie Richard Bachman going 6-1-0. Bachman was named AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 21, 2010. He posted one shutout, a .942 save percentage and a 1.62 goals against average in the second month of the season. Defenseman Dan Spang and Rallo led the team with a +5.

The San Antonio Rampage

San Antonio starts its first full season with Ray Edwards as head coach, who took over for Greg Ireland 18 games into last season. Edwards went on to post a 30-23-0-9 record in the final 62 games of the year. The Rampage returns 13 players from their 2009-10 squad.

Mathieu Beaudoin leads the Rampage in scoring and he ranks tied for eighth in the league with 24 points scored. Right wing Brett MacLean is second on the team in scoring with 19 points in 22 games played. Left wing Mikkel Boedker is third on the team with 19 points, followed by Viktor Tikhonov's 16 points. Defenseman Garrett Stafford leads all Rampage defenders with 16 points in 17 games played.

San Antonio's Brett MacLean is back after leading the team with 30 goals and 65 points in 76 games last season. Also, veteran winger Ryan Hollweg is back for another season with San Antonio. Hollweg posted ten points and 93 penalty minutes in 53 games with the Rampage last year. Mikkel Boedker returns after scoring 38 points in 64 games with San Antonio last season. Boedker also played in 14 NHL games with Phoenix. Acquired in a late season trade, Alexandre Picard racked up 15 points in 16 games with San Antonio in the last month of the season. Picard finished the year with 26 goals in 58 AHL contests.

In net, the Rampage pair Matt Climie with Al Montoya. Climie went 21-17-3 with a 2.46 goals against average and a .919 save percentage in 43 games with Texas in 2009-10. Climie is 9-4-0 with a 2.21 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. Montoya is 6-3-0 with a 3.01 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.

You Look Familiar....

Three former Texas Stars were signed in the offseason by the Rampage's NHL Affiliate, the Phoenix Coyotes. Defenseman Garrett Stafford, forward Mathieu Beaudoin, and goalie Matt Climie were all a part of the Stars 2010 Western Conference Championship squad. They expected to play against Texas on Saturday.

Beaudoin leads the Rampage with 13 goals and 24 points. Stafford has already enjoyed a call-up to the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes and he is leading the team in points among all defensemen with 16 in 17 games played. He is currently tied for third among all AHL blueliners, four points behind the leader. Climie is ranked 13th in the AHL for goals against average and eighth in save percentage. He sits tied for fifth in the league in wins with nine.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Stars rank 20th overall at 81.5%. Texas sits 16th in the AHL, converting 17.3% of its power plays. San Antonio is second overall on the power play, converting 22.6% of the time. San Antonio is 27th in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 78.1% of its opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are fifth overall in team defense, allowing 2.48 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 16th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.86 goals per game. San Antonio's defense ranks 12th overall with a 2.73 goals against per game. The Rampage sits fifth offensively, averaging 3.32 goals per game.

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