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AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Texas at Grand Rapids

February 18, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas and Grand Rapids meet for the fourth time this season and the tenth time in AHL history. The two teams will play a total of six games this season, including two more at Cedar Park Center. Texas and Grand Rapids split a pair of games at Van Andel Arena in Mid-December earlier this season. Grand Rapids claimed the last meeting, a 4-3 overtime win at Cedar Park Center in mid-January. The Griffins lead the all-time series with a 6-2-0-1 record against the Stars, including a 3-1-0-1 mark on home ice.

The Stars are 13-10-0-1 away from Cedar Park Center this season and 5-4-0-1 in the last ten games. The Stars are playing the third of eight straight road games, the longest road trip of the season. Texas has dropped the first two games of the trip, both at Lake Erie. Of the eight games, three will be against the North Division and five against the West Division. The Stars are 24-13-1-2 against the West Division this season and 5-6-2-1 against the North Division. Texas is the least penalized team in the league accruing 12.00 penalty minutes a game. The Stars are 15-2-3-3 in one-goal games this year.

The Griffins are six points back of the final playoff spot in the North Division. Grand Rapids is 11-13-1-4 at home this season and 4-4-0-2 in the last ten games played. They have been outscored 93-79 at home and only 79-75 on the road. The Griffins are 12-17-1-3 against West Division opponents this season. Grand Rapids is seventh overall in the league, averaging 19.25 minutes per game. The Griffins are 11-10-1-6 in one-goal games this season. They have the third highest total of one-goal losses in the AHL.

Griffins forward Ilari Filppula leads all scorers in the season series with three assists and four points in three games played. Four other Griffins have collected three points against Texas. Center Jamie Johnson and winger Jordan Owens each have two goals in three games against the Stars. Five Texas skaters have three points in three games, including forwards Travis Morin, Mathieu Tousignant and Raymond Sawada. Defenseman Brad Lukowich leads all Texas skaters with three assists in three games versus the Griffins.

Texas goalie Richard Bachman has appeared in one game against the Griffins this year, making 14 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss at Cedar Park Center. Tyler Beskorowany, who is currently in Idaho, played the other two games, going 1-1-0 with a 3.02 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Texas goalie Brent Krahn has yet to play Grand Rapids this season. Griffins' goalie Jordan Pearce is 1-0-0 with a 2.85 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. Todd McCullom has yet to play against Texas this season.

Texas Recalls Defenseman Guilluame Monast

Prior to the Wednesday's game, Texas added defenseman Guillaume Monast, who was recalled from the Idaho Steelheads, Texas' ECHL Affiliate. Monast has played in four games for Texas over three separate recalls from Idaho. He registered his first AHL point with the Stars this season at Lake Erie. In 41 games for Idaho this year, Monast has one goal and seven assists while adding 22 penalty minutes. The Quebec native spent his rookie season with Idaho, setting up six goals in 68 games played, helping the Steelheads reach the 2010 Kelly Cup Finals. Monast attended training camp in Dallas and in Texas each of the last two years.

Dallas Assigns Wathier, Recalls Ludwig and Petersen

The Dallas Stars announced on Tuesday that the NHL club has recalled forward Toby Petersen from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL), and activated him from injured reserve after missing the last 15 games with a lower-body injury. The team has also assigned forward Francis Wathier to Texas and recalled defensemen Trevor Ludwig from Texas.

Petersen, 32, has skated in 34 games this season for Dallas, collecting one goal (shorthanded) and two assists with six penalty minutes. In one game this season with Texas on a conditioning assignment, Petersen recorded one assist against Lake Erie on Feb. 14. The 5-10, 198-pound forward has played in 177 games over four seasons with Dallas, recording 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists).

Wathier, 26, has appeared in three games for Dallas this season. He has also played in 45 AHL games for Texas, recording 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists). Wathier represented Texas at the AHL All-Star Game on Jan. 31 in Hershey, Penn. The 6-3, 208-pound winger was Dallas' sixth round selection (185th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Ludwig, 25, has appeared in 50 games this season with Texas and has recorded six assists and 50 penalty minutes. The 6-1, 216-pound defensemen from Rhinelander, WI, spent the majority of the 2009-10 season with Texas, playing 47 games and collecting eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) with 62 penalty minutes. Texas Signs Dave Bonk

The Texas Stars announced last Friday that the team has signed center Dave Bonk to a PTO (professional tryout agreement).

The 28-year old center has played the majority of the season with the CHL's Allen Americans. Bonk has appeared in 33 games with the Americans, scoring 15 goals and 29 assists for 44 points. The 188-pound center also appeared in six games with the Oklahoma City Barons this year, posting one assist and four penalty minutes. Last Season, the Brandon, MB native played with the Manglerud Star in Norway. Before joining Manglerud, Bonk played with the ECHL's Bakersfield Condors during the 2008-09 season. The center led the Condors in points and assists (31g-51a82) in 60 games. Bonk made his Texas Stars AHL debut on Friday night against the Rockford IceHogs.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

Saturday, Feb. 19 at Chicago 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

Sunday, Feb. 20 at Milwaukee 5:00 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, Feb. 23 at Peoria 7:05 PM 104.9 FM

Friday, Feb. 25 at Houston 7:35 PM 1530 AM

* All times listed are central time

GAME RECAPS:

Texas 2 at Lake Erie 4 2/16/11

Cleveland, OH - The Texas Stars (29-19-3-3, 64 points) were defeated by the Lake Erie Monsters (28-22-3-5, 64 points) 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon in front of 7,510 fans at the Quicken Loans Arena. Lake Erie right wing Matt Ford scored twice and added an assist to pace the Monsters to their 12th win in the last 15 games. Monsters goalie Jason Bacashihua (12-13-3) stopped 29 of 31 Stars shots for the victory. Texas goalie Brent Krahn (6-6-0) stopped 32 of 36 shots in the defeat. Texas forwards Michael Neal and Dave Bonk each scored as the team slid to 13-11-0-1 on the road this season.

Texas 2 at Lake Erie 3 2/14/11

Cleveland, OH - The Texas Stars were defeated by the Lake Erie Monsters 3-2 on Monday night in front of 3,058 fans at Quicken Loans Arena. Monsters goalie Jason Bacashihua (11-13-3) stopped 32 of 34 Stars shots as Lake Erie held on for the victory. Lake Erie's Ryan Stoa scored a power-play goal with 4:01 left in regulation for the eventual game-winning goal. Texas goalie Richard Bachman (19-12-3) stopped 24 of 27 shots in the loss. Stars defenseman Dan Spang and center Dave Bonk each tallied a goal in the defeat, as Texas fell to 13-10-0-1 on the road. The loss marked only the second time all season in which the Stars dropped a one-goal game in regulation.

Rockford 1 at Texas 2 2/12/11

The Texas Stars defeated the Rockford IceHogs 2-1 on Saturday night in front of 5,588 fans at Cedar Park Center. Left Wing Ondrej Roman scored the game-winning goal on the power play 8:57 into the second period. Roman also tallied an assist in the first period to secure a multi-point night. Texas goalie Richard Bachman blocked 23 shots, bringing the Stars record at home to 16-8-3-2. Rockford goalie Alec Richards (10-16-1) stopped 23 of 25 shots faced for the loss.

The Texas Stars

After 54 games of action, center Travis Morin is tied for the Texas lead in scoring with 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points. The All-Star center leads Texas with 21 assists in 48 games played. Morin has missed the last four games with an injury. Right wing Greg Rallo is tied for the team lead in points with 34 (16g-17a) in 54 games played. Ralllo leads the team in goals and with 163 shots on net. Colton Sceviour is third on the team with 18 assists and 28 points in 52 games played. Dan Spang is fourth overall on the team with 26 points. Spang is tied for second on the team in assists (19), as well as leads all defensemen in goals (7) and shots on goal (115). Defensemen Brad Lukowich is tied for second on the team with 19 assists. Left wing Luke Gazdic's 81 penalty minutes lead the team.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Brent Krahn fill the net for the Stars. Bachman has appeared in 36 games, going 19-12-3 with a 2.19 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Bachman ranks in the top ten in the AHL for goals against average and save percentage. Bachman has started 21 of the last 26 games. Krahn has appeared in 12 games, posting a 6-6-0 mark, a 3.20 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. Krahn was out with an injury from Nov. 10, 2010 to Feb. 4, 2011

The Grand Rapids Griffins

Grand Rapids Head Coach Curt Fraser returns for his third year with the team and his 18th year as a head coach or assistant coach at the professional level. He played 14 years in the NHL for Vancouver, Chicago and Minnesota from 1978-1990. Grand Rapids returns 11 players from the 2009-10 team that finished 34-39-3-4 and seventh in the North Division.

Forwards Ilari Filppula leads Grand Rapids in scoring with 40 points in 52 games played. He is second on the team with 18 goals and second in assists with 22. Tomas Tatar is tied for second on the team in scoring with right wing Francis Pare, both have 37 points. Tatar is tied for the team lead with 24 assists in 45 games played. Pare is also tied for the team lead with 24 assists in 55 games played.

Longtime Griffin Jamie Tardiff rounds out the Griffins top scorers. Tardiff leads the team lead with 19 goals and is fourth in points with 33 points in 55 games played. Third-year Griffin Jan Mursak has 11 goals and 25 points in 36 games played.

The Griffins made numerous additions this summer, including center Jamie Johnson and left wing Chris MInard. Johnson posted 71 points in 80 games with Rochester, while Minard scored 22 goals in only 40 games with Springfield (AHL) in 2009-10. Rookie defenseman Brendan Smith was drafted by Detroit in the first round (27th overall) in 2007. In his first 28 AHL games, Smith leads all Griffins defenders with 16 assists and 24 points.

While Joey MacDonald is in the NHL with Detroit, the Griffins are using Jordan Pearce and Todd McCollum in net. Pearce is 8-5-3 with a 2.85 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. McCullom is 6-11-2 record, a 3.18 goals against average and a .881 save percentage. He was drafted by the Red Wings in the first round (30th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. MacDonald has appeared in 20 games with Grand Rapids, going 10-9-1 with a 2.78 goals against average and an .894 save percentage.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Texas Stars penalty kill is 29th overall at 77.1%. Texas ranks 16th best in the AHL, converting on 17.3% of its power plays. The Griffins are 13th overall on the power play, converting 18.7% of the time. Grand Rapids is 21st overall on the penalty kill, stopping 81.4% of their opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are tenth overall in team defense, allowing 2.69 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 17th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.76 goals per game. Grand Rapids defense ranks 21st overall with a 3.13 goals against per game. The Griffins sit 16th offensively, averaging 2.80 goals per game.

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