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Griffins, P-Bruins Join Playoff Field

March 10, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MA ... It may have been a day off, but it was still a very productive one as the Grand Rapids Griffins won their second consecutive division title on Sunday night.

The Griffins were idle on Sunday, but losses by Rochester and Cincinnati allowed Grand Rapids to secure the John Chick Trophy and first place in the Central Division. The Griffins, who won the West Division in 2001-02, will be one of the top three seeds in the Western Conference when the Calder Cup 2003 Playoffs begin next month.

With a record of 40-17-8-2 (90 points), Grand Rapids boasts three of the top 10 scorers in the AHL, with Mark Mowers and Michel Picard tied for second in the league with 70 points each and Stacy Roest ninth with 62. Defensemen Dave Van Drunen (+31) and Travis Richards (+28) are among the league leaders in plus/minus rating, and Marc Lamothe is first in the AHL in wins (27) and minutes played (2,884), and his 2.20 goals against average ranks fourth in the league. Jason Williams has added 20 goals and 37 points in 33 AHL games this season while splitting time between Grand Rapids and the Detroit Red Wings.

The Griffins were the second team to clinch a playoff berth over the weekend. The Providence Bruins had their 19-game home unbeaten streak snapped on Friday night, but bounced back with a 4-1 victory in Portland on Saturday afternoon to lock up their ninth playoff berth in the franchise's 11 seasons.

The B's own a 15-point lead atop the North Division as they chase their third division title since joining the league in 1992-93. Providence ranks second in the AHL in goals per game, led by a league-high five 20-goal scorers: Andy Hilbert (31), Matt Herr (29), Lee Goren (24), Martin Samuelsson (22) and Keith Aucoin (20).

With rookie head coaches Geoff Ward, Danton Cole and Mike Sullivan leading the way, Hamilton, Grand Rapids and Providence have been issued the first three invites to the AHL's 2003 postseason party. Houston could join the bash as early as Tuesday with a victory in San Antonio.

Notable games this week:
Wed., Hershey at Norfolk
Thu., Chicago at San Antonio
Fri., Philadelphia at Milwaukee
Fri./Sat., Cincinnati at Utah
Fri./Sun., Portland at Manitoba
Sat., Saint John at Albany
Sun., Binghamton at Bridgeport

"TORCH" IS PASSED TO FLORIDA ... San Antonio's John Torchetti was promoted to assistant coach of the parent Florida Panthers on Thursday, becoming the third AHL head coach to make the jump to the NHL during the 2002-03 season.

Torchetti, in his first season in the AHL, had led the Rampage to a record of 30-23-10-2 and had the first-year club in second place in the highly competitive West Division. He was named one of two new assistants in Florida under former Calder Cup-winning head coach Mike Keenan. Rampage assistant Scott Allen was named interim head coach in San Antonio, and the team won his debut on Friday, 5-3 over Grand Rapids.

On Jan. 3, Saint John head coach Jim Playfair was promoted to assistant coach of the Calgary Flames, and on Jan. 17, Hamilton head coach Claude Julien was named head coach of the Montreal Canadiens.

Florida was also busy dealing over the weekend, acquiring 1997 Calder Cup champion Pascal Trepanier from Nashville in exchange for Rampage goaltender Wade Flaherty, and picking up Springfield Falcons winger Darcy Hordichuk from Phoenix for Brad Ference.

OFF THE ICE ... Chicago's third annual Kiss-A-Pig event on Mar. 1 netted $60,000 for the American Diabetes Association, and 250-pound hog Becky got a porcine pucker from Wolves executive director of team relations Wendell Young, who raised over $8,300 himself... AHL All-Star Mike Martin's annual Auction for Cancer Research in Saint John raised more than $2,500 last weekend... Islanders Appreciation Weekend in Bridgeport on Mar. 15-16 will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Isles' fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship... Nearly 365,000 page views were recorded on theahl.com from Mar. 2-8, a new weekly record for the official web site of the AHL.

ETC. ... After an abdominal injury limited him to a total of 39 games played over his three-year junior career and kept him out of the first five months of this season, 2001 first-round draft pick Adrian Foster made his pro debut with Albany on Friday, then scored his first two goals in the second period of Sunday's 4-2 win at Rochester... Also returning from a lengthy stay on the injured list was 2002 Olympian Reinhard Divis, who stopped 56 of 58 shots in Worcester's road wins over Philadelphia and Norfolk, his first AHL action of the season... San Antonio's Chris Mason made an AHL season-high 55 saves in a 4-1 loss at Houston on Sunday... Mike Weaver's overtime goal on Thursday gave Chicago a 3-2 win over the Aeros and allowed the Wolves to tie an AHL record with their eighth OT victory of the season... Six of the nine meetings between Chicago and Houston this season have gone to overtime, with only one ending tied... Antoine Vermette took over the AHL's rookie goal-scoring lead with a natural hat trick in Binghamton's 3-1 win over Albany on Friday... Mark Greig's assist for Philadelphia on Sunday made him the 27th player in AHL history with 400 career helpers... Michael Leighton needed just 12 saves to lead Norfolk to a 3-0 shutout win over Lowell on Friday... Hamilton ended a 14-game winless streak at Harbour Station (0-12-2-0) with a 2-1 win over Saint John on Friday, the Bulldogs' first road victory over the Flames since Nov. 20, 1998... Randy Robitaille, who won the AHL's MVP award and the Calder Cup in 1998-99, was traded by Pittsburgh to the N.Y. Islanders on Sunday, reuniting him with former Providence head coach Peter Laviolette... Jon Sim, the MVP of the 2003 AHL All-Star Game, was claimed by Los Angeles off waivers from Nashville on Saturday... Utah's 5-4 win over Cleveland at Gund Arena on Sunday dropped Vesa Toskala's record to 15-30-2 on the year; Toskala is the first AHL goaltender to suffer consecutive 30-loss seasons since Marcel Paille in 1965-66 and 1966-67.

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