AHL American Hockey League

Life's a trip for Rampage, Road Runners

Published on February 21, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... Planes, buses, hotels and suitcases. Life on the road has become all too familiar for a pair of American Hockey League teams, both of which still find themselves in playoff races despite their heavy travel itineraries.

The San Antonio Rampage are wrapping up their annual excursion thanks to the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, which took over the SBC Center from Feb. 4-20. The Rampage are 4-5-0-0 through the first nine games of the 12-game, 29-day journey that has already stopped in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Manitoba, Syracuse, Rochester and Utah, and will wrap up this week in Hartford, Worcester and Grand Rapids.

The trade-off for the lengthy road swing is an extended stay on the homefront. Starting Feb. 27, the Rampage play 14 of their final 19 games of the regular season on home ice, and leave the state of Texas only once – to visit Grand Rapids on Apr. 16. (The other four road games are in Houston.)

Stephen Weiss, the Florida Panthers' first-round pick (fourth overall) in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, leads the Rampage in goals (14), assists (23) and points (37) this season. The Rampage are currently two points out of the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division.

The Edmonton Road Runners are living up to their name as well, in the midst of a 40-day stretch that will include 19 games – 17 of them on the road. Edmonton, which stumbled to an 0-3-1-1 mark to start the run, will play 12 straight away from home after hosting Cleveland for a pair of games this weekend. Despite the recent slump, the Road Runners are playing at a .500 clip (9-9-4-2) on foreign ice this year, and will play eight of their last 12 games at Rexall Place beginning Mar. 20.

AHL All-Star Tony Salmelainen continues to lead Edmonton in assists (18), points (34) and plus/minus rating (+17), while second-year pro Brad Winchester has taken over the team lead with 17 goals on the year, and 10th-year pro Tyler Moss has won 20 games in net, one off his career high.

Edmonton remains embroiled in a heated North Division playoff race, currently five points behind third-place St. John's and seven ahead of Syracuse and Hamilton.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FEELING THE SHOOTOUT CRUNCH ... The Syracuse Crunch appeared in their 11th shootout of the season on Saturday night and earned their eighth shootout victory – both AHL highs – by taking care of the Cleveland Barons, 4-3.

Mark Hartigan has scored on six of his 12 shootout attempts this season, while Joe Motzko and Matthias Trattnig are each 5-for-10. In net, Karl Goehring is one of the league's most successful shootout goaltenders, stopping 24 of 26 attempts and winning each of his five shootout appearances.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QUICK STRIKES ... Cleveland and Rochester combined for five goals in 2:00 during the second period of the Amerks' 7-3 win. Down by three, the Barons got goals from Ryane Clowe (11:02) and Doug Murray (11:13) just 12 seconds apart to make it 3-2. Daniel Paille (11:36) scored shorthanded 23 seconds after that, and Thomas Vanek (12:37) made it 5-2. Craig Valette got the Barons back within two at 13:02.

Also on Friday, Houston and Chicago scored four times in 1:27 in the early stages of the Aeros' 5-4 win. Zbynek Michalek (5:37) and Kyle Wanvig (6:00) quickly turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 Houston lead, then Karl Stewart (6:32) tied the score again before Kirby Law put Houston back in front as five goals were scored in the first 7:04 of the contest.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OFF THE ICE ... Lowell donned commemorative Presidents' Day jerseys over the weekend, jerseys which will be up for bid on eBay this week to raise money for the Kids In Disability Sports Program... Current WWE Smackdown champion John Bradshaw Layfield will appear at Albany's game this Friday night, dropping the ceremonial first puck and signing autographs and taking pictures with fans... Nearly 700 Manitoba Scouts and Guides were in attendance at the weekend Moose games at the MTS Centre, and area Girl Guides were collecting donations for the Winnipeg Harvest Food Bank.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ETC. ... Lowell's Cam Ward stopped the AHL's leading goal-scorer, Mike Cammalleri of Manchester, on a penalty shot with 38 seconds left in regulation to preserve a 3-2 win on Friday night... Jason Spezza recorded five points (1g, 4a) in Binghamton's 7-2 win at Manchester on Saturday... Duncan Keith's hat trick in Norfolk's 6-1 win over Hershey on Friday was the first by an Admirals defenseman in team history... Scott Clemmensen made 45 saves as Albany beat Providence on Friday, 4-1; one night later, Ari Ahonen made 46 saves in the River Rats' 6-3 win over Hamilton... Brian Eklund made 30 saves in the third period and overtime alone, then stopped all four shootout attempts in Springfield's 3-2 win over Portland on Friday... Rochester tied a 40-year-old franchise record with its 15th straight home win, a 3-2 victory over St. John's on Saturday... After his hat trick on Friday night, Amerks rookie Daniel Paille has scored seven of his 12 goals this season against Cleveland... Hartford had its team-best 11-game home winning streak snapped in a 2-0 loss to Norfolk on Sunday... A capacity crowd of 16,297 witnessed Bridgeport's 3-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Nassau Coliseum on Friday night... Clint Malarchuk has been named assistant coach of the San Antonio Rampage, while Chris Cichocki has been named Grand Rapids' new assistant coach... Hamilton has signed 2001 Calder Cup Playoffs MVP Steve Begin... Chicago has played a franchise-record nine straight one-goal games (4-4-0-1).

Check out the American Hockey League Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central