AHL Toronto Marlies

Marlies Begin Road Swing Wednesday In Hershey; Return Home Sunday

Published on March 24, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Toronto Marlies News Release


Opponents This Week:

(Mar. 25): The Marlies start their three-game road trip against the Hershey Bears - AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals - on Wednesday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. This will be the second and final meeting between the two clubs this season. Toronto was mauled by the Bears at Ricoh Coliseum in their previous matchup. Hershey was able to put up six goals, while Tim Stapleton netted the lone goal for Toronto in the 6-1 loss. The Bears rank second in the East Division and second in the Eastern Conference with a 44-19-1-6 record for 95 points. They own a 24-8-0-3 record at the Giant Center this season, ranking tied for third with the most home wins. The Bears have won their past two games and rank first in the league with 264 goals for. Keith Aucoin paces the club and the AHL with 87 points (22 goals, 65 assists). Hershey has the top two point leaders in the AHL. Alexandre Giroux ranks second with 83 points (50 goals, 33 assists). Bears' left winger, Chris Bourque is a second-round, 33rd overall, 2004 draft pick of the Washington Capitals. He scored his first career NHL goal this season while with the Capitals on December 30 versus the Buffalo Sabres. Bourque is the son of NHL Hall of Famer Raymond Bourque. The Marlies own an all-time record of 4-3-0-0 against Hershey. Marlies assistant coach Joe Paterson played in 87 games with the Hershey Bears (1984-86) and collected 68 points (31 goals, 37 assists) with 241 penalty minutes.

(Mar. 27): The Marlies visit the Philadelphia Phantoms - AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers - on Friday night at Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA. In their last matchup in Toronto on January 3, the Marlies blew out the Phantoms in a 6-1 drubbing. Max Taylor led the way for the Marlies with three goals and one helper. The Marlies outshot the Phantoms by 26 shots, Adam Munro got the win, stopping 14 shots. The Phantoms own a record of 35-28-2-4, ranking fifth in the East Division. Philadelphia is 4-3-0-3 over their past 10 games. Danny Syvret ranks second amongst defensemen in the AHL with 48 points (11 goals, 37 assists). Rookie Matt Clackson is tied for second in the league in penalty minutes with Marlies forward Jay Rosehill; they each have 242 penalty minutes. Goaltender Scott Munroe is third in the league with 1443 saves on the season; his 0.924 save percentage is fourth best. The Marlies own a 4-2-1 all-time record against Philadelphia. This will be the last meeting this season between the two clubs.

(Mar. 28): The Marlies finish off their three-game road trip against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins - AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins - on Saturday night at Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre, PA. In their previous meeting on November 22 in Toronto, the Marlies came out with a 3-2 victory. Jiri Tlusty netted the winner; while Tim Stapleton notched a goal and a helper. The Penguins currently rank third in the East Division with a record of 43-24-2-2 for 90 points. Chris Minard ranks third (tie) in the league with 31 goals. With a plus-40 rating, Ben Lovejoy ranks first in the AHL while Joey Mormina's plus-35 rating is second. The Penguins won the Eastern Conference last season, but were eliminated by the Chicago Wolves in the Calder Cup Finals. Penguins forward, Aaron Boogaard is brothers with Minnesota Wild's Derek Boogaard. The Penguins have reached the Calder Cup Finals three times during their nine-year existence (2001, 2004 and 2008), tying Chicago for the most appearances this decade. The Marlies are 5-1-0-1 all-time against Wilkes-Barre in their team's history. This will be the last meeting this season between the two clubs.

(Mar.29): The Marlies host the Syracuse Crunch - AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets - on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. at Ricoh Coliseum. This will mark the eighth and final meeting between the two clubs this season. The Crunch trail the Marlies by three points in the North Division, but have played one less game. Toronto fell to Syracuse in their last meeting on March 11 in a 3-1 loss. Tim Stapleton had the lone goal for the Marlies while Nikita Filatov notched the game-winner for the Crunch. The game for Syracuse will be their fifth contest in six days. The Crunch owns a 4-3-0-0 record against Toronto this season and has outscored them 25-22. The Marlies defeated the Crunch last season in Game Seven of the Semi-Finals, advancing to the Western Conference Finals. Syracuse currently ranks fifth in the North Division with a 35-29-4-2 record for 76 points through 70 games. The Crunch are 13-19-2-2 on the road this season and 6-3-1-0 in their past 10 games overall. Mike York leads all Crunch players with 52 points (10 goals, 42 assists). Jon Mirasty ranks first on the Crunch and fourth in the AHL with 227 penalty minutes. Syracuse is the second most penalized team in the AHL averaging 23.8 minutes in penalties per game.

MARLIES HEADLINES:

Jiri On Fire: Jiri Tlusty scored a goal and was named the game's third star on Saturday night in the Marlies 3-2 loss in Grand Rapids. He's recorded 21 points in his past 15 games (six goals, 15 assists). Tlusty set the Marlies franchise record with six points in one game on March 4 with two goals and four assists in Toronto's 6-4 win over Providence. Tlusty's six-point game is the AHL season-high so far this season. Tlusty set the Marlies franchise record with his five- goal night on February 18 versus Syracuse, also setting the Marlies season-high with a plus-six rating. He registered a Marlies season-high, four assists on Sunday, February 8 against Grand Rapids. In 60 games with the Marlies this season, Tlusty has racked up 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists); with 29 of his points coming on the power play. Tlusty ranks second on the team in points and 14th (tie) in the AHL.

Free Willy: Jeremy Williams has scored a goal in three of the past five games. Williams registered a goal and an assist in three games last week. He's registered a goal in 11 of his past 19 games. In 38 contests this season he has recorded 24 goals and 10 assists and has a club-high, six game-winning goals. Williams ranks first on the Marlies and third (tie) in the AHL with 17 power play tallies. He ranks eighth (tie) in the AHL in game-winning goals. Williams scored his first hat-trick of the season on March 8 in Toronto's 4-3 win in Hamilton. Williams is the Marlies all-time leader in goals (71), power play goals (33) and game-winning goals (19).

Tim Becoming a Staple: Tim Stapleton recorded three points (one goal, two assists) this past weekend in three games played. He has notched 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists) over his past 22 games. Stapleton ranks first in the AHL with eight shootout goals. In 62 games this season, Stapleton has 67 points (22 goals, 45 assists) including four game- winning tallies. The American Hockey League named Stapleton the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for period ending February 1, 2009. Stapleton made his NHL debut on February 26 against the New York Islanders and scored his first career NHL goal in his next game in Ottawa. The Oak Park, Illinois native ranks first on the Marlies and eighth in the AHL with 43 assists.

Home Ice Advantage: Toronto's only lost six home games in regulation time since December 14, 2008. The Marlies have won their past eight of 13 games at home. Toronto has out-scored their opponents 89-67 at Ricoh Coliseum during a 22-game stretch. The Marlies hold a 21-12-1-2 advantage at home on the season. The Marlies set a franchise record on Friday, January 30 with their seventh consecutive home victory when they defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs, 4-2. The Marlies finished their season-high, 11-game home stand on February 21 with a 7-4-0-0 record.

Bates On The Board: Bates Battaglia posted three points this past weekend for the Marlies, including a goal and an assist on Saturday night in Grand Rapids. He's recorded 24 points in his last 24 contests (four goals, 20 assists). Battaglia's notched at least a point in six of his past eight games. He's totaled 10 assists in his previous 13 games. Battaglia had his six-game assist streak snapped on February 21 against Rochester. In 50 games this season, he ranks third on the team in points with 43 (15 goals, 28 assists). His plus-13 rating ranks first on the Marlies (active).

A Month to Remember: Jiri Tlusty was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Month for February. In 11 games in February, Tlusty notched 12 goals and 11 assists while recording a plus-11 rating. Tlusty began the month by scoring Toronto's only goal in a 4-1 loss to Syracuse on Feb. 7, and then matched a franchise record with four assists in a 10-5 win over Grand Rapids the next day. He had his biggest game of his young career on Feb. 18, scoring five goals on five shots and posting a plus-six rating. Tlusty had a season-high, nine-game point streak during the month.

On A Roll: Since November 19, 2008 the Marlies are 31-20-3-4 and have earned at least a point in their past 38 of 58 games (0.655 points percentage). Their home record since November 19 is 17-9-1-0. The Marlies play five of their next six games on the road; then finish the regular season with three straight home contests at Ricoh Coliseum.

A Franchise Night: On Sunday, February 8 the Marlies had a franchise game when they defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 10-5 at Ricoh Coliseum. The 10 goals the Marlies scored was a franchise-high and their five first period tallies was a season-high. Tim Stapleton led the way with four-goals in the game, three of which came in a span of four minutes and forty seconds. Andre Deveaux also scored a hat-trick in the game, his second of the season. In all, eight different Marlies players registered a multi-point game. Jiri Tlusty had a season-high four assists. The Marlies five power play goals was also an all-time high.

Shooting For The Stars: The Marlies rank in the top-10 in the AHL in both shots for and shots against this season. The Marlies average 31.1 shots per game (eighth in the AHL) and rank third for shots against with 26.6 per game. Tim Stapleton set a Marlies single-season high with 10 shots on goal on January 31 versus the Rockford IceHogs.

Special Teams:

Power Play: Toronto's power play currently ranks third in the AHL with a 20.4% success rate. Over their past 13 games they've scored 16 power play goals. On March 8, the Marlies struck for three goals while on the man-advantage. Jiri Tlusty has registered 12 power play points (one goal, 11 assists) in his past 12 games. Their power play set a franchise record with five goals on Sunday, February 8 versus the Grand Rapids Griffins when they went an impressive 5-for-7 in the game. The Marlies have registered 14, multi-power play goal games so far this season. Their power play on the road ranks fourth overall at 20.5%. They've scored at least one power play goal in 21 of 34 road games. Tim Stapleton leads all Marlie skaters with 32 power play points.

Multi-Point Games: Tim Stapleton leads the team with 17 multi-point games this season. Bates Battaglia notched a two-point game on Saturday night with a goal and an assist.

Multi-Point Games
Stapleton 17
Tlusty 13
Williams 9
Battaglia 8
Newbury 7
Foster 6
Stralman 4
Boyce 4
Sifers 3
Devereaux 3
Bell 3
Aubin 3
Kronwall 3
Hamilton 3
Deveaux 3
Giliati 2
Petiot 2
Taylor 2
Ondrus 2
Ryan 1
Engel 1

Blue & White: So far this season there has been 14 different players to suit-up for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies. Most recently Phil Oreskovic made his NHL debut on March 9 against the Ottawa Senators. Joining Phil are Justin Pogge, Jaime Sifers, Nikolai Kulemin, Andre Deveaux, Kris Newbury, Anton Stralman, Jeremy Williams, Jiri Tlusty, Boyd Devereaux, Tim Stapleton, Ben Ondrus and Ryan Hollweg who have all seen action with both clubs.

Making Their Debut: The Marlies have dressed 20 new players through their first 71 games this season. Alex Berry made his Marlies and AHL debut on Friday night against the Grand Rapids Griffins, becoming the 20th new player to dress for the club. Defensemen Richard Petiot, Andrew Martens, Jeremy Swanson, Andy Schneider, Josh Engel, Joey Ryan, Juha Uotila and Josef Boumedienne; forwards Andre Deveaux, Ryan Hamilton, Nikolai Kulemin, Ryan Hollweg, Ashton Rome, Jay Rosehill, Tim Stapleton and Mark Bell have all seen action in at least one game for the Marlies.

Reading Report: The Toronto Maple Leafs ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals currently rank seventh in the American Division with a 22-39-2-3 record for 49 points. Tyler Doig ranks first on the club with 51 points (16 goals, 35 assists). Doig has scored four goals in his past three games. Dan Rudisuela has 19 goals and 25 assists in 66 games. Rudisuela has potted four points (one goal, three assists) in his past two games. He's registered 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games.

On The Road: The Marlies finished their season-high, nine-game road trip with a 2-3-2-2 record for eight points on January 23 at Syracuse. They opened their road swing with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Milwaukee Admirals. Justin Pogge and Adam Munro had a combined 2.26 goals-against average and 0.918 save percentage on the road trip. Pogge started six games and Munro three. Maple Leafs prospect Nikolai Kulemin made his AHL debut on Thursday, January 8 in Milwaukee. Bates Battaglia and Alex Foster each scored a shorthanded goal on the trip.

Unveiling the Banner: The Marlies opened up the 2008-09 season by unveiling their North Division championship banner from the year before. The Marlies won their division with a 50-21-3-6 record for 109 points, nine more points then next closest Syracuse (100 points).

MARLIES QUICK HITS:

- The Marlies currently rank fourth in the North Division with a 35-27-3-6 record for 79 points through 71 games.

- Tim Stapleton has registered at least a point in eight of his past nine games (four goals, five assists).

- Alex Foster and Jaime Sifers are each one game shy of surpassing John Mitchell on the Marlies all-time games played list. Sifers and Foster have each skated in 203 career games as a Toronto Marlie.

- Justin Pogge has a home record of 10-2-1 over his past 14 starts at Ricoh Coliseum.

- Alex Berry made his Marlies and AHL debut on Friday night against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

- Adam Munro has won five of his past six starts in goal.

- Jay Rosehill ranks first on the team and second (tie) in the AHL with 242 penalty minutes and Phil Oreskovic ranks first on the club with a plus-15 rating, with Battaglia being the active leader at plus-13.

- The Marlies are 25-2-1-1 when taking a lead into the third period this season and are 24-4-1-1 when they record the game's first goal. When Toronto scores three or more goals in a game, they own a record of 34-7-0-1.

Reebok/AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

For the week ending March 24, 2009, the Toronto Marlies nominated forward Bates Battaglia for consideration as the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week. Battaglia had a three-point weekend (one goal, two assists) with a plus-two rating. On Saturday night in Grand Rapids, Battaglia registered a team-high two points with a goal and an assist. In the Marlies 3-2 overtime loss on Sunday versus the San Antonio Rampage, he chipped in with an assist on Jaime Sifers' game- tying goal late in the third period. Battaglia also had a plus-two rating against the Rampage.

IN THE BOOTH:

The Marlies and Rogers Cable TV announced their 29 game broadcast schedule, which will comprise of Friday, Saturday and Sunday home dates. The television play-by-play duties will be handled by the voice of the Marlies, John Bartlett, who returns for his fourth season with the organization. Former NHLer and Toronto Maple Leaf, Bob McGill, will join Bartlett in the booth for all 29 games.

The Marlies announced on Friday, October 10 in conjunction with the FAN 590, that all 80 regular season games will be live on the FAN 590. Marlies play-by-play announcer John Bartlett, along with colour commentator, Bob McGill will provide the live action for Marlies fans this season. Fans can also tune into all of the action on the Marlies official website, torontomarlies.com

MARLIES ON THE WEB Follow the Marlies all season long for the latest, most up-to-date information on their official web site, torontomarlies.com

MARLIES UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Sunday, March 29 vs. Syracuse Crunch - Duke the Dog Bobblehead Day
Friday, April 10 vs. Manitoba Moose - Pay Day Fridays Presented by Ricoh
Saturday, April 11 vs. Hamilton Bulldogs - Team Awards Night

MARLIES RECAP:

Friday, March 20 at Grand Rapids

Marlies Edged in Shootout, 2-1
Marlies Goal: Williams (24)
Griffins Goal: McCarty (3), McGrath (SOW)
Three Stars: 1. Howard (GRA), 2. Pogge (TOR), 3. McCarty (GRA)

Recap: The Marlies three-game winning streak came to an end as the Grand Rapids Griffins dropped Toronto 2-1 in a shootout on Friday night. After a scoreless first period, Darren McCarty put the Griffins on the board early in the second stanza with a shot that beat Justin Pogge. Toronto tied the game mid-way through the third period with a power play tally from Jeremy Williams. Tim Stapleton and Jiri Tlusty both collected assists on the goal. Stapleton and Tlusty each scored in the shootout for the Marlies, but Evan McGrath won the game for Grand Rapids in the eighth round. Pogge made 35 saves and was named the game's second star.

Saturday, March 21 at Grand Rapids

Battaglia's Two Point Night Not Enough
Marlies Goals: Tlusty (24), Battaglia (15)
Griffins Goals: Oulahen (19), Leino (14), Haydar (27)
Three Stars: 1. Leino (GRA), 2. Haydar (GRA), 3. Tlusty (TOR)

Recap: Toronto fell behind 2-0 in the second period and couldn't climb back as Grand Rapids defeated the Marlies for the second time in two nights. The two teams played to a scoreless first period for the second straight night, but the Griffins netted two goals in the second period to go up 2-0 after two periods of play. Jiri Tlusty found the back of the net six minutes into the third period. With the Marlies net empty, Darren Haydar made it a 3-1 Griffins lead. Bates Battaglia notched his 15th goal of the season with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. Battaglia finished the game with a goal and an assist. Adam Munro made 35 saves in the loss.

Sunday, March 22 vs. San Antonio

Marlies Comeback But Fall in Overtime, 3-2
Marlies Goals: Stapleton (22), Sifers (3)
Rampage Goals: MacLean (18), Perrault 2 (11)
Three Stars: 1. Perrault (SAN), 2. Sifers (TOR), 3. MacLean (SAN)

Recap: For the second consecutive game, the Marlies fell behind two goals as the Rampage notched two first period tallies. Tim Stapleton potted his 22nd of the season late in the second period to put the Marlies on the board. With the Marlie net empty for an extra attacker, Jeremy Williams' point shot was tipped by Jaime Sifers in front of the San Antonio net and past Al Montoya to knot the game at 2-2 with 42 seconds remaining in regulation. Bates Battaglia collected the second assist on the play. However, the Rampage would win the game on Joel Perrault's second goal of the game, 78 seconds into the overtime period. Justin Pogge made 18 saves in the loss.

Check out the Toronto Marlies Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2009


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