AHL Toronto Marlies

Marlies Host Milwaukee On Saturday In Only Home Game This Week

Published on December 2, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Toronto Marlies News Release


Opponents This Week:

(Dec. 5): The Marlies will face-off against the Grand Rapids Griffins - AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings - on Friday night at Van Andel Arena. This will be the second of eight meetings between the two clubs. The Griffins won the previous matchup on October 19 at Ricoh Coliseum, 7-3. Ville Leino, Mattias Ritola, Darren Haydar and Francis Pare each notched a goal and an assist in the Griffins win. Brent Aubin scored two goals in the game, and Alex Foster and Stefano Giliati each registered two assists. The Griffins currently rank fourth in the North Division with a 12-5-2-3 record for 29 points. Grand Rapids has earned at least a point in their past five games (4-0-0-1). The Griffins rank second in the AHL in home penalty killing (96.4%) and the Marlies rank first on the power play on the road (25.5%). Leino leads the Griffins with 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) and ranks tied for 10th in the league in assists. Darren Helm played in each of the final 18 games for the Detroit Red Wings last season, helping them win the Stanley Cup. The Marlies hold a slight advantage over Grand Rapids in their all-time record games played, 12-11-0-0. Their next meeting is on January 21 in Grand Rapids.

(Dec. 6): The Marlies host the Milwaukee Admirals - AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators - on Saturday night at Ricoh Coliseum. The Admirals make their only trip to Toronto this season. The Marlies travel to Milwaukee on January 8, the start of a nine-game, 17 day road trip during the month of January. The Admirals currently rank fourth in the West Division with a record of 11-7-0-1 for 23 points. In their past 10 games, they've accumulated a record of 7-3-0-0 and are 5-5-0-0 on the road this season. Toronto native, Cal O'Reilly ranks second in the AHL with 19 assists and has also scored four goals. Last season, O'Reilly finished the season with 16 goals and 63 assists, leading his team and ranking fifth in the AHL in points. Cody Franson was selected to the AHL All-Rookie team last season and is currently the Admirals top defenceman with 12 points (four goals, eight assists) this season. He won the Gold medal at the World Junior Championship while representing Canada in 2007. The Marlies lost both games against the Admirals last season, including a 4-2 defeat in their most recent matchup on January 10, 2008 in Milwaukee.

(Dec. 7): The Marlies play their fourth of 12 meetings against their provincial-rival, the Hamilton Bulldogs - AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens - on Sunday afternoon at Copps Coliseum. The Marlies are 1-1-0-1 against the Bulldogs this season. Jeremy Williams has three goals, including an overtime winner in two games against Hamilton this season. The Bulldogs currently rank second in the North Division with a 14-7-1-0 record for 29 points this season. They own a 7-4-0-0 record at Copps Coliseum this season. Their 81 goals for rank second only to Hershey's 107. Bulldogs starting goalie Marc Denis ranks first in the AHL with 12 wins. Matt D'Agostini and Yanick Lehoux both rank in the top-10 in league scoring for the Bulldogs. Kyle Chipchura was chosen in the first round (18th overall) by Montreal in the 2004 Entry Draft. He played alongside Justin Pogge as the captain of the Gold Medal 2006 Canadian World Junior team. The Marlies hold a 23-13- 0-3 all-time advantage over their QEW-rival.

MARLIES HEADLINES:

What A Week: Stefano Giliati had one of his best weeks as a professional last week. Giliati scored his first career American Hockey League goal on Sunday against the Rochester Americans in a 4-3 shootout victory. In four games this past week, he tallied a goal and two assists and a plus-two rating. Prior to this week, the Montreal native had two assists in eight games.

Tim Becoming a Staple: Tim Stapleton is currently on a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists). In his past seven games he's recorded nine points (three goals, six assists), including three multi-point games. The Oak Park, Illinois native ranks second on the Marlies and seventh in the AHL with nine power play assists. In 20 games this season, Stapleton has 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) including one game-winning tally.

Jimmy Two Times: On November 19, the Toronto Marlies announced Jim Hughes as the assistant coach of the club, replacing Doug Gilmour. Since Hughes' return, the Marlies have gone 5-2-0-0 in seven games. Hughes was the Marlies assistant coach the previous two seasons (2006-08). Last season, the Bronx, New York native was responsible for the team's number one ranked penalty kill.

Leading The Pack: Kris Newbury has potted 19 points over the past 16 games for the Marlies. During that stretch, he's scored five goals and added 14 assists. Newbury currently ranks first on the team in points, assists (tie), and fourth in penalty minutes. 11 of his 14 assists have come on the man-advantage, ranking second (tie) in the AHL. Newbury is the Marlies all-time leader in points (158), goals (55), assists (103), penalty minutes (429) and shorthanded goals (tie) with five.

Special Teams:

Power Play: The Toronto Marlies power play has clicked for eight goals in their past seven games. Toronto's power play currently ranks ninth in the AHL with a 19.0% success rate. Their power play on the road ranks first overall at 25.5%. They've scored at least one power play goal in eight of 10 road games. The Marlies have registered five, multi- power play goal games so far this season. Kris Newbury and Jeremy Williams lead all Marlie skaters with 12 power play points. Williams has nine power play tallies and Newbury has 11 assists.

Penalty Kill: The AHL`s best penalty kill during the 2007-08 season, is a solid 60-for-67 (89.5%) killing penalties on home ice so far this season. Toronto has successfully killed off their previous 73 of 83 penalties (two goals coming on a 5-on-3 advantage). Through 20 games, they rank fourth in the league with an 87.3% success rate. They've given up only 15 power play goals in 20 games. The Marlies have only allowed power play goals in seven of their past 13 games. Darryl Boyce potted the Marlies first shorthanded tally of the season against Lake Erie on Oct. 12 to knot the game at 3-3 late in the third period. Alex Foster set a Marlies franchise record last season with five shorthanded goals.

Free Willy: Jeremy Williams has scored seven goals in his past eight games, all coming on the man-advantage. He ranks first in the American Hockey League with nine power play goals and is first on the Marlies with 10 goals. Williams is third on the team with 12 points. He is tied for the club lead with two game-winning goals. He is currently the Marlies all-time leader with 15 game winning goals and ranks second in team history with 23 power play tallies.

Munny In The Bank: Adam Munro shutout the Binghamton Senators on Friday, November 21 for his first shutout in a Marlies uniform. Munro made 25 saves in the victory and currently has a record of 2-2-0 and has a 2.25 goals-against average and 0.917 save percentage. He is the first Marlies goalie to earn a shutout on the road since Justin Pogge on October 27, 2006 in Grand Rapids.

Multi-Point Games: Kris Newbury has tallied four, three-point games so far this season. The Marlies all-time leading point scorer, notched three points (one goal, two assists) on Nov. 19 at Rochester and two-points (two assists) on Nov. 21 at Binghamton. Newbury had a three-point night in his previous trip to Rochester on October 31st , recording all three points while on the power play. He recorded three assists on Wed., Oct. 22 vs. Hamilton and tallied two goals and one assist, including the game-winning goal on Sat., Oct. 18 vs. Hartford. The only other players to record three-point nights are Andre Deveaux (three goals) and Jeremy Williams (two goals, one assist). Also this season, Jaime Sifers, Tim Stapleton, Stefano Giliati, Alex Foster, Brent Aubin, Mark Bell, Boyd Devereaux Darryl Boyce, Richard Petiot, Staffan Kronwall and Jeremy Williams have all notched two-point games.

Multi-Point Games
Newbury 5
Stapleton 5
Williams 4
Aubin 2
Bell 2
Boyce 2
Sifers 1
Foster 1
Deveaux 1
Giliati 1
Petiot 1
Devereaux 1
Kronwall 1

Making Their Debut: The Marlies have dressed eight new players through their first 20 games this season. Defencemen Richard Petiot, Andy Schneider, Juha Uotila and Josef Boumedienne; forwards Andre Deveaux, Tim Stapleton and Mark Bell have all seen action in at least one game for the Marlies. Adam Munro made his Marlies debut on Sunday, October 19 in a relief effort, backing up Justin Pogge. Munro made 16 saves in the effort. Newcomer, Tim Stapleton scored the Marlies first goal of the 2008-09 season in the third period and also scored in the shootout on Friday night against the Binghamton Senators.

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). Toronto has 15 players that helped them to their title berth on the opening day roster.

Reading Report: The Toronto Maple Leafs ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals currently rank seventh in the American Division with a 5-14-0-1 record for 11 points. Dan Rudisuela ranks fifth (tie) on the Royals 10 for points (five goals, five assists). Tyler Doig ranks second on Reading with seven assists. James Reimer has appeared in four games for Reading and has earned a record of 2-1-0. Maple Leafs prospect, Michael Ouzas who is currently playing for the Fresno Falcons (ECHL) has a record of 5-4-1 with a 2.36 goals-against average and 0.917 save percentage.

MARLIES QUICK HITS:

- Kris Newbury leads the team with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists). Tim Stapleton ranks second on the Marlies with 18 points (four goals, 14 assists). Jeremy Williams ranks third on the team in points with 12.

- Darryl Boyce leads the team with 56 penalty minutes and Stefano Giliati ranks first on the club with a plus-two rating.

- The Marlies are 8-0-0-0 when taking a lead into the third period this season and are 7-1-0-0 when they record the game's first goal.

- Andre Deveaux made his NHL debut on Thursday, November 27 against the Ottawa Senators. He became the first player from the Bahamas to ever skate in an NHL game. This season in 13 games with the Marlies he recorded eight points (six goals, two assists) and ranked first on the team with 54 penalty minutes before being called up.

- Former Toronto Marlies forward, John Mitchell registered his fifth assist on the game-winning goal in the Maple Leafs 3-1 victory over Los Angeles. In 19 games this season with the Leafs, Mitchell has recorded two goals and five assists.

- The Marlies travel to Grand Rapids on Friday night to take on the Griffins at 7:00 p.m. at Van Andel Arena. Toronto is back home to take on the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Ricoh Coliseum. This will be the only time this season that the Admirals travel to Toronto. The Marlies renew their QEW rivalry with the Hamilton Bulldogs with a 5:00 p.m. contest in Hamilton on Sunday.

- The Marlies currently rank fifth in the North Division with an 9-9-0-2 record for 20 points through 19 games. This upcoming week they play two divisional opponents on the road (Grand Rapids and Hamilton) and Milwaukee at home on Saturday.

- The Marlies won the North Division last season with a record of 50-21-3-6 for 109 points. The 109 points set a Maple Leafs affiliate record.

RBK/AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE For the week ending December 1, 2008, the Toronto Marlies nominated left winger Stefano Giliati for consideration as the Rbk/AHL Player of the Week. The Montreal, Quebec native scored his first career American Hockey League goal on Sunday in the Marlies 4-3 shootout victory over the Rochester Americans. In four games this past week, Giliati notched three points (one goal, two assists) and a plus-two rating. Prior to games this week, he had registered two assists in eight games.

IN THE COMMUNITY

On Wednesday, December 3 the Toronto Marlies will be part of their fourth school visit of the 2008-09 season. Phil Oreskovic, Jeremy Williams and Darryl Boyce will head to Dorset Drive Public School at 1:30 p.m. to talk to students about anti-bullying in schools. The voice of the Toronto Marlies, John Bartlett and Duke the Dog will also be in attendance.

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:

Saturday, December 6 vs. Milwaukee Admirals - Duke Kids T-shirt Night
Friday, December 12 vs. Lake Erie Monsters - Pay Day Friday's presented by Ricoh
Sunday, December 14 vs. Hamilton Bulldogs - Jiri Tlusty Bobblehead Day
Saturday, December 27 vs. Manitoba Moose - Curtis Joseph Bobblehead Day

MARLIES RECAP:

Wednesday, November 26 vs. Rochester

Marlies School Amerks, 3-1
Marlies Goals: Williams (9), Boyce 2 (4)
Americans Goals: Meyer (4), Fitzpatrick (1)
Three Stars: 1. Boyce (TOR), 2. Devereaux (TOR), 3. McArdle (RCH)

Recap: The Marlies extended their winning streak to a season-high four games on Wednesday morning in front of a packed house at Ricoh Coliseum, 3-1. It was Toronto's third victory in three games against the Americans already this season. Jeremy Williams got things started for the Marlies on the first power play of the game four minutes into the game. Rochester tied the game when they broke in on a three-on-one and beat Justin Pogge while shorthanded. Darryl Boyce put the Marlies back in front after he stole the puck and netted his second shorthanded tally of the season. After Rory Fitzpatrick coughed up the puck behind his own goal, Stefano Giliati passed the puck out front to Boyce who used his patience to beat the Amerks goalie.

Friday, November 28 at Syracuse

Marlies Crunched by Syracuse, 5-1
Marlies Goals: Kronwall (3)
Crunch Goals: York (4), MacDonald 2 (7), Smith (1), MacKenzie (6)
Three Stars: 1. LaCosta (SYR), 2. Picard (SYR), 3. MacDonald (SYR)

Recap: The Marlies had their season-high winning streak snapped at four games on Friday night in Syracuse, 5-1 at the Oncenter. After the Marlies fell behind two goals in the first, they out-shot the Crunch 18-4 in the second period, but still couldn't solve Syracuse starting goalie Dan LaCosta. After the Crunch extended their lead to 3-0, Staffan Kronwall scored his third of the season while on the power play. Kris Newbury and Tim Stapleton each recorded assists on the play. Kronwall fired a Marlies season-high nine shots on goal. The Crunch would score two more times before the game was over, winning 5-1.

Saturday, November 29 at Lake Erie

Marlies Downed by Monsters, 3-2
Marlies Goals: Stapleton (4), Williams (10)
Monsters Goals: Burki (1), Durno (5), Sertich (4)
Three Stars: 1. Sertich (LEM), 2. Durno (LEM), 3. Weiman (LEM)

Recap: The Marlies dropped their second game on Saturday night to the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland, OH. The Monsters scored two goals, 42 seconds apart mid-way through the second period, with one goal coming on the power play. Tim Stapleton responded 20 seconds later with his fourth goal of the season. Stefano Giliati and Juha Uotila each picked up assists on the play. The Marlies went on the power play shortly after Stapleton's goal and Jeremy Williams capitalized on a cross ice pass from Jiri Tlusty to tie the game at 2-2. The Monsters scored at the 9:24 mark of the third period while on the power play to beat Toronto, 3-2. The victory is Lake Erie's third against the Marlies this season.

Sunday, November 30 vs. Rochester

Marlies Shoot Down Amerks, 4-3
Marlies Goals: Tlusty (2), Giliati (1), Foster (2), Tlusty (SOW)
Americans Goals: Garrison (2), Repik (6), Sprukts (3)
Three Stars: 1. Foster (TOR), 2. Giliati (TOR), 3. Repik (RCH)

Recap: The Toronto Marlies earned their first shootout victory of the season on Sunday afternoon, down the Rochester Americans for the second time in a week, 4-3. Jiri Tlusty opened the scoring when he fired home a rebound after Tim Stapleton took the initial shot on goal. After the Americans scored twice to take the lead 2-1, Stefano Giliati banged home his first career AHL goal to tie the game at 2-2. Trailing 3-2 in the third period, Alex Foster received a pass from Mark Bell and fired home a wrist shot, top shelf to tie the game at 3-3. The game went into a shootout, lasting seven rounds before Tlusty scored to winner and Justin Pogge made the final save to earn the Marlies the victory. Pogge made 18 saves in the Marlies victory.

Check out the Toronto Marlies Statistics

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



American Hockey League Stories from December 2, 2008


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.

OurSports Central