AHL Toronto Marlies

Marlies Weekly

Published on December 5, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Toronto Marlies News Release


THE OPPONENTS:

HAMILTON BULLDOGS - WED. PROMO = 'RISK WATCH' NIGHT WITH TORONTO FIRE SERVICES

The Marlies take-on the Hamilton Bulldogs - AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens - for the fifth time this season, and first at Ricoh Coliseum, when the teams meet on Wednesday evening in Toronto. After four of 12 meetings, the regular season series is tied at two games apiece following the Marlies' 3-2 victory last Friday evening at Copps Coliseum. Kris Newbury scored the game winning goal with 4:07 remaining in regulation time while goaltender Jean-Francois Racine earned his second consecutive victory in goal. The Bulldogs, 12-9-0-1, sit tied for second with the Manitoba Moose, 10-10-3-2, in the AHL's North Division standings but have three games in hand. The Marlies, 9-11-2-2, earned five of a possible eight points in the standings with their 2-1-0-1 record over four games last week and rank fifth in the North Division with 22 points. The Marlies are 4-7-2-1 on home-ice this season including a 0-1-0-0 record versus Hamilton. (RW) Duncan Milroy leads the Bulldogs in scoring through 22 games with 22 points (10g-12a=22 pts). Goaltender Jaroslav Halak has four shutout wins among his seven victories (7-4-0) while maintaining a GAA of 1.46 and a 0.952 save percentage. Notables: Halak was recognized as the AHL's Rbk X-Pulse/AHL Goaltender of the Month for the month of November. Through 16 all-time meetings, the Marlies lead the head-to-head series with a record of 9-7-0-0. Two of the Toronto losses came at Air Canada Centre, including a 2-1 setback when last the teams met in Toronto on November 11. Friday night's attendance of 6,244 in the Steel City represents the Bulldogs' largest home attendance to this point in the season. Only one of 16 all-time meetings between the clubs has required overtime. Brett Engelhardt scored the shootout winning goal on November 5, 2005 to help the Marlies to a 6-5 road victory.

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS - SAT. PROMO = TEDDY BEAR TOSS NIGHT IN CONJUNCTION WITH MADD

Toronto travels to Grand Rapids, MI on Thursday afternoon where they begin a home-and-home series with the Griffins - AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings - on Friday evening at Van Andel Arena. This weekend's two meetings represent what will arguably be both teams' biggest games of the season to date as only two points separate the clubs in the chase for the division's final playoff spot. Friday's contest marks the third of eight regular season meetings between the teams with the season series tied at 1-1 after two games. Marlies' goaltender Justin Pogge earned his first professional win (and first pro shutout) in turning aside 49 Griffin attempts when last the teams met on October 27. Kris Newbury had two goals, including one shorthanded marker, to lead the charge up front. The Griffins, 10-10-2-2, are coming off a two game sweep of the North Division's top ranked team after home ice wins over Rochester (2-1 on Dec. 1 and 4-2 on Dec. 2). Michigan native (C) Kip Miller leads Grand Rapids in scoring through 24 games with 28 points (10g-18a=28 pts). He is 10 points clear of second ranked scorer Josh Langfeld. Jimmy Howard has nine of the teams 10 wins in goal (9-7-1) while maintaining a GAA of 2.81 and a 0.904 save percentage. He recorded both of last weekend's home wins over the Americans. Notables: Miller is a four-time Griffin but has never played for the squad in consecutive seasons. Prior to Pogge's win in goal when last the teams met in the Bay State, no opposing goaltender had ever recorded more than 40 stops in a shutout victory over Grand Rapids. Houston's Josh Harding held the previous record. Toronto captain Marc Moro scored his first goal as a Marlie when last the teams met in Toronto on October 13. Former London Knights' captain (and Memorial Cup winner) Danny Syvret scored his first professional goal later in that contest as Jimmy Howard took first star honours with a 33 save performance. Syvret's marker was the game winning goal in a 4-2 visitors' victory. Grand Rapids eliminated the Marlies in five games in last season's North Division Calder Cup Quarterfinals. Three of the five games were decided by one goal, all in favour of the Griffins.

BINGHAMTON SENATORS - SUN. PROMO = DUKE SNOWGLOBE NIGHT

Toronto hosts the Binghamton Senators - AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators - in the first of two home-ice meetings on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. Not having faced the B-Sens since last February, the two teams will meet on three occasions over the course of the next 27 days. The Senators, 7-14-0-2, are off to a slow start this season having earned only six of a possible 28 points over the course of their last 14 games. They trail fourth place Bridgeport by eight points in the chase for the East Division's final playoff spot. Binghamton represents Toronto's third Eastern Conference home-ice opponent of the season. The Marlies are 0-1-1-0 after one goal losses versus Hershey (5-4 overtime defeat on October 15) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (3-2 loss) on October 28. Rookie (C) Andrew Ebbett leads the Senators in scoring through 23 games with 21 points (6g-15a=21pts). Goaltender Kelly Guard has appeared in 14 of the team's games to date and has a record of 5-7-1 (including one shutout victory) with a GAA of 3.20 and a 0.891 save percentage. Notables: Guard was the goaltender of record when the Marlies' franchise suffered their first shutout defeat in a 3-0 loss on November 18, 2005 at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton. Toronto is 1-2-1-0 in four all-time meetings versus the B-Sens. Binghamton arguably proved to be the Marlies' biggest nemesis last season. In addition to the first shutout loss, Toronto relinquished 1-0 and 2-1 leads in losing 4-2 on home-ice last December 27. When last the teams met in Toronto on February 11, the Marlies overcame a 1-0 deficit but surrendered a 4-1 lead when current Senator Jeff Heerema scored with 1:04 remaining in overtime to give the visitors a 5-4 victory. Current Maple Leaf Bates Battaglia and current Marlie Kris Newbury each had multi-point evenings in a 3-2 Toronto win when last the teams met on February 24 in New York State.

2007 Rbk HOCKEY AHL ALL-STAR CLASSIC

The 2007 Rbk Hockey American Hockey League All-Star Classic is coming to Toronto! The two day event will begin on Sunday, January 28 with the 2007 CCM AHL All-Star Skills Competition. The competition pits players from the Canadian AHL All-Stars against players from the Planet/USA AHL All-Star team as they compete in seven different events. The Classic concludes on Monday, January 29 when the two teams meet in the AHL All-Star Game. Start time on both evenings is 7 p.m. at Ricoh Coliseum. Tickets are available by calling 416-872-5000 or by visiting torontomarlies.com Both the CCM AHL All-Star Skills Competition and the AHL All-Star Game will air live in Canada on Rogers Sportsnet.

CCM/VECTOR AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

For the week ending December 3rd, 2006, the Toronto Marlies have nominated goaltender Jean-Francois Racine for consideration as the CCM/Vector AHL Player of the Week. Racine notched two straight wins (over Milwaukee last Wednesday and at Hamilton on Friday) before helping the team earn one point in a 4-3 SO setback versus Milwaukee on Sunday. Racine turned aside 26 shots in both victories and leads the team in wins with five on the campaign. This week's award was ultimately won by Peoria's Charles Linglet.

MARLIES ON THE WEB

Follow the Marlies all season long on their official web site, torontomarlies.com

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, November 29
Toronto Marlies defeat Milwaukee Admirals 4-2
Marlies Goals: Foster (1g), Devereaux (3g - GW, EN)
Admirals Goals: Vigilante (2g)
Shots on Goal: Marlies 34, Admirals 28
Penalty Minutes: Marlies 12, Admirals 16
Goaltender (saves): Marlies - Racine (26 sv, 2 ga)
Admirals - Goehring (30 sv, 3 ga) Three Stars: (1) Boyd Devereaux, TOR (2) John Vigilante, MKE (3) Robbie Earl, TOR
Attendance: (2,172 at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto)

Friday, December 1
Toronto Marlies defeat Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2
Marlies Goals: Sifers (PP), Foster (1g), Newbury (PP/GW, 1a)
Bulldogs Goals: Kostitsyn (1g), Grabovski (1g, 1a)
Shots on Goal: Marlies 29, Bulldogs 28
Penalty Minutes: Marlies 16, Bulldogs 10
Goaltender (saves): Marlies - Racine (26 sv, 2 ga)
Bulldogs - Halak (26 sv, 3 ga) Three Stars: (1) Kris Newbury, TOR (2) Mikhail Grabovski, HAM (3) Jean-Francois Racine, TOR
Attendance: (6,244 at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton)
Saturday, December 2
Syracuse Crunch defeat Toronto Marlies 4-2
Marlies Goals: Foster (1g), Harrington (PP)
Crunch Goals: Hauhtonen (PP), Pineault (1g), Walser (PP/GW), Motzko (EN)
Shots on Goal: Marlies 25, Crunch 34
Penalty Minutes: Marlies 24, Crunch 16
Goaltender (saves): Marlies - Pogge (30 sv, 3 ga)
Crunch - Popperle (23 sv, 2 ga) Three Stars: (1) Ryan Caldwell, SYR (2) Justin Pogge, TOR (3) Joe Motzko, SYR
Attendance: (3,316 at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto)

Sunday, December 3
Milwaukee Admirals defeat Toronto Marlies 4-3 in Shootout
Marlies Goals: Sagat (1g), Corey (1g), Murphy (PP) Admirals Goals: Klein (1g), Peverley (PP, 1a), Guerriero (PP, 1a) Shootout Winning: Koistinen, MKE
Shots on Goal: Marlies 45, Admirals 24 Penalty Minutes: Marlies 25, Admirals 23 Goaltender (saves): Marlies - Racine (21 sv, 3 ga)
Admirals - Goehring (42 sv, 3 ga) Three Stars: (1) Karl Goehring, MKE (2) Rich Peverley, MKE (3) Jeff Corey, TOR Attendance: (3,861 Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto)

MARLIES NOTES

** Forward Kris Newbury continues his strong play of late and registered two multi-point games this past week. The Brampton, ON native was recognized as the game's first start following his 1g, 1a performance on Friday evening at Hamilton. He scored that night's GWG with 4:07 remaining in regulation time.

** On conditioning with the Marlies, defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo was a strong presence on the blue line this past week, earning one assist in each of his three games played. The Toronto native assisted on Newbury's PP goal to help the Marlies to victory on Friday in the Steel City.

** Former University of Vermont captain Jaime Sifers scored the first goal of his pro career in Friday's win over Hamilton. A native of Stratford, Connecticut, Sifers joined the team on an amateur tryout contract last March. He was signed by the Maple Leafs prior to this season is one of only two Toronto blueliners (Moro) to appear in all 24 of the teams' games to date.

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