AHL Toronto Marlies

Marlies Weekly

Published on December 20, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Toronto Marlies News Release


THE OPPONENT: ROCHESTER AMERICANS

The Marlies travel to Rochester, New York for the first time this season and battle the Amerks - AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres & Florida Panthers - in their final game before Christmas on Friday evening at Blue Cross Arena. Toronto will look to avenge a 5-4 overtime setback when last the teams met on November 26 at Ricoh Coliseum. The Marlies took a 4-2 lead on the strength of John Mitchell's second marker of the season at 1:14 of the third period but saw the Americans score three straight goals capped by defenceman Brandon Smith's overtime winner at 2:35 of the extra session allowing the visitors to leave Toronto with the win. The Americans, 20-6-1-0, come into Friday night's game with the best record in the North Division and lead second place Hamilton by six points with one game in-hand. Toronto is 0-1-1 in two games versus Rochester this season, following two losses on home ice. Amerks' netminder Adam Dennis made 54 saves in leading the visitors to a 3-1 win on October 21. The Marlies enter Friday night action three games below the .500 mark after winning two of three games in Pennsylvania last weekend. Their 28 points (12-15-2-2) see them tied with Grand Rapids in the chase for the North Division's final playoff position. Toronto earned hard-fought OT and SO wins at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (6-5 last Friday) and in Hershey (4-3 on Saturday) respectively. They fell by a 5-3 score at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia on Sunday. Despite the loss, Toronto is 8-5-0-1 away from Ricoh this season. They are 7-8-1 versus North Division opponents. (RW) Mark Mancari is tied for first among all current Americans in scoring through 28 games with 22 points (11g-11a=22 pts). (D) Brandon Smith also has 22 points (5g-17a=22 pts). Goaltender Craig Anderson has one shutout win among his nine victories (9-3-0) while maintaining a GAA of 2.55 and a 0.909 save percentage. Notables: Friday's meeting is the third of 10 regular season meetings. The Marlies return to upstate New York in early February before playing here three times in eight days (Mar. 28 - Apr. 4 '07) and close out regular-season meetings on April 10 at Ricoh Coliseum. The teams met on only eight occasions last season. The Marlies rebounded from a 1-4-0-0 record through five meetings to split the season series with four wins apiece. Colin Murphy scored the Marlies' first goal in franchise history in Rochester on October 7, 2005. The teams combined for 166 penalty minutes that evening (89 by Toronto). Neither record has been matched in Toronto's 110 regular season games since. Rochester's Smith is third among all AHL defencemen in scoring. The team's top two scorers this season (Clarke MacArthur and Janis Sprukts) are currently on recall to Buffalo and Florida respectively.

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. Fans are encouraged to vote for their favourite players online at the theahl.com. All-Star Fan Balloting presented by Rbk Hockey continues through January 9, 2007.

CCM/VECTOR AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

For the week ending December 17th, 2006, the Toronto Marlies have nominated centre Erik Westrum for consideration as the CCM/Vector AHL Player of the Week. Westrum earned six points in three Marlies' road games through Pennsylvania. After recording three assists in Friday's win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, including one on Kris Newbury's game-winning goal, the Minneapolis native scored to tie the game at 3-3 in Hershey the following evening before scoring the shootout winner. Westrum added two more assists in Sunday's loss at Philadelphia. This week's award was ultimately won by Chicago's Cory Larose.

MARLIES IN THE COMMUNITY

Once again this season, the Marlies are embarking on their Safe Schools campaign to promote an anti-bullying message to young students across Toronto. On Tuesday, December 19th, Marlies' forwards Jeremy Williams, Brett Engelhardt and Robbie Earl appeared at St. Andrews Public School (151Forest Fountain Drive, Woodbridge) to continue this season's school visits.

MARLIES ON THE WEB Follow the Marlies all season long on their official web site, torontomarlies.com

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, December 15
Toronto Marlies defeat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 6-5 in Overtime
Marlies Goals: Devereaux (1g, 1a), Sifers (1g), Engelhardt (PP), Ondrus (1g), Corey (SH, 2a), Newbury (PP/GW, 2a)
Penguins Goals: James (SH, 1g), Dixon (PP, 1a), Brodziak (1g, 1a), McLean (PP)
Shots on Goal: Marlies 34, Penguins 26
Penalty Minutes: Marlies 15, Penguins 25
Goaltender (saves): Marlies - Pogge (21 sv, 5 ga)
Penguins - Deslauriers (28 sv, 6 ga) Three Stars: (1) Kris Newbury, TOR (2) Connor James, WB/S (3) Kyle Brodziak, WB/S Attendance: (7,949 at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre)

Saturday, December 16
Toronto Marlies defeat Hershey Bears 4-3 in Shootout
Marlies Goals: Mitchell (1g, 1a), Sifers (1g), Westrum (PP)
Bears Goals: Bourque (2g, 1a), Steckel (1g, 1a) Shootout Winning Westrum, TOR Shots on Goal: Marlies 29, Bears 36 Penalty Minutes: Marlies 14, Bears 12 Goaltender (saves): Marlies - Pogge (33 sv, 3 ga)
Bears - Cassivi (26 sv, 3 ga) Three Stars: (1) Chris Bourque, HER (2) Matt Hendricks, HER (3) Justin Pogge, TOR Attendance: (7,505 at Giant Center in Hershey)

Sunday, December 17
Philadelphia Phantoms defeat Toronto Marlies 5-3
Marlies Goals: Engelhardt (PP), Newbury (PP), Corey (PP)
Phantoms Goals: Kane (2PP/GW), Grant (2g), Baumgartner (PP)
Shots on Goal: Marlies 43, Phantoms 21
Penalty Minutes: Marlies 17, Phantoms 37
Goaltender (saves): Marlies - Pogge (5 sv, 3 ga) - Ford (11 sv, 2 ga)
Phantoms - Munroe (40 sv, 3 ga) Three Stars: (1) Triston Grant, PHL (2) Boyd Kane, PHL (3) Petr Nedved, PHL Attendance: (5,066 at Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia)

MARLIES NOTES

** Marlies' rookie netminder Justin Pogge won consecutive games for the first time in his professional career (Friday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton & Saturday at Hershey), including a SO win over the Bears, a game in which he turned aside four of six shootout attempts. The Marlies road shootout victory was their first since Bates Battaglia's marker was the difference on March 28, 2006 at Manitoba.

** Marlies' forward Kris Newbury had five points during Toronto's three game road trip through Pennsylvania this past weekend. The Brampton, Ontario native has recorded at least one point in each of the Marlies' six games in the Keystone State in franchise history. Newbury's game-winner on Friday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton snapped Toronto's two game losing streak.

** Marlies' rookie forward Jeff Corey, a Philadelphia native, enjoyed a successful weekend in his return to his home state. The former University of Vermont Catamount scored a SH marker to tie Friday's game with 1:15 remaining in regulation time. He scored Sunday's game's final goal, a PP marker, in front of over 100 family and friends at Wachovia Spectrum.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 20, 2006


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