Mighty Ducks taking wing in Cincinnati

Published on January 31, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Cincinnati RailRaiders News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... Playing in a division with the last three Calder Cup champions, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks may have flown under the radar in recent years, but some home cooking has helped make the opposition take notice of their feathered foes.

Cincinnati, which has finished above the .500 mark just once in its first seven AHL seasons, has gone 13-4-1-1 since Dec. 18 and currently sits at 23-21-1-3 on the season, good for 50 points and third place in the West Division. The Mighty Ducks are an impressive 14-5-0-2 at Cincinnati Gardens, earning a point in each of their last 10 home games (9-0-0-1).

Joffrey Lupul, the seventh overall selection by Anaheim in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, leads Cincinnati with 15 goals, 21 assists and 36 points this year, and will be the Ducks' representative at the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic. Cincinnati is a perfect 11-0-0-0 on the season when Lupul scores a goal. Michael Holmqvist, another former first-round pick (1997), is second in team scoring with 31 points, and Zenon Konopka ranks first in plus/minus rating, third in points and third in penalty minutes. Chris Kunitz, who played in the AHL All-Star Classic as a rookie in 2004, has rebounded from a broken jaw and has 10 goals and 17 points in 24 games this year.

Forwards Stanislav Chistov (5th overall in 2001) and Alexei Smirnov (12th overall in 2000) were also recent first-round choices of Anaheim's, while defensemen Mark Popovic and Kurtis Foster are former second-round selections. Foster, an AHL All-Star in 2003, won a Calder Cup championship with Chicago in 2002. Ilya Bryzgalov, who played for Russia in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey tournament, has been one of the AHL's busiest goaltenders over the past four seasons, appearing in 188 games with Cincinnati since joining the club in 2001-02. Anaheim's second-round draft pick in 2000, Bryzgalov is 12-8-1 this year, and has won seven straight decisions dating back to Dec. 4.

Cincinnati has scored a power-play goal in eight consecutive games, most recently converting on each of its first four man advantages in the first period of Sunday's 5-4 shootout loss to San Antonio. The Mighty Ducks have had an AHL-high 297 power play opportunities in 2004-05.

After taking the eventual champions to seven games in last year's conference semifinal playoff round, the Cincinnati has won two of three meetings with Milwaukee this season heading into a visit to the Bradley Center on Thursday night. The Ducks then play 19 of their final 31 games of the season on home ice, starting this weekend against Syracuse.


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BOUDREAU TO LEAD PLANETUSA ... Friday night's 4-1 win over visiting Portland secured a trip to the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic for Manchester Monarchs head coach Bruce Boudreau and his assistants, Jim Hughes and Dane Jackson. The Monarchs own the AHL's best points percentage (.750) through action at Sunday's pre-determined deadline.

There was no AHL All-Star Game when Boudreau, the 11th-leading scorer in AHL history, was playing, so he will be making his All-Star debut at this year's event, which will be held at Manchester's Verizon Wireless Arena on Feb. 13-14. Boudreau joins Philadelphia's Bill Barber (1999) as the only head coaches in modern history to serve in an AHL All-Star Classic in their own arenas.


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ALL-STAR OFFICIALS NAMED ... The American Hockey League has named the on-ice officials for the 2005 AHL All-Star Game in Manchester. Terry Koharski will serve as the game's referee; AHL veterans Mike Emanatian (19th season) and Luke Galvin (17th season) will be the linesmen. It will be the first AHL All-Star appearance for all three.

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OFF THE ICE ... The Hershey Bears, WGAL-TV and Hershey Entertainment and Resorts raised over $38,000 at Sunday's game for American Red Cross tsunami relief efforts... The Bridgeport Sound Tigers raised nearly $10,000 for the Children's Glaucoma Foundation through an all-star charity game and an appearance by the Stanley Cup on Sunday... The San Antonio Rampage raised more than $15,000 for the Alamo Area Fire and Police Memorial with a jersey auction following their Jan. 21 game.


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ETC. ... Lowell forward Eric Staal extended his scoring streak to 12 games (5g, 15a) with seven points in four contests last week... Norfolk rookie Rene Bourque scored three goals in Friday's 4-2 win over Springfield, the Admirals' first hat trick since Nov. 29, 2002 (Igor Radulov)... Worcester scored twice with the goaltender pulled in the final 67 seconds of regulation, but Zach Parise netted the winner in overtime as Albany edged the IceCats on Wednesday, 4-3... Kirk Daubenspeck made 27 saves in Portland's 4-0 win over Worcester on Sunday for his first AHL victory since Apr. 7, 2000... With two goals last week, Utah's Peter White moved into 15th place on the AHL's all-time scoring list with 768 career points... Hartford goaltender Jason LaBarbera's goals-against average has risen above 2.00 for the first time since Nov. 12, 2003... Syracuse's Karl Goehring is 4-0 in shootouts this season, stopping 19 of 21 attempts... Jeff Ulmer has scored a goal in six straight games for Hershey... Bridgeport played before two of the top five home crowds in franchise history over the weekend, including a team-record 8,475 for Sunday's 6-4 win over Hartford... Grand Rapids plays four daunting road games this week, visiting Manitoba (29-11-1-5), Philadelphia (26-12-2-4) and Rochester (31-9-3-4)... Houston played its first 40 games in 103 days; the Aeros will play their final 40 games in 79 days... Binghamton's nine-game winning streak ended with a shutout loss to Rochester on Friday; the Senators' 10-game home winning streak ended with a shutout loss to Albany on Saturday... Providence and Bridgeport were a combined 7-for-9 on the power play in the Bruins' 7-5 win on Friday night... Five of Utah's 12 wins this season have come via the shootout.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2005


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