AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Report

January 3, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Vs. Utah (12/28): Goaltender Adam Hauser collected his league-leading fifth shutout of the season as the Monarchs defeated the Utah Grizzlies, 6-0, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Tuesday night. The Monarchs collected goals from left wings Dustin Brown and Noah Clarke, right wings George Parros, Brad Smyth and Tom Kostopoulos and defenseman Tim Gleason. Grizzlies goaltender David LeNeveu (27 saves) took the loss for the Grizzlies. Manchester went 2-for-5 on the power play. Utah was 0-for-4 on the power play.

At Lowell (12/29): The Monarchs allowed a season high 48 shots and lost to the Lowell Lock Monsters, 4-2, at the Tsongas Arena on Wednesday night. Left wing Dustin Brown and right wing Brad Smyth collected tallies for the Monarchs. The Lock Monsters had goals from left wing Lynn Loyns, right wing Chuck Kobasew and two from center Mike Zigomanis. Monarchs goaltender Mathieu Garon stopped 44 shots and took his fifth loss of the season. Lock Monsters goaltender Cam Ward earned the win by stopping 24 shots. Manchester went 1-for-5 on the power play. Lowell was 1-for-6 on the power play.

Vs. Lowell (12/31): The Monarchs fell to the Lock Monsters, 4-1, in their first home regulation loss of the year at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. Left wing Chris Schmidt scored the lone Monarchs goal 1:06 in to the first period. The Lock Monsters had tallies from right wing Chuck Kobasew, center Mike Zigomanis, defenseman Richie Regehr and left wing Colin Forbes. Goaltender Mathieu Garon (15 saves) took the loss for the Monarchs. Lowell goaltender Brent Krahn stopped 40 shots for the win. Manchester went a season high 0-for-11 on the power play. Lowell was 1-for-6.

Vs. Providence (1/1): Defenseman Tim Gleason scored the game winning goal at 15:42 of the third period as the Monarchs roared back from a two-goal deficit to beat the Providence Bruins, 5-3, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night. The Monarchs had third period goals from Gleason, defensemen Doug Nolan and Jason Holland and right wing Tom Kostopoulos (two goals on the evening). Holland's goal was scored on a penalty shot after left wing Dustin Brown was injured on a shorthanded breakaway. Providence left wing Dan LaCouture scored the hat trick for the Bruins. Goaltender Adam Hauser earned his ninth win of the season stopping 18 shots. Providence goaltender Cody Rudkowsky took the loss for the Bruins with 27 saves. Manchester went 1-for-4 on the power play. Providence was 1-for-7 on the power play.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

12/20/04: The American Hockey League (AHL) suspended left wing Noah Clarke for two (2) regular season games as a result of his actions against Lowell on December 29, 2004.

MONARCHS INJURY REPORT

12/13/04: Greg Hogeboom is out 10-12 weeks after undergoing wrist surgery.
11/27/04: Ryan Flinn is out 6-8 weeks after undergoing Achilles tendon surgery.
11/18/04: Scott Barney is out 10 weeks after undergoing abdominal surgery.

News & Notes

Right wing Tom Kostopoulos had two of the Monarchs five goals in a 5-3 come-from-behind win over the Providence Bruins on Saturday night. Kostopoulos leads the Monarchs with 17 multi-point games this season.

Kostopoulos, originally selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the seventh-round (104th overall) in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and signed by the Monarchs to a one-year contract on July 9, 2004, is fourth in the American Hockey League in scoring with 44 points (18-26=44) in 34 games.

Kostopoulos attempted a season high six shots in the Monarchs win over the Bruins. The 6-foot, 205-pound native of Mississauga, Ontario, is tied with teammate Yanick Lehoux (20 goals on 80 shots) for second in the league with a shooting percentage of .250 (18 goals on 72 shots).

Kostopoulos is just nine goals away from matching his AHL high for goals in a season. The 25-year-old right wing had 27 goals in 70 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2001-02 season.

Kostopoulos also needs just 16 assists to match his AHL career high for assists in a season. Kostopoulos recorded 42 assists in 71 games with the Baby Pens during the 2002-03 season.

The Monarchs team record 14-game unbeaten on home ice in regulation streak (13-0-1-0) came to an end on Friday night against the Lowell Lock Monsters. The Lock Monsters beat the Monarchs, 4-1.

The Monarchs are 14-1-1-0 in 16 home games this season after rebounding with a 5-3 win over the Bruins on Saturday night.

Since opening the season with a 20-1-0-0 record, the Monarchs are 5-5-2-1 in their last 13 games.

The Monarchs hosted a sellout crowd (9,916) for the fourth time this season on Friday night against the Lowell Lock Monsters.

Manchester, which led the AHL in attendance each of the last two years, is second in the league with an average of 8,875 fans per game after 16 home dates. The league's attendance leader is Manitoba. The Moose are averaging 8,979 fans per game after 16 home dates.

Three of the top four scorers in the AHL call Manchester home. Lehoux is tied with Binghamton Senators center Jason Spezza for the league lead with 49 points (20-29=49). Center Michael Cammalleri is third in the league in scoring with 46 points (22-24=46) and Kostopoulos is fourth with 44 points (18-26=44).

Lehoux, who has points in 29 of the 34 games he's appeared in this season, needs just three points to catch former Monarch Eric Healey for third place on the Monarchs all-time scoring list with 131 points. Lehoux, who's tied with former Monarch Steve Kelly for third on the Monarchs all-time goals scored list, has 50 goals and 128 points (50-78=128) in 178 career games with the Monarchs.

Cammalleri began the season with 22 goals in his first 25 games. Since that time, he's gone eight games without a goal and has just two assists in his last five games. Selected by the Kings in the second-round (49th overall) in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Cammalleri is still tied for second in the league with 22 goals in 33 games this season.

Cammalleri leads the league with 11 power play goals. The Monarchs team record for power play goals in a season is 14, set by Healey in 2002-03.

Cammalleri needs just four more power play goals to tie Healey (20 power play goals) for first on the Monarchs all-time power play goals list.

Defenseman Joe Rullier, the Monarchs all-time games played leader (231 games played), is tied for second in the AHL with a plus-24 plus/minus rating. Rullier's rating leads all AHL blueliners.

Goaltender Adam Hauser earned his league-leading fifth shutout on Tuesday night against the Utah Grizzlies with 26 saves (6-0 Monarchs win). Hauser, the Monarchs career leader with 12 shutouts, has the five shutouts in just 12 appearances this season.

Hauser, originally selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the third-round (81st overall) in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, is second in the league with a save-percentage of .939. The 24-year-old native of Bovey, Minnesota, is third in the circuit with a 1.80 goals -againstaverage.

Defenseman Denis Grebeshkov is second among AHL defensemen with 21 assists. Grebeshkov, selected by the Kings in the firstround (18th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, is seventh in scoring among league defensemen with 22 points (1-21=22).

Rookie center Matt Ryan is tied for the league lead among first year players with three game-winning goals. The 21-year-old native of Sharon, Ontario, is tied for fourth among rookies with a plus-7 rating.

The Monarchs matched their season high for goals in a period with four goals in the third period against the Bruins on Saturday night.

The Monarchs also registered four goals in the first period of their season-opening 5-2 win over the Worcester IceCats on October 15, 2004.

Bruins left wing Dan LaCouture recorded a hat trick against the Monarchs on Saturday night. The hat trick was the first recorded against the Monarchs at the Ve rizon Wireless Arena since forward Nils Ekman accomplished the feat while skating for the Hartford Wolf Pack on January 31, 2003.

Defenseman Jason Holland recorded just the second penalty shot goal in Monarchs history on Saturday night against the Bruins.

Holland scored against Bruins goaltender Cody Rudkowsky at 11:42 of the third period.

Holland was called upon to take the shot after left wing Dustin Brown was injured while attempting a shorthanded breakaway. The goal for Holland was his first of the season.

Holland joined left wing Chris Schmidt as the only Monarchs players to record penalty shot goals. Schmidt collected his penalty shot goal against Reinhard Divis and the Worcester IceCats on December 27, 2003. Like Holland's tally, Schmidt's was scored with the Monarchs shorthanded.

Left wing Noah Clarke served the second game of a two-game suspension on Saturday night when the Monarchs hosted the Bruins.

Clarke was suspended for his actions against the Lock Monsters on Wednesday night in Lowell (4-2 Lock Monsters win).

Clarke, a 25-year-old native of LaVerne, California, and a ninth-round selection (250th overall) of the Los Angeles Kings in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, has 25 points (10-15=25) and 16 penalty minutes in 32 games with the Monarchs this season and is tied for the league lead with three shorthanded goals.

The Monarchs lead the AHL in goals (130), assists (233), points (363) and goals -per-game-average (3.82).

The Monarchs are second in the league with a goals -against-average of 2.09.

The Monarchs lead the league in wins (25) and winning percentage (.779).

The Monarchs had at least one power play goal on home ice in each of their first 14 games at the Verizon Wireless Arena. That streak ended on Friday night against the Lock Monsters when the Monarchs failed to convert on a season high 11 power play chances.

The Monarchs lead the league with 43 power play goals, and their 21.3 percent success rate with the man-advantage (43 for 204) is tops in the league.

The Monarchs have scored four or more goals in 12 of their 16 home games this season.

The Monarchs have outscored their opponents, 71-28, on home ice this season. They are averaging 4.43 goals per game on home ice this season.

The Monarchs are 16-4-1-0 in 21 divisional games this season. The Monarchs are 0-1-1-0 against the Hartford, 2-2-0-0 against Lowell, 3-0-0-0 against Portland, 3-0-0-0 against Providence, 5-0-0-0 against Springfield and 3-1-0-0 against Worcester.

The Monarchs have scored the first goal in 24 of their 34 games this season. They have a record of 21-2-1-0 in the 24 games.

The Monarchs have a record of 19-0-2-0 in games where they've taken a lead into the third period.

The Monarchs have a record of 7-2-2-1 in one-goal games this season.

Monarchs Promotions

Max All-Star Bobblehead Night - The first 5,000 fans attending the Monarchs game against the Lowell Lock Monsters on Friday, January 7 will receive a Max All-Star Bobblehead doll, courtesy of Pepsi.

Monarchs Events

Right wing Tom Kostopoulos and center Yanick Lehoux will appear at the Pennichuck Middle School in Nashua on Tuesday, January 4 at 1:45 p.m. to discuss the importance of setting goals as part of the Monarchs Goals For Success program.

2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic

The 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic will be held in Manchester on February 13-14, 2005. Manchester and the Verizon Wireless Arena will provide the stage for the best young hockey players in the world to showcase their talents.

Tickets for the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic are on sale now at the Verizon Wireless Arena box office, at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 603-868-7300 and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Fewer than 300 tickets remain for this marquee event.

Tickets Prices: $49 for the Gold (lower) level

$39 for the Silver (upper) level

(The price includes one ticket to the AHL All-Star Skills Competition and one ticket to the AHL All-Star Game).

After the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on February 13, come celebrate with AHL players, guests and fans from around the league. The Center of New Hampshire - Radisson Hotel, Manchester (located across the street from the arena) will play host to the AHL All-Star Party Palooza, which will begin at 9:00 p.m.

Tickets for the AHL All-Star Party Palooza, a fun-filled evening featuring three separately themed parties rolled into one, are also on sale now. The parties will include musical entertainment from Beatle Juice, The Fat City Band and Hot Like Fire.

AHL All-Star Party Palooza tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the Verizon Wireless Arena box office, at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 603-868-7300 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.



American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2005


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