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AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Report

March 28, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Vs. Portland (3/25): Monarchs goaltender Mathieu Garon earned his team-leading eighth shutout of the season by blanking the Portland Pirates, 3-0, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. Center David Steckel, right wing Tom Kostopoulos and left wing Jeff Giuliano lit the lamp for the Monarchs. Portland goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck, who was replaced by Maxime Daigneault (3 saves) with less than eight minutes remaining in the game due to an equipment problem, took the loss. He stopped 28 shots.

Manchester went 1-for-5 on the power play. Portland was 0-for-4 on the power play.

At Portland (3/26): Defenseman Tim Gleason scored with eight seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Monarchs over the Portland Pirates, 2-1, at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Saturday night. Center Brian Sutherby scored the lone Portland goal at 4:22 of the second period. Center Michael Cammalleri scored his league-leading 41st goal of the season to tie the game at 19:08 of the same period. Monarchs goaltender Adam Hauser (40 saves) earned his 17th victory of the season. Pirates goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck took his second consecutive loss against the Monarchs, stopping 41 shots. Manchester went 1-for-6 on the power play.

Portland was 0-for-4 on the power play.

MONARCHS INJURY REPORT

3/9/05: Ryan Flinn is week-to-week with a lower body injury.

3/9/05: Noah Clarke is week-to-week with a lower body injury.

1/19/05: Yanick Lehoux is out indefinitely following knee surgery.

1/8/05: Scott Barney is out 16 weeks after undergoing hip surgery.

12/13/04: Greg Hogeboom is week-to-week after undergoing wris t surgery.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

3/28/05: Manchester signed goaltender Ryan Munce to an amateur tryout agreement.

3/28/05: Manchester recalled defenseman Beau Geisler and center Jeff Miles from loan to Reading (ECHL).

3/24/05: Manchester returned defenseman Beau Geisler and center Jeff Miles on loan to Reading (ECHL).

News & Notes

The Monarchs are the first team from the Eastern Conference to secure a berth in the 2005 Calder Cup playoffs. The Monarchs lead the Atlantic Division with 97 points, and while the Providence Bruins and the Worcester IceCats can each reach 98 points, the Bruins and IceCats face each other three more times, meaning at least one of them will not be able to catch Manchester.

The Monarchs clinched a spot in the postseason for the fourth consecutive year with Saturday's win over the Portland Pirates.

The Monarchs, who have finished in second place in their division in each of their previous three AHL seasons, own a five-point lead over the Hartford Wolf Pack with one game in hand.

With 97 points, the Monarchs have tied the franchise record for points in a season. They also collected 97 points in 2002-03.

The Monarchs have more wins (45), more home wins (26) and more road wins (19) than any other team in franchise history.

Center Michael Cammalleri added to his franchise record for points in a season (94) with his league-leading 41st goal, scored against the Pirates on Saturday night.

Cammalleri is second in the league in overall scoring with 94 points (41-53=94). Binghamton Senators center Jason Spezza leads the league in scoring. He has 99 points (27-72=99) this season.

Cammalleri, already the Monarchs single season assist leader (53), needs one more goal to tie the franchise record for goals in a single campaign, held by former Monarchs left wing Eric Healy with 42 goals in 2002-03.

Cammalleri also needs just one more goal to tie former Monarchs left wing Pavel Rosa for the most goals in franchise history.

Cammalleri has 66 goals in 122 career games. Rosa collected 67 goals in 138 career games.

Cammalleri (153 career points) needs 11 points over his last 11 games to tie former Monarchs center Steve Kelly (164 career points) for most career points. Cammalleri is averaging 1.38 points-per-game this season.

Cammalleri has scored at least a point in 57 of the 68 games he's skated in this season. He has three scoring streaks of at least 10 games in length this season.

Cammalleri, the Monarchs all-time power play goals leader (22), is tied for the AHL lead with 17 power play goals this season.

Goaltender Mathieu Garon, tied for the league lead with eight shutouts, enters this week's action with a shutout streak of 170:55. He picked up his eighth shutout of the season with 23 saves against the Pirates on Friday night.

Garon's shutout streak is within striking distance of the franchise record, held by former Monarchs goalie Travis Scott. Scott set the record with a shutout streak of 219:37 during the 2001-02 season.

Garon's eight shutouts represent a new Monarchs single season record for shutouts in a season.

Garon (8) and goalie Adam Hauser (5) have combined for 13 shutouts this season, also a new Monarchs single season record.

Including Friday's contest, Garon is 4-0-0 in his last four starts for the Monarchs with a goals -against-average of 0.98 and a savepercentage of .963.

Garon, already the Monarchs single season record holder for wins in a season with 28 victories, has allowed just four goals to the opposition over his last four starts. He's stopped 107 of the last 111 shots he's faced.

Garon (.932) and Hauser (.932) both are on pace to set a new Monarchs single season record for save-percentage. The team record for save-percentage in a season is .930, set by Scott in 2001-02.

Hauser's 1.98 goals -against-average this season is just a shade higher than his career goals -against-average of 1.95 with the Monarchs.

Hauser's career goals -against-average includes 71 Monarchs appearances over the last two seasons.

For the first time in franchise history, the Monarchs have two players with over 200 penalty minutes in a season on their roster.

Defenseman Joe Rullier leads the Monarchs with 278 penalty minutes this season. Joining him in the 200-minute club is right wing George Parros, who has accumulated 202 penalty minutes this season.

Rullier needs one more goal and one more assist to set new career highs in both categories. Rullier has three goals and 12 assists for the Monarchs this season.

Center David Steckel has five of his eight total goals this season in the month of March (10 games). The rookie out of Ohio State University has seven points (5-2=7) in his last nine games overall.

Three players have skated in every game (69) for the Monarchs this season: left wing Dustin Brown, who ranks seconds on the Monarchs with 27 goals and 63 points (27-36=63), left wing Chris Schmidt (4-11=15) and defenseman Mike Weaver (1-19=20), who leads the Monarchs and all AHL defensemen with a plus-27 plus/minus rating.

Brown, who has five points (2-3=5) over his last five games, appeared in his 100th professional game on Saturday night against the Pirates. In addition to his 69 games this season, the second-year pro also appeared in 31 games (1-4=5) with the Los Angeles Kings last year.

Left wing Jeff Giuliano has already established new career highs for goals (8) and points (24) in a season. The third-year pro needs just five more games to reach 200 in his AHL career.

Defenseman Denis Grebeshkov established a new Monarchs single season assist record for a defenseman on Saturday night by earning his 38th assist of the season against the Pirates. Grebeshkov's 38 assists are also tied for the AHL leadership among blueliners.

Grebeshkov (4-38=42) needs eight points over his last 11 games to match the Monarchs franchise record for points by a defenseman in a season. Former Monarchs defensemen Bryan Muir (13-37=50, 2003-04) and Joe Corvo (13-37=50, 2001-02) share the record.

Grebeshkov's 45 career assists are third all-time among defensemen. Teammate Jason Holland is second on the all-time list with 52 assists. The Monarchs all-time assist leader for a defenseman is Tomas Zizka, who collected 71 assists over three seasons in Manchester (2001-04).

Holland needs just four mo re games to reach 500 for his AHL career. The nine-year pro has 205 points (49-156=205) in 496 career AHL games.

Defenseman Tim Gleason tied a single season record for game-winning goals by a defenseman on Saturday night against the Pirates with his third of the season. Muir originally set the franchise record with three game winners last year.

Right wing Tom Kostopoulos extended his scoring streak to three games with a pair of assists for the Monarchs in their overtime victory over the Pirates on Saturday night.

Kostopoulos, who has four points (2-2=4) during the streak, also collected a goal in the Monarchs 3-0 win over the Pirates on Friday night. Kostopoulos, third on the Monarchs in scoring (21-39=60), has nine points (2-7=9) over his last seven games.

Promotions

Fan Appreciation Night - Every fan attending the Monarchs game against the Springfield Falcons on Saturday, April 2 at 7:35 p.m. will receive a team photo courtesy of the NH Tobacco Prevention & Control Program. Hundreds of other prizes will also be given away, including two roundtrip airline tickets, courtesy of U.S. Air, and a 51-inch Sony projection screen television, courtesy of Circuit City.

Shirt Off Our Back - Hey fans, don't miss your chance to win the Shirt Off Our Back. Stop by the Shirt Off Our Back table behind section 107 to purchase a raffle ticket to win your favorite Monarchs game-worn jersey. Raffle tickets are only $1. Winners will be chosen at the last home game of the season, scheduled for Friday, April 15 against the Lowell Lock Monsters. Proceeds will benefit Special Olympics of New Hampshire and the Monarchs Care Foundation. For more information, contact Cheryl Abbott, Monarchs Director of Community Relations and Special Events at 626-7825, ext. 6102.

Events

At Your Service - The Monarchs netted over $65,000 for three area charities during their fourth annual "At Your Service" event, held at C. R. Sparks in Bedford on Tuesday night. The money raised from the event will soon be donated to Child Health Services, Manchester Boys & Girls Club and the Monarchs Care Foundation, the charitable arm of the Monarchs. The Monarchs "At Your Service" event has raised over a quarter of a million dollars for local charities in just four years.

February Investing In Our Youth Grant Winners Announced - The Monarchs will donate $1,000 scholarships to the Londonderry High School Marching Band and to the Souhegan High School Girl's Hockey Team. Both were selected as February winners of the team's Investing In Our Youth grant program. Thanks to the grant program, the Monarchs are able to award two $1,000 scholarships every month. One of the scholarships goes to a deserving school organization. The other scholarship goes to a deserving youth sports team. For more information on how your school organization or youth sports team can apply for the Monarchs Investing In Our Youth grant program, visit www.monarchshockey.com and click on "In The Community."

Monarchs Hockey School - The Monarchs will host their fourth annual hockey school this summer at the Tri-Town Ice Arena in Hooksett. Dates for the school are August 15-19. Players ranging in age from 7-14 are welcome to come and tune up their hockey skills with instruction from Monarchs players and Monarchs Director of Hockey Operations, Hubie McDonough. To find out more about the Monarchs hockey school, call 626-7825, ext. 6113 and ask for Jason Bergeron.



American Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2005


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