AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Report

Published on April 11, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Vs. Portland (4/6): Center Michael Cammalleri scored with 1:08 remaining in overtime to lift the Monarchs over the Portland Pirates, 5-4, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday night. Center David Steckel and right wings Brad Smyth, Tom Kostopoulos and George Parros also scored for the Monarchs. Center Brooks Laich, right wing Brian Willsie (two goals) and defenseman Steve Eminger recorded tallies for the Pirates. Monarchs goaltender Mathieu Garon earned his 29th win of the season with 26 saves. Pirates goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck took the loss, stopping 34 shots. Manchester went 1-for-6 on the power play. Portland was 1-for-8 on the power play.

At Portland (4/8): Center Michael Cammalleri had one goal and two assists for the Monarchs in a 4-1 victory over the Portland Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Friday night. Center Jeff Miles and right wings Tom Kostopoulos and Brad Smyth also found the back of the net for the Monarchs. Center Jason Ulmer scored the lone goal for Portland. Monarchs goaltender Adam Hauser (32 saves) earned his 19th victory of the season. Pirates goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck, who was replaced by Maxime Daigneault (eight saves) in the third period, took the loss with 23 saves. Manchester went 0-for-7 on the power play. Portland also went 0-for-7 on the power play.

At Springfield (4/9): Goals from right wings Tom Kostopoulos and Brad Smyth highlighted a third period comeback as the Monarchs edged the Springfield Falcons, 4-3, at the Springfield Civic Center on Saturday night. The Monarchs also had goals from centers Michael Cammalleri and Matt Ryan. Center Craig Darby and left wings Adam Henrich and Derek Bekar scored for the Falcons. Goaltender Mathieu Garon (26 saves) earned his 30th win of the season for the Monarchs. Falcons goaltender Brian Eklund took the loss, stopping 24 shots. Manchester went 1-for-4 on the power play. Springfield was 1-for-7 on the power play.

MONARCHS INJURY REPORT

4/9/05: Joe Rullier is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

4/3/05: Tim Gleason is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

3/30/05: Jeff Giuliano is week-to-week with a lower body injury.

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.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

4/11/05: Manchester signed center Tyler Harrison to an amateur tryout agreement.

News & Notes

The Manchester Monarchs enter this week's action with a four-point lead over the Hartford Wolf Pack in the race for the American Hockey League's Atlantic Division title.

If the Monarchs beat the Wolf Pack on Wednesday night, they'll need to win just one of their final three games to clinch their firstever division title. The Monarchs, with a record of 49-19-4-4 and 106 points, and the Wolf Pack, with a record of 48-22-3-3 and 102 points, each have four games remaining on their schedules.

One of the Monarchs four remaining games will be played at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Monarchs are scheduled to host the Lowell Lock Monsters on Friday night.

Monarchs Remaining Schedule

Apr. 13 @ Hartford

Apr. 15 LOWELL

Apr. 16 @ Bridgeport

Apr. 17 @ Worcester

The Monarchs have a combined record of 14-12-3-1 and a combined winning percentage of .533 against their remaining opponents.

The Monarchs are 3-2-2-0 vs. Hartford, 4-6-0-1 vs. Lowell, 1-1-1-0 vs. Bridgeport and 6-3-0-0 vs. Worcester this season.

Three of the Wolf Pack's four remaining games will be played at the Hartford Civic Center. Hartford is scheduled to host the Monarchs on Wednesday night, the Albany River Rats on Friday night and the Springfield Falcons on Sunday night.

Wolf Pack Remaining Schedule

Apr. 13 MANCHESTER

Apr. 15 ALBANY

Apr. 16 @ Springfield

Apr. 17 SPRINGFIELD

The Wolf Pack has a combined record of 10-4-0-2 and a combined winning percentage of .687 against its remaining opponents.

The Wolf Pack is 4-2-0-1 vs. Manchester, 0-1-0-0 vs. Albany and 6-1-0-1 vs. Springfield this season.

The Monarchs, the first Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff spot, locked up home ice advantage in at least the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs with their 4-3 win over the Falcons on Saturday night.

With one week remaining in the regular season, it appears the Monarchs will most likely meet either the Providence Bruins or the Lowell Lock Monsters in the first round of the 2005 Calder Cup playoffs.

If the Monarchs meet the Bruins in the first round, they'll begin a best-of-seven series at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday, April 22.

Round 1 / Series A vs. Providence

Date Location Time

Game 1 Friday, April 22 @ Manchester 7:35 p.m.

Game 2 Saturday, April 23 @ Manchester 7:35 p.m.

Game 3 Monday, April 25 @ Providence 7:05 p.m.

Game 4 Wednesday, April 27 @ Providence 7:05 p.m.

Game 5 Thursday, April 28 @ Manchester 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 6 Saturday, April 30 @ Providence 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 7 Monday, May 2 @ Manchester 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

If the Monarchs meet the Lock Monsters in the first round, they'll begin a best-of-seven series at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday, April 20.

Round 1 / Series A vs. Lowell

Date Location Time

Game 1 Wednesday, April 20 @ Manchester 7:05 p.m.

Game 2 Friday, April 22 @ Manchester 7:35 p.m.

Game 3 Saturday, April 23 @ Lowell 7:00 p.m.

Game 4 Tuesday, April 26 @ Lowell 7:00 p.m.

Game 5 Thursday, April 28 @ Manchester 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 6 Saturday, April 30 @ Lowell 7:00 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 7 Monday, May 2 @ Manchester 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

The on-sale date for Monarchs playoff tickets is Monday, April 18 at 10:00 a.m.

Playoff ticket prices will be $18.50 for adults in the Gold level and $13.25 for adults in the Silver level of the Verizon Wireless Arena, $16.50 for seniors (65 and older) in the Gold level and $11.25 for seniors in the Silver level and $10.75 for youth tickets (12 and under) in both levels. For group and birthday party pricing during the 2005 Calder Cup playoffs, contact the Monarchs at (603) 626-7825.

Monarchs playoff tickets may be purchased at the Verizon Wireless Arena box office, at all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling Ticketmaster at (603) 868-7300, or by visiting Ticketmaster on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

The Monarchs 106 points and winning percentage of .697 are second in the league to the Rochester Americans, who have 108 points (49-16-4-6, 108 points) and a winning percentage of .720.

For the second straight season, the Monarchs expect to finish with an average of over 9,000 fans per game. Through 39 dates this season, the Monarchs are averaging 9,030 fans per game. The Monarchs average attendance per game is second only to the Chicago Wolves, who are averaging 9,054 fans per game after 39 dates. The Monarchs led all 97 other minor league hockey teams in North America last year with an average attendance of 9,141.

The Monarchs have played before 16 sellout crowds at the Verizon Wireless Arena this season.

The Monarchs have more wins (49), home wins (28), road wins (21) and points (106) than any other team in franchise history.

With his goal on Saturday night against the Falcons, center Michael Cammalleri became the Monarchs career-scoring leader with 165 points (70-95=165, 129 games played). Cammalleri passed former Monarchs center Steve Kelly (50-114=164, 162 games played) on the all-time list.

Cammalleri, who enters this week's action with a nine-game scoring streak (5-8=13 during the streak), leads the league with 45 goals and is second in the circuit with 106 points (45-61=106). Cammalleri's 61 assists are third in the league and so are his 17 power play goals.

Cammalleri has scored in 64 of the 75 games he's appeared in this season. Three times this season, he's had scoring streaks of at least 10 games.

Cammalleri's 45 goals, 61 assists, 106 points and 17 power play goals all represent new Monarchs single season records.

Cammalleri reached 100 points for the season with his first period assist on Wednesday night against the Portland Pirates. He's one of only two players to score 100 or more points in the AHL in the last four seasons.

With his goal on Saturday night against the Falcons, right wing Brad Smyth extended his goal-scoring streak to six games. Smyth has six goals during the streak, the second longest in the AHL this season.

Smyth ranks 20th all-time in the AHL with 292 career goals over eight seasons.

Left wing Dustin Brown saw his assist streak end at six games on Saturday night against the Falcons. Brown, second on the Monarchs with 70 points (28-42=70) this season, had seven assists during the streak.

Cammalleri and right wing Tom Kostopoulos will each take three-game goal-scoring streaks into their Wednesday night game against the Wolf Pack.

Kostopoulos, who collected his team-leading eighth game-winning goal against the Pirates on Friday night, is third on the Monarchs in scoring with 67 points (24-43=67).

Defenseman Mike Weaver's plus-32 rating leads the Monarchs and is fourth in the league. Weaver was a plus-4 in three games last week for the Monarchs. Weaver has finished with an even or plus rating in each of his last 16 games. Weaver last finished with a minus (minus-1) at Hartford on March 2.

Left wing Chris Schmidt (5-13=18) is the only Monarchs player to appear in all 76 games this season.

Goaltender Mathieu Garon is just one appearance away from matching former Monarchs netminder Travis Scott for most appearances in a season. Garon has a record of 30-13-4 in 49 appearances with the Monarchs this season. Scott recorded 50 appearances during the 2002-03 season.

Garon set a new single season record for minutes played on Saturday night against the Falcons. Garon has played 2,837:03 minutes of hockey this season.

Garon already holds Monarchs single season records for most wins (30) and most shutouts (8) in a season.

Goaltender Adam Hauser's 1.94 goals -against-average is third and his .933 save-percentage is fourth in the league.

Hauser (19-10-0) is just one win away from recording his second consecutive 20-win season with the Monarchs. Hauser finished with a record of 20-15-7 last year.

Hauser enters this week's action with a three-game winning streak. He's allowed just four goals to the opposition in his last three games. Hauser has a goals -against-average of 1.29 and a save-percentage of .958 during his winning streak.

Defenseman Denis Grebeshkov leads all AHL blueliners with 42 assists. Grebeshkov's 46 points (4-39=43) are tied for sixth in the league this year.

Grebeshkov's 42 assists represent a new Monarchs single season record for defensemen.

Grebeshkov, with 46 points this season, needs four points over his last four games to match the team record for points by a defenseman in a season. The record is shared by former Monarchs blueliners Bryan Muir (50 points in 2003-04) and Joe Corvo (50 points in 2001-02).

Promotions

Fan Appreciation Big Screen Giveaway – Thousands of fans entered to win a 51-inch Sony projection screen television, courtesy of Circuit City, with the Monarchs Fan Appreciation Big Screen Giveaway contest. The Monarchs will announce the winner of the $1,699 television later this week. The contest lasted from Saturday, April 2 through Saturday, April 9, with fans entering to win the contest by going to the Monarchs Web site at www.monarchshockey.com or by sending a post card or letter to the Monarchs main office, located at 555 Elm Street in Manchester.

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 located behind section 107 during Wednesday's game 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 this 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 (603) 626-7825, extension 6102.

Events

D.A.R.E. Graduation In Milford - Jeff Eisenberg, president of the Monarchs, and Max, the team's mascot, will participate in D.A.R.E. Graduation festivities at Milford Elementary on Tuesday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. Over 200 kids are expected to attend Tuesday's graduation ceremony. For more information, contact Cheryl Abbott, Monarchs Director of Community Relations and Special Events at (603) 626-7825, extension 6102.

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 (603) 626-7825, extension 6113 and ask for Jason Bergeron.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central