AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Report

January 3, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS
Vs. Portland (12/28): Three unanswered goals in the third period lifted the Portland Pirates over the Manchester Monarchs 5-2 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday night. Defenseman Mark Ardelan and right wing Brad Smyth collected the two goals for the Monarchs. The Pirates earned scoring from center Tim Brent, right wing Corey Perry, right wing Pierre Parenteau and defenseman Aaron Rome. Monarchs goaltender Adam Hauser took his seventh loss of the season stopping 24 shots. Pirates goaltender Dieter Kochan earned the win with 23 saves. Manchester went 0-for-8 on the power play. Portland was 2-for-5 with the man advantage.

At Springfield (12/30): Goaltender Barry Brust collected his first AHL shutout as the Manchester Monarchs blanked the Springfield Falcons at the MassMutual Center on Friday night. Brust stopped all 27 shots he faced for his fifth victory of the season. The Monarchs lit the lamp with goals from center Connor James, right wing Konstantin Pushkarev and left wing Jeff Tambellini (2). Falcons goaltender Gerald Coleman took the loss with 22 saves. Manchester went 0-for-3 on the power play. Springfield was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

Vs. Albany (12/31): Right wing Brad Smyth scored two power play goals to lift the Manchester Monarchs over the Albany River Rats at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night. Along with Smyth, center Greg Hogeboom scored his first goal of the season and center Yanick Lehoux earned his fifth tally. Defenseman Bryan Miller (2) and right wing Aaron Voros scored for the River Rats. Monarchs goaltender Barry Brust earned his second consecutive win by stopping 26 shots. River Rats goaltender Frank Doyle took the loss stopping 13 shots. Manchester went 3-for-6 on the power play. Albany was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS
1/2/06: The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled left wing Noah Clarke from the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).
12/31/05: The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled center Matt Ryan from the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).
12/31/05: The Manchester Monarchs (AHL) recalled defenseman Reagan Rome from the Reading Royals (ECHL).
12/31/05: The Manchester Monarchs (AHL) recalled center Shay Stephenson from the Reading Royals (ECHL).
12/26/05: The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled defenseman Denis Grebeshkov from the Reading Royals (ECHL).
12/26/05: The Manchester Monarchs (AHL) recalled defenseman Eric Werner from the Reading Royals (ECHL).

MONARCHS EVENTS/PROMOTIONS
1/04/06: Monarchs center Greg Hogeboom and defenseman Joey Mormina will help the Junior Monarchs practice at Tri-Town Ice Arena on Wednesday, January 4 from 6:45-8:00 p.m.
1/07/06: Dustin Brown Bobblehead Night - The first 5,000 fans to the Monarchs game on Saturday, January 7 will receive a Dustin Brown bobblehead.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES
The Monarchs (21-8-1-3, 46 points) are in second place behind the Portland Pirates (22-8-3-1, 48 points) in the Atlantic Division.

The club has sent 16 out of their 33 games into overtime and/or a shootout this season, winning 12 out of those 16 games.

Manchester is 7-3 in shootouts and 5-1 in overtime games this season.

The Monarchs are undefeated at home on Fridays (5-0-0-0) and Sundays (2-0-0-0).

At home, the Monarchs are undefeated in regulation when they are trailing after the second period (4-0-0-1), in one-goal games (8-0-1-1), when they score a shorthanded goal (2-0-0-0) and when the opponent scores a shorthanded goal (2-0-0-0).

Manchester is undefeated (7-0-0-0) when they score five or more goals.

With special teams, the Monarchs power play is ranked 26th in the League, capitalizing 25 times on 205 opportunities with the man advantage. Ranked 15th in penalty killing, Manchester has given up 37 goals on 220 opportunities.

The Monarchs are ranked first in the AHL in attendance after 15 home games, averaging 8,319 fans per game. Over the last four years, the Monarchs have been in the top three in attendance, leading the AHL twice. During the 2003-04 season, Manchester led all of North American minor league pro hockey with an average of 9,141 fans per game.

Monarchs center Greg Hogeboom was named to the American Conference squad at the 2006 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Bud Light on January 25 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The 6-foot, 190-pound rookie center from Etobicoke, Ontario, had nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points in 19 games with the ECHL's Reading Royals this season upon his recall to the Monarchs on December 15. Hogeboom has appeared in eight games with the Monarchs this season, collecting one points (1-0=1) and six penalty minutes.

Right wing Brad Smyth (14-21=35) leads the team with 35 points on the season.

Smyth also leads the team with 21 assists.

Smyth is ranked third in the AHL with a plus/minus of plus-17.

A 6-foot, 200-pound native of Ottawa, Ontario, Smyth has four points (3-3=6) in his last four games.

Left wing Jeff Tambellini (17-16=33) leads the team with 17 goals.

A former University of Michigan Wolverine, Tambellini is ranked second in the AHL among rookie scorers (33 points), 11th among AHL goal scorers (17 goals) and second among rookie goal scorers (17 goals).

Tambellini is ranked fifth in the AHL and third among AHL rookies with a plus/minus of plus-14.

Center Yanick Lehoux appeared in his 200th professional game in the Monarchs 4-0 victory of the Springfield Falcons on Friday, December 30. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Repentigny, Quebec, has 140 points (59-81=140) and 83 penalty minutes in 201 games with the Monarchs and the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes.

Defenseman Richard Petiot's plus-12 is ranked sixth among AHL rookies and eighth among AHL defensemen.

Goaltender Adam Hauser is ranked third among AHL goaltenders with 14 wins on the season.

Hauser next game will be his 100th AHL game and 99-out-of-100 of those games have been in a Monarchs uniform. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound native of Bovey, Minnesota, has an overall record of 53-33-10, a goals-against-average of 2.13 and a save-percentage of .925 in 99 career AHL games.

Goaltender Barry Brust recorded his first AHL shutout against the Falcons on Friday, December 30. Brust stopped all 27 shots he faced in the 4-0 Monarchs victory over Springfield.



American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2006


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