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Moose Continues Drive for Sixth Seed

March 31, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Last week, the Moose completed their regular season home schedule with a split against the Providence Bruins. The P-Bruins defeated them 5-2 on Friday and Manitoba rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory on Sunday. This week, Manitoba completes their regular season schedule with a three-game road trip against the St. John's Maple Leafs and Hamilton Bulldogs. The Moose remain in second spot in the Canadian Division with 82 points and are battling for the coveted sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Last week: Friday, Mar. 28 - Providence 5 vs. Manitoba 2: In the first, Manitoba opened the scoring. Defenceman Justin Kurtz blasted his 11th of the season and the Moose led 1-0. Providence tied the scoring seven minutes later when Andy Hilbert scored his first of two goals on the night. Heading into the second, it was deadlocked at one. Moose rookie Nathan Smith notched his eighth to regain the hosts' one-goal advantage. The P-Bruins equalized with a late goal by Hilbert. After two, 2-2. In the third, the visitors scored the eventual game-winner on a controversial play. Lee Goren fired his 31st when it looked like he received a two-line pass. Providence scored two late goals (one into an empty net) and the final score was 5-2. Moose goalie Tyler Moss made 27 saves in the losing cause. Smith was named third star.

Sunday, Mar. 30 - Providence 3 vs. Manitoba 4 (OT): The Moose ended their home regular season with a spectacular finish in front of the second largest crowd of the year at 11,060. Defenceman Mikko Jokela blasted a one-timer to start the scoring. After one, Manitoba 1-0. In the middle frame, Providence replied with two goals from Pat Leahy and Lee Goren. Heading into the third, the hosts were down 2-1. The visitors increased their advantage to two goals with a tally from Keith Aucoin. Then, the Moose rallied with two goals within 20 seconds of each other. Jaroslav Obsut blasted his sixth while Manitoba were on a 5-on-3 man-advantage. On the same power play, Ryan Ready scored his 23rd of the season and 50th of his AHL career to tie the score. In overtime, the comeback was complete when Pat Kavanagh received a pass from Obsut and streaked off the wing to fire home the game-winner at the 34 second mark. The Moose finished with a 22-14-4-0 record at the Winnipeg Arena after winning 4-3 in overtime. This was the second time this season that Manitoba won after trailing after two periods. The home side swept the three stars. Kavanagh was first (game-winner, 1a), Herbert Vasiljevs (three assists) and Obsut (1g, 2a).

Up Next: Manitoba (36-31-8-2) vs. St. John's (31-40-6-1)- Wed., Apr. 2 & Fri., Apr. 4 - 5:05 p.m.

T.V.: none Radio: CJOB - 4:35 p.m. on both nights

Leafs Watch: St. John's is still fighting for the tenth seed and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs have 69 points, three points behind the Springfield Falcons. The Baby Leafs have gone 7-2-1 over their last ten matches. This will be the seventh and eighth meeting of the season. The season series is tied at three apiece with Manitoba winning the last two games in late February. The Baby Leafs are 18-17-3-0 at Mile One Stadium. St. John's are led by former Moose Brad Leeb (33g, 25a) with 58 points and has 14 power play tallies which is good for a fifth place tie in the AHL. Former Moose Josh Holden (22g, 28a) is second among active Leafs players with 50 points. Mikael Tellqvist leads the team with 16 wins and has the second most saves in the league at 1415. Jamie Hodson has the team lead with a 3.38 Avg.

Up Next: Manitoba (36-31-8-2) vs. Hamilton (48-17-7-4)- Sat., Apr. 5 - 6:00 p.m.

T.V.: none Radio: CJOB - 5:35 p.m. on Sat.

Bulldogs Watch: Hamilton is looking for 50 wins this season with 48 heading into this week's action. They have gone 3-6-1 over the last 10 contests. They have an impressive 25-7-4-3 home record. This will be the eighth meeting of the season and the Bulldogs lead five games to two. The Bulldogs leading scorer among active players is Michael Ryder (33g, 33a) with 66 points, good for 19th in the AHL. Jarret Stoll (20g, 32a) has the sixth most points among AHL rookies at 52 points. Francois Beauchemin leads the team with a +25 rating. Goaltender Eric Fichaud has a team-leading 2.14 Avg. while Ty Conklin has 18 wins. The Bulldogs have the best penalty kill in the league at 87.4% (49g/390a) and fourth best power play at 18.4% (79g/430a). They have the league's best goals for per game at 3.54 (76gp/269g) and second best goals against at 2.30 (76gp/175g). Hamilton holds the league's sixth most shots for per game at 32.03 (76gp/2434s). They play at Bridgeport on Wed. and at Binghamton on Fri. before hosting Manitoba.

Moose Notes:

- Since Feb. 19, the Moose have captured 28 out of 38 points (12-3-2-2) to stay in the race for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They are battling Worcester, Hartford and Portland for the high playoff seed.

- Forward Herbert Vasiljevs had three assists on Sun. for second star honours. He now has vaulted into second place among active Moose with ten goals, 29 assists for 39 points. Vasiljevs is one marker shy of his 100th AHL goal during his fifth season in the league.

- Forward Ryan Ready notched his 50th AHL goal during his three-year AHL career on Sun. versus Providence. Ready (23g, 26a) now leads all active Moose with 49 points and tied his career-high for goals set last season with Manitoba. In his two-year Moose career, Ready has notched 46 goals, 58 assists for 104 points in 137 games for the Moose. He is now only five points behind Scott Thomas (1997-98, 2000-01) for 11th spot in franchise scoring.

- Pat Kavanagh earned first star honours for firing the game-winner and adding an assist in the 4-3 overtime win over Providence.

- Defenceman Jaroslav Obsut potted a goal and two assists on Sun. to earn third star honours. He now has six goals, 13 assists for 19 points in 57 matches.

- Forward Tyler Bouck registered an assist on Friday to extend his personal point streak to four games (03/20-28). Bouck is fourth among active Moose with 35 points (10g, 25a).

- Forward Nathan Smith had a goal and was a +1 in the 5-2 loss to Providence on Friday. He was named third star and improved his season totals to eight goals, eight assists for 16 points in 49 AHL matches. The rookie winger established a career-high three game point streak (02/22-28).

- The club has announced annual year-end awards. First year Moose player Tyler Moss was selected as the Crocus Investment Fund Most Valuable Player Award and Toromont Cat Three Star Champion Award. He is the first Moose goaltender to be named team MVP since Fred Brathwaite captured the honour during the 1996-97 season. Jimmy Roy was selected as Grapes Most Popular Player for the second consecutive season. Roy was a co-winner with defenceman Jaroslav Obsut for the Continental Travel Julian Klymkiw Community Service Award. Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner was honoured as Proctor and Gamble Best Defenceman. Brandon Reid for the TFI Services Leading Scorer Award as of today's standings. He has 52 points so far this season. Forward Pat Kavanagh was selected as the Manitoba Blue Cross Unsung Hero Award.

- Starting with the inaugural season in 1996-97, the Manitoba Moose organization has now opened their doors to 2,005,113 fans throughout seven regular seasons. With Sunday's attendance of 11,060, the club has surpassed the 7,000 average attendance for the regular season for the fifth out of the last seven seasons since being in Manitoba. As well, the attendance for the two-game homestand was 21,985. This set a new franchise record for the highest average attendance in a homestand of two games (10,925 on Mar. 28 and 11,060 on Mar. 30) and the largest attendance for concurrent back-to-back games in Manitoba Moose history.

- The Moose home record for the 2002-03 season was 22-14-4-0 at the Winnipeg Arena. Last year the squad was 20-16-2-2. In previous years, the franchise held records of: 22-16-3 (2000-01), 22-9-10 (1999-00), 24-11-6 (1998-99), 21-16-4 (1997-98),19-19-3 (1996-97).

- John Craighead leads with 105 PIM.

- Brian Chapman leads the team among active Moose with a +10 rating.

- The team's penalty kill ranks 20th with 81.7% (69g/378a).

- Manitoba ranks 14th in power play with 16.8% (72g/429a).

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