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Moose find winning touch again

March 21, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose seem to have turned a corner. After a lengthy slump that saw the team win only once in 10 games, they rebounded in a big way this week picking up three wins and seven points in four games.

The week began with a match-up with the defending Calder Cup champion Milwaukee Admirals for the final two games of a six-game road trip. On Tuesday, Wade Flaherty stopped 49 of 50 shots to preserve a single point for the Moose in a 2-1 shootout loss. On Thursday, Manitoba halted a four-game winless skid with a 5-2 win over the Admirals. The Moose then returned home for a pair of games against Houston, enjoying their largest margin of victory this season in an 8-1 win Saturday and a 2-0 triumph Sunday.

Next up for the Moose is a pair of games Thursday and Saturday against North Division rivals, the St. John's Maple Leafs. The Baby Leafs are four points behind Manitoba for second place in the North Division.

MOOSE NOTES

Racking Up the Points: With three wins this past week, the Moose now have a record of 38-19-3-7 for 86 points in 67 games. The total of 86 points matches the most Manitoba has accumulated in a season since joining the American Hockey League. The team also had 86 points in the 2001-02 season (39-33-4-4). In 2002-03, the Moose had 84 points and last season they had 77 points. 86 points is also the most the Moose have ever had after 67 games. Back in 1998-99 the team had a record of 38-20-9 (85 points).

Bieksa Breaking Out: Manitoba Moose rookie defenceman Kevin Bieksa has put up some impressive numbers in his first full AHL season. With 32 points (9g, 23a) he ranks fourth in the league among rookie blueliners and matches the Moose record set by Kirill Koltsov last season for points by a rookie defenceman. Bieksa also leads all AHL rookies in plus/minus at +21, five points better than second-place R.J. Umberger (+16).

Moose Record Book Takes Hit: The Manitoba Moose set or tied a number of franchise records with Saturday's 8-1 triumph over the Houston Aeros. The eight goals was the most ever the Moose have scored since they entered the American Hockey League back in 2001. In fact, the eight goals were the most goals in a game by the Moose team since Dec. 27/00 when Manitoba beat the Detroit Vipers of the old IHL 10-3. Also, the seven-goal margin of victory tied the team record for the largest margin of victory that the Moose have done on four other occasions.

How Sweep It Is: Saturday and Sunday's wins over the Houston Aeros gave the Moose their second season sweep, with four wins over the Aeros. The Moose have also won four of four against the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.

Nathan Nets Career First: With three goals in Saturday's 8-1 victory over the Houston Aeros, Manitoba Moose forward Nathan Smith recorded his first-ever pro hat trick. Smith's previous high for goals in a game was two back on Dec. 16/03 vs. Cleveland. Smith now has seven goals on the season. In fact, prior to Saturday's game, Smith hadn't registered a point in his last 17 games.

Flaherty on Fire: Moose veteran netminder Wade Flaherty registered his fourth shutout of the season Sunday afternoon in a 2-0 win over Houston. The four shutouts is the most Flaherty has ever had for a single team in his 16-season professional career. He previously had three shutouts in one season with Milwaukee (2003-04), Utah (1997-98) and NY Islanders (1997-98).

Groulx Gathers Speed as a Moose: With two assists in his second game as a member of the Manitoba Moose in their 8-1 win over the Houston Aeros, Moose defenceman Danny Groulx now has three points in three games as a Moose and is +5 over that span.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

St. John's Maple Leafs Thursday, March 24, 7:30 p.m. Radio: CJOB 68 Saturday, March 26, 7:30 p.m. Venue: MTS Centre

The Moose meet the St. John's Maple Leafs for the seventh and eighth times is season on Thursday and Saturday... So far, each team has won three games with the only extratime win being a shootout victory on Feb. 11 for Manitoba. All three two-game sets have ended in splits... The Baby Leafs sit third in the North Division, four points behind second-place Manitoba and 12 points ahead of fourth-place Syracuse, Hamilton and Edmonton. With Manitoba 20 points behind first-place Rochester this is very likely a first round playoff preview... St. John's is 2-2 in its last four games but prior to that had won six in a row... Centre Kyle Wellwood and Right Wing David Ling are tied for the team lead and rank fourth in the AHL in points with 70... Wellwood is eighth in the league with 29 goals and has feasted on the Moose this season, with five goals and 11 points in six games... Scoring thins out after that for the Leafs with Matt Stajan ranking third on the team with 50 points and Harold Druken ranking fourth with 38... New acquisition Joel Kwiatkowski has two points (1g, 1a) in five games since joining St. John's from San Antonio... Goaltender Mikael Tellqvist has a record of 21-13-2 with a 2.60 GAA and .920 pct... St. John's powerplay ranks 13th (15.4%) and their penalty kill ranks 15th (84.5%)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

Wade Flaherty

4 GP, 3-0-1, 1 SO, 1.45 GAA, .986 pct.

This past week's Player of the Week nominee for the Manitoba Moose is goaltender Wade Flaherty. Flaherty had a record of 3-0-1 in four games, with a 1.45 goals-against average and .986 save percentage. He stopped 125 of 129 shots faced this past week. On Tuesday, he made 49 saves in a 2-1 shootout defeat in Milwaukee. On Thursday, Flaherty rebounded to defeat his former team 5-2 making 30 saves. On Saturday, he stopped 25 of 26 shots in an 8-1 Manitoba win over Houston and on Sunday Flaherty turned aside all 21 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the season. Flaherty now has a goals-against average of 2.18 to rank tenth in the AHL and a save percentage of .926.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Manitoba Moose Yearling Foundation Gala Dinner

Join us at the 9th Annual Yearling Foundation Gala Dinner in partnership with Special Olympics Manitoba.

Date – Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005
Time – Cocktails 6:00 PM, Dinner 7:00PM
Place – Delta Winnipeg
Price – $185 per person or $1750 per table of 10
Activities – meet entire Moose organization - players, coaches and management - live and silent auction - tons of sports memorabilia
Complimentary Bar
For tickets - call Pauline at 926-8354 or email pwall@specialolympics.mb.ca



American Hockey League Stories from March 21, 2005


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