Moose off to North Division final

May 2, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose won all three games this week at the MTS Centre to dispose of the St. John's Maple Leafs four games to one in the North Division Semi-Final. The Moose raced out to a 4-0 lead on Monday before holding on for a 5-2 win. Wednesday, Josh Green scored a late third-period goal and Lee Goren scored 2:25 into overtime to give the Moose a 3-2 victory and 3-1 lead in the series. Friday, the Moose clinched the series with a 4-0 shutout win with Wade Flaherty making 22 saves. The Moose now open the North Division Final this week against the Rochester Americans. Games 1 and 2 go Wednesday and Friday respectively at the Blue Cross Arena.

MOOSE NOTES

For up-to-the-minute news, stats and information on the Manitoba Moose, visit us online at www.moosehockey.com Big Zero on the Board: With Friday's 4-0 seriesclinching win in Game 5 of the North Division Semi- Final against the St. John's Maple Leafs, Wade Flaherty collected his third career playoff shutout in 52 career playoff games. He also collected a shutout last season while leading the Milwaukee Admirals to the Calder Cup Championship and also has an IHL shutout while with the Kansas City Blades back in 1993. The shutout was the first solo blanking by a Manitoba Moose goalie in the playoffs in their franchise history. Tyler Moss and Mike Minard combined to shutout the Providence Bruins 1-0 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarter- Final back on April 18/03.

Moose Play in May: Wednesday's Game 1 of the North Division Final against the Rochester Americans will mark the first time the Manitoba Moose will play a game in the month of May since they were eliminated in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Final by the Hamilton Bulldogs on May 11, 2003. The Moose have a record of 2-3 in the month of May since joining the AHL with all of those games coming in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final against Hamilton. Overall, Manitoba is 6-8 including games in the IHL in May back in 2001 & 1999 vs. Chicago and 2001 vs. Houston.

Lee Leading the Herd: Manitoba Moose forward Lee Goren, along with teammate Jeff Heerema, are amongst the league playoff leaders in a number of categories this post-season. Both players are among a large group of players tied for 10th in AHL playoff scoring with six points. However, five of the players in the top nine have already been eliminated from the playoffs. Goren is tied for second in the playoffs in goals scored with five, trailing Simon Gamache – whose Milwaukee Admirals have been eliminated – by only one goal. He is also tied for the league lead with two game-winning goals. Both Heerema and Goren are tied with several players, including teammate Ryan Kesler, for the league lead in +/- at +6. Heerema collected 25 shots in the first round of the playoffs, leaving him just five shots shy of the league lead. He is currently fourth, but the three players in front of him have all played more games.

Franchise Marks Fall: With Manitoba's five-game series win over the St. John's Maple Leafs, a number of franchise records were set. Manitoba Moose forward Lee Goren set a new franchise playoff mark for the most goals in a playoff series with five. He also tied the record for the most game-winning goals in a playoff series with two. Goren, Jeff Heerema, and Ryan Kesler all set a new +/- record in a playoff series by finishing the first round at +6. Former Moose captain Brian Chapman held the old record at +5 in 2001 vs. Houston. As a team, the Moose scored the most goals in a series in their franchise history by netting 20. The old record was 16 set back in 2003 during Manitoba's 7-game loss to the Bulldogs in the Eastern Conference Semi- Final.

Moose Make Mark on League Attendance: With Friday's attendance of 10,904 on hand to watch Game 5 of the North Division Semi-Final between the Manitoba Moose and St. John's Maple Leafs, the Moose now lead the AHL post-season in attendance with an average crowd of 9,367 through three dates. The Game 5 attendance was the largest to watch an AHL post-season game since Game 7 of the 2003 Calder Cup Finals between the Hamilton Bulldogs and Houston Aeros at Copps Coliseum. It was the largest in Moose franchise playoff history. League-wide, playoff attendance is reportedly up 23.1% from the Division Semi-Final round of 2004 and was the largest for the Division Semi-Final round since 1998. The Moose and Leafs combined for crowds of 36,141 – the highest first-round total attendance in the league – in St. John's and Manitoba.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Rochester Americans

Wednesday, April 27, 6:05 p.m. TV: TBA

Friday, April 29, 6:35 p.m. Radio: CJOB 68

Venue: Blue Cross Arena at Rochester War Memorial

The Moose will play the first two games of the North Division Final this week at the Blue Cross Arena against the Rochester Americans... Out of four regular season meetings, the Moose won two and lost two with each team winning a pair in the other team's home rink including one in overtime... The Amerks are coming off a four-game sweep of the Hamilton Bulldogs in their North Division Semi- Final. Chris Taylor leads the team with seven points so far in the postseason. He had two goals and three assists for five points in four games versus Manitoba this past season... Paul Gaustad is the leader in goals with four goals in four games. Gaustad had five points in four games against Manitoba this season... Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek each have five points (2g, 3a). Roy had five assists in four games against the Moose, while Vanek had four goals in four games... Goaltender Ryan Miller has played all four postseason games, with a 2.25 goals-against average and .926 save percentage... Peter Sarno had nine points in four games (4g, 5a) against the Amerks. Lee Goren had seven points (3g, 4a) and was +6... Wade Flaherty was 2-0 in three appearances with a 3.63 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.

CALDER CUP MOOSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Wade Flaherty

3 GP, 3-0, 1 SO, 4 GA, 1.32 GAA, .941 PCT

This past week's Player of the Week nominee for the Manitoba Moose is goaltender Wade Flaherty. In three games, Flaherty had a 3-0 record with a 1.32 goals-against average, .941 save percentage and one shutout. Flaherty stopped 22 of 24 shots in a 5-2 Moose win on Monday and turned aside 20 of 22 in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime win. Friday, Flaherty made 22 saves for his third career postseason shutout as the Moose clinched their best-of-seven series four games to one.



American Hockey League Stories from May 2, 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