Moose split road trip

Published on December 4, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Moose went 2-2-0-0 during week nine of the AHL season, moving their record to 10-10-3-2 on the year and leaving them tied for second in the North Division standings. The Moose began the week with an overtime victory in their first ever visit to Hershey. Manitoba then started their second "three-games-in-three-nights" stretch of the season in Philadelphia, where they won their game on Friday, but then lost the next two games to finish their four-game Eastern road trip at .500.

Wednesday's game versus Hershey, marked the first time that the Moose had ever paid a visit to Chocolatetown. The Moose picked up a "sweet" victory as Dustin Wood scored with :07 left in overtime to steal the win for Manitoba.

The Moose then started their second 3-in-3 stretch of the season on Friday as they faced the Philadelphia Phantoms at Wachovia Spectrum, a building the Moose had never lost in. The top line of Jason Jaffray, Brad Moran and Lee Goren provided the offence for the team as they combined on all three Moose goals in the 3-1 victory.

The Moose then returned to Hershey to close-out their season series with the Bears on Saturday night. The Moose scored early, just :24 seconds in as a matter of fact, but the Bears responded quickly with two goals inside the first 5:00 of the game. The Moose made a game of it in the third period when they scored a powerplay marker to get within two goals but the Bears scored an empty-netter to seal the 5-2 victory and win the season series over the Moose.

The Moose then finished off their four-game Eastern road trip by closing-out their season series with the Philadelphia Phantoms on Sunday. The Moose got down by two goals after two periods, and even though they managed to claw within a goal on two separate occassions in the third, a late shorthanded goal against was the nail in the coffin for the Moose as the Phantoms would add an empty-net goal to hand the Moose their first loss at the Wachovia Spectrum. The Moose and Phantoms split their season series with two wins apiece.

The Moose now return home to the MTS Centre where they will start a four-game home stand by hosting two games versus the North Division leading Rochester Americans on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team then welcomes the Peoria Rivermen on Friday, December 8th and Sunday, December 10th to finish the home-stand. This will be Peoria's only visit to the MTS Centre this season.

MOOSE NOTES

Captain Keaner reaches 1400: Sunday's game in Philadelphia was the 1400th professional game for Moose captain Mike Keane. Keane scored one of the goals in the 5-2 loss in that game versus the Phantoms. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Keane played three years with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL before being signed as a free-agent in 1985-86 by the Montreal Canadiens. Keane's best season was 1992-93 when he scored 60 regular season points and added 15 points in 19 post-season games as Montreal won the Stanley Cup. Keane was selected as team captain for the Habs in 1995 and was then dealt in the infamous Patrick Roy deal to the Colorado Avalanche. Things worked in his favour however as he won his second Stanley Cup later that season. Keane played a few seasons with the New York Rangers before being traded to the Dallas Stars where he helped the Stars win their first Stanley Cup in 1999 - Keane's third and final Cup. Keane's NHL tour then made a brief stop in St. Louis before going back to Colorado and then finally he signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks prior to the 2003-04 season. Since then, Keane has returned to his hometown to play for the Moose where he has served as the team captain for the past two seasons. In 92 regular season games with the Moose, Keane has scored seven goals and 15 assists and has added two goals and an assist in 12 career playoff games with Manitoba.

December Record: The Moose have a busy month ahead of them as they play 17 games in the month of December, that is the most games ever played in a month in team history. Previously the most games played in a month was 16, which was done three times in Jan./03, Jan./05 and Nov./05. Since joining the AHL, the best December record the Moose have posted was back in 2001-02 when the team went 8-7-0-1 for 17 of a possible 36 points. The worst December in Moose franchise history was in 1997-98 when the team only managed 11 of a possible 22 points, posting a 4-4-0-3 record. Last season the Moose went 7-4-0-0, collecting 14 of a possible 22 points. The best December for the team, dating back to the IHL, was set in 1999-2000 when the Moose earned 20 points in the standings with a 9-4-0-2 record. The Moose got the month started with a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms but then lost their next two games to fall to 1-2-0-0 so far this month.

Moose streak comes to an end: Saturday night's 5-2 defeat to the Hershey Bears ended a stretch of seven straight games earning at least one point in the standings for the Manitoba Moose. Coincidentally the Bears were the last team to defeat the Moose in regulation - 7-3 at the MTS Centre on Nov. 11/06.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

The Moose will host the North Division leading Rochester Americans for the first time this year at the MTS Centre. The Moose and Amerks have played twice this season with both games coming at the Blue Cross Arena. Rochester won the first game 6-3 on Oct. 8/06 thanks to four unanswered goals in the third period and then they defeated the Moose 4-3 in OT on Nov. 17/06 scoring :13 into the extra period.

The Moose will play the first two of four games versus the Peoria Rivermen this season on Friday and Sunday at the MTS Centre. The last time these two clubs faced each other at the MTS Centre the Rivermen shutout the Moose 4-0 thanks to 16 saves by Curtis Sanford. The Moose hold an overall record of 4-4-0-0 in eight games played versus the Rivermen.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

#20 Brad Moran - Centre

Brad Moran appeared in all four games for the Moose this week, collecting two goals and three assists for five points...He assisted on the game-winning overtime goal Wednesday in Hershey to extend Manitoba's team points streak to six games...He then had a hand in every goal and scored the game-winner in Friday's 3-1 victory over Philadelphia - a game the Moose played with only 16 skaters due to injury and call-ups...Moran is now tied with Jason Jaffray for tops in team scoring with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points...Both players are tied for 13th in the AHL in scoring...Moran is 17th in the league in goal-scoring and is tied for 10th in the AHL with six powerplay goals.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 4, 2006


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