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Moose take three of four in Lone Star State

November 7, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


This past week, the Manitoba Moose began the second-longest road trip of the year with four games in Texas. The team alternated visits to San Antonio and Houston twice each.

Nonetheless the Moose were ultimately succesful in the four games, beating the San Antonio Rampage twice, 2-0 & 5-1, and splitting two very close 3-2 games with the Houston Aeros. The Moose now continue the seven-game road trip with three remaining games in Rochester, Cleveland and Grand Rapids before returning home to finish up their season series against the Houston Aeros.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Rochester Americans

Friday, November 11th, 6:35pm

The Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial

The Moose will head back out on the road and into Rochester to take on the Americans on November 11th. Rochester sits third in the North Division, just four points behind Manitoba entering the week, with a 7-4-0-0 record in 11 games. Rochester is good on special teams as they are first in the league on the powerplay, scoring 30.3% of the time. The Amerks sit sixth in the league on the penalty kill with a 88.6% average. Rochester's leading scorer is Derek Roy who has scored seven goals and 13 helpers for twenty points in only 11 games played. Michael Leighton and Jean-Marc Pelletier have logged the majority of the goaltending minutes for the Americans with six and five games respectively. Leighton has a 2-4-0-0 record with a goals against average of 2.85 and a .883 save percentage. Pelletier has been perfect this year with a 5-0-0-0 record, a 3.75 GAA and a .880 save percentage.

Cleveland Barons

Saturday, November 12th, 6:05pm

Gund Arena

The Moose will take on the Cleveland Barons for the third time this season as they head into Cleveland for first time this season. Already this season the Moose are 2-0 with the two wins coming at home in late October. The Barons have won three straight and are currently tied for fourth in the North Division with a 5-6-0-0 record for ten points. Cleveland has struggled on special teams this season, sitting 25th on the powerplay with a 10.3% average and 23rd on the penalty kill at 76.8%. Patrick Rissmiller is the teams leading scorer recording five goals and five assists for ten points in 11 games played this season. The Barons have already had four goalkeepers play in their eleven games this season with Jamie Holden logging the majority of the minutes. Holden has played in four games for the club with a solid 3-1-0 record, a 2.46 GAA and a .929 save percentage and was actually named AHL Player of the Week for November 7th.

Grand Rapids Griffins

Tuesday, November 15th, 11:00am

Van Andel Arena

The Moose will wrap up their seven-game road trip by heading into Grand Rapids to take on the first place Griffins for the first of eight meetings between the clubs this year. The Griffins enter the week one point ahead of Manitoba for top spot in the North Division, with a 9-2-0-1 record for 19 points. Grand Rapids is stellar on the powerplay scoring over a quarter of the time at 25.9%, leaving them in second in the AHL. They aren't quite as successful on the penalty kill, sitting in 19th place in the league and sporting a 81.4% record. Jiri Hudler is off to a quick start for the Griffins. He is first on the team and in the AHL in scoring with 12 goals, 13 assists for 25 points in only 12 games played. Drew MacIntyre is the team's first goalkeeper playing six games this season with a 5-1-0 record. MacIntyre has recorded a 2.9 GAA and a .932 save percentage so far this season.

MOOSE NOTES

A Busy November: Entering the month of November the Moose will play a total of 16 games in only 28 days spanning from Wednesday, November 2nd to Wednesday, November 30th. This marks the busiest month in Moose history. Previous to this month, the busiest month for the Moose came in the 2002- 03 season when, between January 2nd-31st the Moose played 16 games in 29 days. That year, the Moose posted a 6-9-1 record in November and finished the season 37-33-8-2. So far this month, the Moose are 3-1-0.

After 13 Games: After finishing the week with a 3-1-0 record, the Moose are now 9-4-0-0 overall, good for 18 points after 13 games. The Moose have fared well both on the road and at home with a 3-1 record at the MTS Centre and a 6-3 record away from home. This 13-game mark is the second-most successful start in Moose history next to the 2000-01 season. That year, the Moose were 9-2-2 after 13 games for 20 points. The Moose won nine straight games after losing the first four games of that season. The Moose finished the year at 39-31-12 overall and lost to Chicago in the second round of the playoffs. So far this year the Moose have outscored their opponents 37-23.

After Nine on the Road: Manitoba has played nine out of their first 13 games this season on the road. So far after nine road games, the Moose have a 6-3-0 record. This stands out as the fourth-best road start in Moose history. The best start on the road after nine games came in the 1998-99 season when the Moose boasted a 7-1-1 record for 15 points in their opening nine road games. The worst record the Moose have ever recorded after nine road games came in the 2002-03 season when they went 2-6-1 to start for only five points.

Go West, Young Man: After Sunday afternoon's game in Houston, the Moose have played 11 of their first 13 games this season against West Division opponents. The only two games the Moose have played against non- West Division opponents were against the Cleveland Barons, on Oct 27th & Oct 29th. The only West Division team the Moose have yet to play this year is the Iowa Stars. However, the Moose will not face the Stars until February 3rd & 4th. So far this season the Moose are 7- 4-0 against the West Division and 2-0-0 against all other opponents.

Shootout Records: The Moose needed the shootout for the first time this season and the 134th in franchise history in Friday's 3-2 win over Houston. Manitoba's overall record in shootouts is 53-80. Last season the Moose struggled to 3-7 in shootouts with their last being a 2-1 loss at Milwaukee on March 15th 2005. The last time the Moose won in a shootout prior to Friday was a 4-3 win at St. John's on Febraury 11th, 2005.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

Jason Jaffray

4 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS, +1, 5 SHOTS

Jason Jaffray finished the week with a goal, three assists for four points, along with five shots and ended the week a +1 in four games...Jaffray extended a four-game points streak to Saturday's game in San Antonio. During that span, he collected one goal and six assists for seven points...As a result, Jaffray is now second on the team in assists, tied with Josh Green...Overall, Jaffray is now tied for the team-lead in +/- ranking with a +4 rating so far this season in nine games.



American Hockey League Stories from November 7, 2005


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