Niittymaki Earns Player of the Week Nod
November 17, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release
SPRINGFIELD, MA ... The American Hockey League announced today that Philadelphia Phantoms goaltender Antero Niittymaki has been named the Sher-Wood AHL Player of the Week for the period ending November 16, 2003. In three appearances last week, Niittymaki stopped more than 98 percent of the shots he faced and recorded his first career shutout.
Niittymaki opened the week with a relief appearance, stopping all four shots he faced in a period of work against Cincinnati on Wednesday. In a rematch with the Mighty Ducks on Friday, the 23-year-old netminder got the start and turned aside 33 shots, including all 15 in the third period and overtime, to preserve a 1-1 tie. And Sunday, Niittymaki made 24 saves, including a second-period penalty shot attempt, to outduel countryman Hannu Toivonen and earn a 1-0 win over Providence. Niittymaki finished the week with a record of 1-0-1, a 0.41 goals against average and a .984 save percentage.
In recognition of his achievement, Niittymaki will receive a Sher-Wood leather jacket, presented to him during an on-ice ceremony prior to an upcoming game. In addition, Sher-Wood will donate five travel bags to the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia in Niittymaki's name.
A native of Turku, Finland, Niittymaki is 3-4-2 this season with a 2.11 GAA and .919 save percentage. The 1998 draftee by the Philadelphia Flyers is in his second year of action in North America; he was 14-21-2 in 40 appearances with the Phantoms in 2002-03.
Other players nominated for Sher-Wood AHL Player of the Week include Albany right wing Aleksander Suglobov, Bridgeport left wing Derek Bekar, Chicago left wing Simon Gamache, Cincinnati goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, Cleveland goaltender Seamus Kotyk, Grand Rapids goaltender Joey MacDonald, Hershey right wing Steve Moore, Lowell right wing Pavel Brendl, Milwaukee left wing Timofei Shishkanov, Portland center Trent Whitfield, Rochester goaltender Ryan Miller, San Antonio right wing Juraj Kolnik, Springfield center Jeff Taffe, St. John's center Jeff Daw, Syracuse goaltender Pascal Leclaire, Utah center Jarrod Skalde and Worcester defenseman Jame Pollock.
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