AHL Norfolk Admirals

Norfolk Hits the Road to Close Out Regular Season

April 9, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


NORFOLK, VA - The Norfolk Admirals enter the final week of the regular season in a tight battle for playoff positioning. Norfolk is currently third in the East Division and is two points behind second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and six points back of the division-leading Hershey Bears. All three teams have three games remaining, and all three teams have a shot at the East Division title and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

Last week, the Admirals dropped three games against their East Division foes. The Admirals fell 3-1 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday night at Scope. Norfolk scored three unanswered goals to force overtime but fell 4-3 to the Penguins in a shootout on Friday night at Scope. The Admirals fell to the Hershey Bears 6-1 on Saturday night at Giant Center.

Norfolk concludes its 80-game regular season with three road games this weekend. On Friday night, the Admirals visit Philadelphia at 7:05. Saturday they are in Albany for a 5:00 p.m. game. Norfolk rounds out the 2006-07 regular season on Sunday afternoon with a 1:00 game in Bridgeport. All three games will be shown live on the big screen at Baxter's Sports Lounge via B2 Nights at Baxter's. See below for more details.

EAST DIVISION STANDINGS

RK TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 Hershey Bears 77 49 16 6 6 110

2 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 77 50 21 2 4 106

3 NORFOLK ADMIRALS 77 48 21 6 2 104

4 Albany River Rats 77 36 35 3 3 78

5 Bridgeport Sound Tigers 76 35 34 1 6 77

6 Philadelphia Phantoms 77 30 39 2 6 68

7 Binghamton Senators 77 21 47 4 5 51

THE ADMIRALS' WEEK AHEAD

Fri., Apr. 13...at Philadelphia Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers)...7:05 p.m.

Sat., Apr. 14... at Albany River Rats (Carolina/Colorado)...5:00 p.m.

Sun., Apr. 15... at Bridgeport Sound Tigers (New York Islanders)...1:00 p.m.

TEAM NOTEBOOK

- Norfolk concluded the home portion of its schedule with a 32-5-2-1 record and 67 points, setting franchise records for wins and points at home and coming up one win and one point short of tying the American Hockey League record for wins and points at home in a season.

- Martin St. Pierre notched 57 points and 40 assists at Scope and Troy Brouwer netted 23 goals at Scope this season, all new franchise records. Jordan Hendry was the only player to appear in all 40 home contests.

- Pierre Parenteau tied a franchise record with a 14-game scoring streak (6g, 16a) from March 3 at Worcester to April 6 versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

- On Thursday, center Martin St. Pierre (First Team), right wing Troy Brouwer (Second Team) and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (Second Team) became the first Norfolk Admirals ever selected to the AHL All-Star Teams.

- Last week, defenseman Dustin Byfuglien played five games in five nights in four different cities, as he played at Nashville for the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, in Norfolk versus the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday, in Chicago versus the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, in Norfolk versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday, and at Hershey on Saturday.

- LW Bryan Bickell scored with an assist from fellow Admiral C Jonas Nordqvist as both made their NHL debuts for the Blackhawks in Chicago versus Detroit on Thursday. In their first three NHL games, Bickell scored two goals while Nordqvist had two assists.

- The Admirals are 0-3-0-1 in their past four games. The last time that Norfolk went winless in four games was between October 14 and 22, 2005 when Norfolk went 0-3-1-0.

ADMIRALS PROMINENT IN AHL'S END-OF-SEASON AWARDS

The AHL has begun announcing its end of season award-winners, and the several Admirals have been honored:

- Head Coach Mike Haviland won the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL's outstanding coach

- Troy Brouwer has been honored as the Rbk Hockey/AHL Rookie of the Month for March, has been named to the AHL All-Rookie Team and has been named a Second-Team AHL All-Star.

- Dustin Byfuglien was named a Second-Team AHL All-Star.

- Danny Richmond was named Norfolk's American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year

- Martin St. Pierre was named a First-Team AHL All-Star.

In addition, St. Pierre and Corey Crawford were honored by their coaches and teammates as co-winners of the Beach Engraving MVP Award.

FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Individual tickets for the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs are now on sale. The Admirals' first three home Calder Cup Playoff games will be played at Norfolk Scope on Monday, April 23, Wednesday, April 25 and Friday, April 27 (if necessary). All three games will start at 7:15 p.m. Individual playoff tickets range in price from $12 to $17. To purchase Admirals Calder Cup Playoff tickets, you may visit the Scope Box Office weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., visit any Ticketmaster outlet, call Ticketmaster at (757) 671-8100 or visit ticketmaster.com Fans should use tickets labeled "Game A" for Monday, April 23, "Game B" for Wednesday, April 25 and "Game C" for Friday, April 27. For more information about purchasing playoff tickets, visit norfolkadmirals.com or call the Admirals at (757) 640-1212.

NORFOLK LEADERS

Goals: Troy Brouwer (40) Assists: Martin St. Pierre (68)

Points: Martin St. Pierre (94) Games Played: Jordan Hendry (77)

PP goals: Troy Brouwer (20) SH goals: Adam Burish, Carl Corazzini, Craig MacDonald (3)

+/- Rating: Jordan Hendry (+19) PIM: David Koci (216)

GAA: Corey Crawford (2.80) Spct: Corey Crawford (.910)

Wins: Corey Crawford (36) Losses: Corey Crawford (20)

GPI: Corey Crawford (58) Minutes: Corey Crawford (3347)

PHILADELPHIA LEADERS

Goals: Darren Reid, Pete Zingoni (17) Assists: Mark Cullen (35)

Points: Mark Cullen (50) Games Played: Matt Davis (66)

PP goals: Darren Reid (8) SH goals: Several (1)

+/- Rating: Triston Grant (+5) PIM: Triston Grant (199)

GAA: Scott Munroe (2.95) Spct: Scott Munroe (.911)

Wins: Scott Munroe (15) Losses: Scott Munroe (18)

GPI: Scott Munroe (39) Minutes: Scott Munroe (2258)

ALBANY LEADERS

Goals: Ryan Bayda (29) Assists: Keith Aucoin (69)

Points: Keith Aucoin (95) Games Played: Pat Dwyer, Johnny Boychuk (77)

PP goals: Matt Murley (15) SH goals: Several (1)

+/- Rating: Keith Aucoin (+13) PIM: Mitch Love (179)

GAA: Tyler Weiman (3.02) Spct: Tyler Weiman (.905)

Wins: Tyler Weiman (26) Losses: Tyler Weiman (21)

GPI: Tyler Weiman (52) Minutes: Tyler Weiman (2925)

BRIDGEPORT LEADERS

Goals: Jeff Tambellini (30) Assists: Eric Boguniecki (32)

Points: Jeff Tambellini (59) Games Played: Mark Wotton, Masi Marjamaki (74)

PP goals: Jeff Tambellini, Eric Boguniecki (10) SH goals: Frans Nielsen, Steve Regier (3)

+/- Rating: Jeff Tambellini (+10) PIM: Drew Fata (164)

GAA: Wade Dubielewicz (2.69) Spct: Wade Dubielewicz (.922)

Wins: Wade Dubielewicz (22) Losses: Billy Thompson (17)

GPI: Wade Dubielewicz (40) Minutes: Wade Dubielewicz (2405)

TRANSACTIONS

April 2, 2007 DELETE D Dustin Byfuglien - Recalled from loan by Chicago (NHL)

April 4, 2007 ADD D Dustin Byfuglien - Returned on loan by Chicago (NHL)

April 5, 2007 DELETE D Dustin Byfuglien - Recalled from loan by Chicago (NHL)

DELETE LW Bryan Bickell - Recalled from loan by Chicago (NHL)

DELETE C Jonas Nordqvist - Recalled from loan by Chicago (NHL)

April 6, 2007 ADD D Dustin Byfuglien - Returned on loan by Chicago (NHL)

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS

Friday, April 13 (Admirals at Philadelphia Phantoms, 7:05 p.m.)

Saturday, April 14 (Admirals at Albany River Rats, 5:00 p.m.)

Sunday, April 15 (Admirals at Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 1:00 p.m.)

- Admirals B2 Night at Baxter's - The last three games of the Admirals' regular season will be played on the road. However, you can watch all of them live right here in Norfolk via B2 Nights at Baxter's. Join your fellow Admirals fans at Baxter's Sports Lounge Friday, Saturday and Sunday next week as the Admirals visit the Philadelphia Phantoms, Albany River Rats and Bridgeport Sound Tigers, respectively, and jostle for playoff positioning. It's sure to be a great time! Baxter's Sports Lounge is located across the street from Norfolk Scope Arena at 500 Granby Street in Norfolk. For more details, please visit norfolkadmirals.com.

ON THE RADIO/INTERNET

All games are broadcast on 670-AM WPMH, 1010-AM WRJR, 1270-AM WTJZ and 1450-AM WBVA. The games are also cybercast at SportsJuice.com. Go to SportsJuice.com, or click on the link at norfolkadmirals.com. Pre-game broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to game starting time.

Games are also viewable through the Internet on a pay-per-view basis through B2 Networks for anyone with a high-speed cable modem, T1 or DSL broadband connection and Windows Media Player 9 or higher. Visit norfolkadmirals.com and click the B2 Networks banner to view all Admirals' home and away games.




American Hockey League Stories from April 9, 2007


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