Pirates Earn Split Decision

Published on January 19, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME – The Portland Pirates will find more fever-pitched battles on the schedule this week with three games against Atlantic Division opponents. The Pirates are in the middle of a string of eight straight games against division foes, giving each contest added importance. The Pirates won and lost against the Manchester Monarchs and tied both the Hartford Wolf Pack and the Providence Bruins in four games last week. This week, the Pirates will once again try to knock off the division's top team in Hartford. They'll also have a home-and-home set against their closest pursuer, the Lowell Lock Monsters, to finish the week. The Pirates remain in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 16-16-6-4, good for 42 points, just two ahead of Lowell. They are three points behind the fourth-place Worcester IceCats.

LAST WEEK:

Wednesday, January 14, 2004: Pirates 1, Hartford 1 OT

In a battle of two of the top three defensive teams in the AHL, the Pirates and the Hartford Wolf Pack skated to a 1-1 tie at the Hartford Civic Center. The first period was scoreless, in part because the Pirates' penalty killers blunted two Wolf Pack powerplays. In fact, they outshot the Pack 14-6, a remarkable stat considering the Wolf Pack lead the AHL in fewest shots allowed per game at 24. The Pack grabbed the lead early in the second period. Jeff Heerema carried the puck down the right wing and sent a rink-wide pass to Garth Murray who ripped a shot past Maxime Ouellet to make it 1-0 Hartford after two. The Pirates tied the game early in the third. Dwayne Zinger pinched down the left boards and took a shot. Jason LaBarbera kicked out the puck, but Ivan Ciernik slammed the rebound home for his fifth goal of the year. The Wolf Pack had a glorious opportunity to win the game in overtime when Mike Pudlick was assessed a tripping penalty, but Ouellet made several point-blank saves to keep the game even.

Friday, January 16, 2004: Pirates 2, Manchester 0

The Pirates turned up the defense on one of the American Hockey League's most potent teams, shutting out the Manchester Monarchs 2-0 at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Pirates put the clamps on the Monarchs in the first two periods, outshooting Manchester 20-8. The Monarchs, who prior to the outing ranked fifth in goals for per game, were clearly frustrated. They had also been shutout in their previous game, a 5-0 loss to Hartford the previous Sunday. The deadlock was finally broken at 7:01 of the third period. Mike Souza got a step on a Manchester defenseman, stepped across the blueline and blew a slapshot past Monarchs' goalie Adam Hauser who was solid throughout the game. The Monarchs could not take advantage of two powerplays that followed Souza's goal, thwarted both times by the Pirates' penalty killers. Jason Ulmer redirected a feed from Colin Forbes into an empty net in the final second for the game's second goal and his second point of the contest. The win was the second for the Pirates in five meetings with the Monarchs.

Saturday, January 17, 2004: Manchester 6, Pirates 0

The Monarchs proved that turnabout is, indeed, fair play. They shutout the Pirates 6-0 at Verizon Wireless Arena. The first period was evenly played for nearly the duration until Jason Ulmer was whistled for a tripping penalty. While on the powerplay, Mike Cammalleri stood behind the goal line and banked the puck off the crowd in front of Matt Yeats who was getting his first start as a Pirate. A quick burst of offense by the Monarchs in the second period put the game away. First Jeff Giuliano finished off a three-on-two to put Manchester up 2-0. Just 32 seconds later, the Monarchs had another odd-man rush. This time, Chris Schmidt made a great diving play to redirect Cammalleri's pass behind a helpless Yeats. Defenseman Randy Perry finished of the siege with his first goal of the season off a shot from the blueline. It took Manchester just 1:44 to push their lead from 1-0 to 4-0 where it stood after two periods. The AHL's leading scorer, Pavel Rosa, added his 18th goal of the year just 1:53 in the third period and Steve Kelly capped the scoring with his 12th of the year in the final five minutes.

Sunday, January 18, 2004: Pirates 1, Providence 1 OT

The Pirates finished off the grueling four-game week with a 1-1 tie against the Providence Bruins at the Civic Center. The Pirates broke on top with the two teams playing four-on-four. Dwayne Zinger drove the puck into the Bruins' zone. It deflected off the stick of Colin Forbes but was kept alive by Mike Pudlick who walked back down the right wing wall and beat goalie Hannu Toivonen with a wrist shot for his fifth goal of the year. The Bruins tied the game in the second period while on a five-minute powerplay. Former Pirate Matt Herr raced down the right wing, got a step on the Pirates' defense and got off a bad angle shot. The rebound came to Brendan Walsh who snapped it home for his fifth goal of the year. The Bruins had a great chance to get more when Colin Forbes got a minor penalty during the balance of Steve Eminger's high-sticking major. The Pirates killed off all two minutes of the five-on-three and finished the period tied at one. The Pirates got their own five-minute powerplay in the third period when Walsh was flagged for high-sticking Louis Robitaille, but the Pirates were unable to convert. The best chances came in overtime. Ivan Huml sandwiched two rushes down the right wing around a breakaway chance by Graham Mink that just missed the top corner.

PIRATES CONTINUE STRING VERSUS ATLANTIC DIVISION

- Friday, January 23, 2004 vs. Hartford, 7:05 PM

The Pirates and the Hartford Wolf Pack meet for the second consecutive week. It is the seventh of eight scheduled meetings between the division foes. The series concludes on Saturday, March 20th in Hartford. The Pirates have earned points in back-to-back games against the Pack, but they're still looking for their first win. The Pirates trail the season series 0-4-1-1. They are 0-3-0-0 at home against the New York Rangers' top development team. All time, the Pack leads the series with the Pirates, 19-7-6. The Pirates are 3-10-3 against Hartford all-time at home. The Wolf Pack still holds down first place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 23-12-6-1. The Pack is now unbeaten in seven games (5-0-2-0). Chad Wiseman continues to lead Hartford in scoring with 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 points, but he is currently on recall to New York. Corey Larose is second in team scoring with 23 points and leads the team with 17 assists. Layne Ulmer is tied with Wiseman for first in goals with 13 and is third in scoring with 20 points. The Wolf Pack is just ahead of the Pirates in team defense in the AHL, allowing an average of 1.86 goals per game. Hartford also has a league-leading ten shutouts, one more than the Pirates. Jason LaBarbera is third in the AHL with a 1.53 goals-against average. He has earned 16 wins this year and a league-best seven shutouts. Hartford is at Utah on Monday and hosts Providence on Wednesday before visiting the Pirates.

- Sat., January 24, 2004 vs. Lowell, 7:05 PM; Sun., January 25, 2004 at Lowell, 4:00 PM

The Pirates begin a string of three straight games against their closest geographical neighbor on Saturday when they host the Lowell Lock Monsters. The two teams will complete the weekend on Sunday in Lowell. This will be Lowell's first visit to Portland this year. All three previous games in the season series have been played at Lowell's Tsongas Arena where the Pirates hold a 2-1-0-0 advantage. In the last meeting, the Pirates beat the Lock Monsters 3-2 in overtime on January 7th. In all, the two teams will play each other 12 times, the most the Pirates play any opponent this year. All time, the Pirates trail the series at 23-25-7. They are 11-14-1 against Lowell at home. The Lock Monsters are right behind the Pirates in the Atlantic Division standings, holding down sixth place with a record of 17-17-3-3, good for 40 points. The top development team of both the Carolina Hurricanes and the Calgary Flames has won three straight to creep to within two points of the Pirates. The Lock Monsters also have two games in hand. Pavel Brendl and Mike Zigomanis are tied for the lead in scoring for Lowell. Brendl has 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points. His goal total is a team best. Zigomanis leads the team with 27 assists combined with six goals. Patrick DesRochers has seen most of the time in net for Lowell, posting a record of 11-12-1 in 25 games. Lowell ranks sixth in the AHL in scoring but is 25th in the league in defense. The Lock Monsters visit Worcester on Friday before meeting the Pirates.

PIRATES ON TV:

Ever wonder what goes on during a Pirates' road trip? Watch the latest installment of "Bill Green's Maine" on WCSH-6 this Saturday, January 24th at 7:00 p.m. for a behind the scenes, all-access look at the Pirates' recent road trip to Hartford. Bill takes you on the bus, out to dinner with the players on the night before the game and in the dressing room before the game and then brings you the sights and sounds of the Pirates' game with the Wolf Pack.

SHIP'S LOG:

· Goaltender Maxime Ouellet became the Pirates all-time career shutout leader on Friday, January 16th when he earned a 19-save shutout of the Manchester Monarchs. Ouellet has earned 11 shutouts in a Pirates' uniform, one more than recent Portland Pirates Hall of Fame inductee Martin Brochu.

· In spite of giving up a season-high-tying six goals on Saturday in Manchester, the Pirates allowed just 8 goals against over four games last week. The average of two goals a game is below their season average.

· Defenseman Steve Eminger made his AHL debut on January 14th at Hartford. He is one of two Washington Capitals' 1st round draft picks in 2002. He joins Boyd Gordon who was assigned to Portland on January 10th. Eminger was taken 12th overall, Gordon 17th.

TRANSACTIONS:

1/12/04 ADD Chris Hajt (D), reassigned on loan from Washington (NHL)

1/12/04 ADD Steve Eminger (D), reassigned on loan from Washington (NHL)

1/12/04 DELETE Nathan Lutz (D), released from PTO by Washington (NHL)

1/17/04 DELETE Josef Boumedienne (D), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)

1/17/04 DELETE Ivan Ciernik (LW), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)

IN THE COMMUNITY:

Head coach Tim Army will appear on WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Pirates' captain Graham Mink will appear on the "Morning JAB" on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. after being selected the "Big JAB" Player of the Month for December. On Thursday, broadcaster Dave Ahlers appears on the "Big JAB" at 8:00 a.m. Also on Thursday, the Pirates will bring their aspirations program, Goals For Success, to the Nathan Clifford School in Portland at 1:30 p.m. The Clifford School is the Pirates' host school through the Portland Partnership. For a complete list of upcoming community appearances, check out the "In The Community" section of the Pirates' web site, portlandpirates.com.

ON THE AIR:

Once again this season, all the action of the Portland Pirates' hockey may be heard on Flagship Station WJAB, AM-1440 and FM-95.5 in Portland and on network affiliates WKTQ AM-1450, South Paris; WTME AM-790 Rumford and 1220 AM, ESPN Radio in Sanford. All games may also be heard on the Pirates' web site, www.portlandpirates.com.

GAME HOTLINE:

Members of the media and fans can receive a recap of each Pirates' game, home or away, by calling the Pirates' office at (207) 828-4665 and dialing 3-2-2 when the automated attendant picks up. Recaps will include scoring, goaltenders, shots, powerplays, attendance and any records or notables. Game recaps and other Pirates' news is also available at www.portlandpirates.com. Official AHL box scores are available at the AHL's official web site, www.theahl.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 19, 2004


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