Pirates face a week of division foes

Published on March 1, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME – The Portland Pirates begin the month of March in much the way they finished February—with a host of games on the schedule. The Pirates will play four games in five days beginning Wednesday night when they host the Worcester IceCats. The Pirates' streak of 14 consecutive games in which they had earned at least a point was ended over the weekend with two losses to the St. John's Maple Leafs. Those games closed a weekend in which the Pirates also played to their second scoreless tie of the season. It came at Manchester on Wednesday night. The Pirates are tied for fourth place in the Atlantic Division with the IceCats with a record of 22-19-12-7, good for 63 points. In addition to the game against Worcester, the Pirates will visit Springfield on Friday, host Manchester Saturday afternoon and travel to Providence on Sunday. Only one of the Pirates' remaining 20 games is against a team outside the division.

LAST WEEK:

Wednesday, February 25, 2004: Pirates 0, Manchester 0 OT

For the second time this season, the Pirates skated to a scoreless tie, this time with the Manchester Monarchs at the Verizon Wireless Arena. It was the 13th shutout of the season for the Pirates, a new franchise record. The Pirates skated to a scoreless deadlock against Hershey back on January 3rd. Each team had a powerplay in the first period but could not convert. In fact, there were few scoring chances in the first period as the Monarchs outshot the Pirates 6-1. The one shot on goal ties a Pirates' franchise low. The Pirates had a good opportunity to break the scoreless tie in the second period when Chris Schmidt picked up a high-sticking major for clipping Jason Ulmer. The Monarchs, though, limited the Pirates to just four shots on goal and the game remained tied after two. The Monarchs cranked up the shots again in the third period, outshooting the Pirates 14-5, but still they could not dent Maxime Ouellet. Their best chance came when Greg Koehler rang the post late in the period. Ouellet was busy in the overtime, but he stopped all six shots he faced to earn his seventh shutout of the season. He ranks second in the AHL in that category. The Pirates' best chance came on a breakaway by Brooks Laich that was stopped by Adam Hauser.

Friday, February 27, 2004: St. John's 3, Pirates 2

The Pirates suffered their first regulation loss in more than a month, bowing to the St. John's Maple Leafs 3-2 at Mile One Stadium. The Leafs opened the scoring while on the powerplay. Josh Holden tipped a wrist shot by Brendan Bell just under the crossbar at 16:23 of the first period. The goal broke a string of 35 consecutive penalty kills by the Pirates. In the second period, the Leafs doubled their lead on their second powerplay. Carlo Colaiacovo's shot from the left point hit a Pirate stick and ricocheted directly to an uncovered Aaron Gavey who rammed home his 17th goal of the year. For the second consecutive game, the Pirates were held at bay during a five-minute powerplay that came about when Brad Leeb charged the Pirates' Jason Ulmer after the whistle. Ulmer would get his revenge, poking a loose puck past goalie Sebastien Centomo at 18:38 to leave the Pirates down just 2-1 after two. The Leafs grabbed the momentum back in the third when Harold Druken broke down the right wing and converted a pass from Nathan Barrett for a goal just nine seconds into the period. But the Pirates followed the lead of their captain, Graham Mink, who shook off a check behind the net, curled the net and beat Centomo with a wrist shot to trim the Leafs' lead to 3-2. The Pirates held the momentum from there and had several good chances late in the game but could not beat Centomo again. He finished with 27 saves in the 3-2 win.

Saturday, February 28, 2004: St. John's 3, Pirates 0

The Pirates returned from "the Rock" empty handed after dropping a 3-0 decision to the St. John's Maple Leafs in the finale of the two-game weekend. It was the first time the Pirates had suffered back-to-back regulation losses since late November and left them winless in seven games. The Pirates killed off three penalties in the first period in stark contrast to the bad luck they had on the penalty kill the night before when they surrendered two powerplay goals in three shorthanded chances. Still, the Leafs got the game's first goal in the final minute of the period. Aaron Gavey's bad-angle shot was stopped by Maxime Ouellet but Clarke Wilm tucked in the rebound for his 14th goal of the year. The Leafs doubled their lead early in the second period when Harold Druken stepped between two defenders and beat Maxime Ouellet with a quick wrist shot. The Pirates enjoyed three powerplays in the third period including a five-minute powerplay with just over five minutes to go in the game. It was their best powerplay of the night, but they hit a post and every other shot was gobbled up by goalie Sebastien Centomo who made 42 saves to preserve the shutout. Josh Holden scored into an empty net for the 3-0 final score.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

DAY DATE EVENT TIME BROADCAST

Monday Mar. 1 DAY OFF

Tuesday Mar. 2 Practice at CCCC 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Wednesday Mar. 3 Morning Skate at CCCC 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Game vs. Worcester 7:05 PM PRN

Thursday Mar. 4 Practice at PIA 9:45 – 11:15 AM

Friday Mar. 5 Morning Skate at Springfield CC 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM

Game at Springfield 7:35 PM PRN

Saturday Mar. 6 Game vs. Manchester 2:05 PM PRN

Sunday Mar. 7 Game at Providence 4:05 PM PRN

PRN: Pirates Radio Network

PIRATES DIVE BACK INTO ATLANTIC DIVISION FRAY

- Wednesday, March 3, 2004 vs. Worcester, 7:05 PM

The Pirates begin the week by hosting the Worcester IceCats. The Pirates are 3-1-1-1 against the IceCats this season including a record of 2-0-0-1 at home. The Pirates last played the IceCats on February 6th when they earned a 2-1 win in Portland. All time, the Pirates lead the series 43-36-11, and they have posted a mark of 21-17-7 against the Cats at home. The two teams begin the week tied for fourth place in the Atlantic Division. The ‘Cats have a record of record of 25-22-11-2, good for 63 points. They are winless in their last three games (0-1-1-1). Fourteen of their 25 wins have come on the road. Mike Glumac and Ernie Hartlieb are tied for the team leading in scoring with 34 points each. Glumac has a team-best 18 goals while Hartlieb leads the IceCats with 20 assists. Worcester is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to Utah on Sunday. This week, the IceCats do not play before coming to Portland.

- Friday, March 5 at Springfield, 7:35 PM

On Friday, the Pirates play the first of three road games this month against the Springfield Falcons. So far this season, the Pirates have gone 3-1-2-0 against the Falcons including a win and a loss at "The Nest". Their last meeting was a 3-3 tie in Portland on February 20th. The Falcons have a commanding lead in the all-time series at 41-29-8 and they've built that largely on their success against the Pirates at home where they are 25-10-3. The Falcons start the week in seventh place in the division with a record of 20-29-8-2, good for 50 points. In spite of a 5-2 loss to Hartford on Sunday, the Falcons have been playing well lately, posting a record of 5-2-3-0 during the last ten games. Former Pirate Peter Ferraro leads the birds in scoring with 13 goals and 19 assists for 31 points. He is tied with brother Chris, another former Pirate, for the team lead in assists. Erik Westrum leads the Falcons in goals with 14 and is second in team scoring with 31 points. The Falcons visit the Albany River Rats on Wednesday before hosting the Pirates.

- Saturday, March 6 vs. Manchester, 2:05 PM

The Pirates return home to host the Manchester Monarchs for their only Saturday matinee of the season. The two teams skated to a 0-0 tie just last Wednesday, the second scoreless deadlock of the season for the Pirates and the first in team history for the Monarchs. The Pirates trail the season series with the Monarchs 2-3-2-1. They have gone 2-0-1-1 against the Monarchs at home. All time, the Los Angeles Kings' top development team leads the Pirates 13-9-6. The Pirates are 6-6-2 against the Monarchs all time at home. Manchester is in second place in the division with a mark of 28-21-6-5, good for 67 points. The Monarchs are 4-1-3-2 in their last ten games in spite of beginning the week winless in their last three. They're coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Providence Bruins on Sunday. Pavel Rosa still leads the Monarchs in scoring with 23 goals and 38 assists for 61 points. The goal and assist totals are also team highs. His point total places him third overall in scoring in the AHL. Steve Kelly is in second place in team scoring with 48 points in 43 games. The Monarchs visit Lowell on Friday before heading North to play the Pirates.

- Sunday, March 7 at Providence, 4:05 PM

The week concludes for the Pirates on the road against the Providence Bruins. Once again this year, the Pirates and Bruins have waged a tightly-contested season series. It's all tied at 2-2-2-0. The Pirates have lost both previous meetings in Providence, both by 4-3 scores. All time, the Pirates are 50-44-14 against the Bruins and 20-27-6 at Providence. The two teams last played on February 7th in Portland when the Pirates earned a 3-1 win. The Bruins are in third place in the division with a record of 26-20-10-3, good for 65 points. The Bruins have won three straight and are on the way to reversing a trend that has them 4-5-0-1 in their last ten games. Andre Savage is the Bruins' leading scorer with 16 goals and 25 assists for 41 points. The goal and assist totals are also team bests. Former Pirate Matt Herr is second in scoring with eleven goals and 33 points. The Bruins host the Hershey Bears on Friday and visit the Falcons on Saturday before hosting the Pirates.

SHIP'S LOG:

The Pirates tied a franchise record on February 25th when they played in their 24th overtime game of the season. They originally set that mark during the 1996-97 season.

Goaltender Maxime Ouellet tied his career high for shutouts in a season when he made 36 saves against Manchester on February 25th in a 0-0 tie. It was his seventh shutout of the year.

The Pirates killed off 35 consecutive penalties before having that streak snapped on February 27th at St. John's.

TRANSACTIONS:

None

IN THE COMMUNITY:

On Tuesday, head coach Tim Army will appear on WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. At 3:00 p.m. that afternoon, the team will visit The Clay Place in Saco to create customized pottery as auction items for the Seventh Annual Evening with the Pirates coming up on March 16th at One City Center in Portland. On Friday, Pirates' broadcaster Dave Ahlers is a guest of WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. For a complete list of past and 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 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 March 1, 2004


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