
Pirates Plan Some Home Cooking
December 1, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release
PORTLAND, ME - The Portland Pirates will enjoy a light schedule this week with home games against the Hartford Wolf Pack and Springfield Falcons on Friday and Saturday night respectively. The Pirates begin the week aiming to snap a five-game winless streak after losses last week to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Providence and Worcester. The game in Providence completed a season-high five-game road trip. The Pirates finished the trip with a record of 1-3-0-1 and begin the week in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 8-12-0-2, good for 18 points.
LAST WEEK:
Wednesday, November 26: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2, Pirates 1
Former Pirates goaltender Martin Brochu came back to haunt his old team, making 25 saves to hold back the Pirates 2-1 in a Thanksgiving Eve game at Wachovia Arena. The Penguins were winless in five games and played like a team desperate for a win. They struck early when Michel Sivek converted the rebound of a shot by Colby Armstrong to make it 1-0. Another rebound led to another goal for the Penguins. Michel Ouellet slipped home a shot from Matt Murley that had bounced off Maxime Ouellet of the Pirates to make it 2-0 after one. The Pirates were held off the board through a well-played second period, but they continued that play into the third and finally broke Brochu's shutout bid. Off good pressure in the offensive zone, Brad Parsons got a shot from in tight. Graham Mink swept home the rebound for his sixth goal of the season. The Pirates continued the pressure but could not beat Brochu again. He finished with 25 saves for his first win of the season.
Friday, November 28: Providence 4, Pirates 3
The Pirates ended their season-high five-game road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Providence Bruins. The Bruins struck first when Martin Samuelsson sprinted down the left wing and blew a shot past Maxime Ouellet for his first goal of the season. That lead doubled on a powerplay less than three minutes later. Captain Rich Brennan's shot beat a screened Ouellet to make it 2-0. The Pirates responded on their own powerplay. Chris Hajt found Trent Whitfield behind the defense, and Whitfield stormed down the slot by himself, beating goalie Hannu Toivonen with a snap shot for his team-leading eighth goal of the year. The Bruins answered just 1:26 later. Brennan took another shot from the point that snaked through Ouellet's pads. The Pirates, however, would battle back. With the two teams skating four-on-four, Francois Methot drew a crowd and then dished the puck to Mike Pudlick who cut to the net from the right wing and slipped the puck underneath Toivonen for his second goal in three games. However before the period was over, the Bruins had again ballooned their lead to two goals. While on the powerplay, Kris Vernarsky got behind the Pirates defense and beat Ouellet with a backhander to make it 4-2 after one. The Pirates continued to press in the second period and made good on their fourth powerplay of the game when Ted Donato was whistled for slashing. Whitfield's shot from the right circle was stopped but Jason Ulmer slammed home the rebound for his second goal of the season to trim the deficit to one after two periods. The Pirates best chance to tie it came when the Bruins' Martin Wilde was whistled for a holding call with 3:38 remaining, but they could not beat Toivonen again.
Saturday, November 29: Worcester 3, Pirates 2 OT
The Pirates erased a two-goal deficit but lost in overtime to the Worcester IceCats 3-2 at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The IceCats struck first on the powerplay when Jeff Panzer sent a cross-ice pass to Sergei Varlamov who banged home his sixth goal of the year. Later in the first period, the IceCats tallied at even strength. Christian LaFlamme's shot was tipped in by Ernie Hartlieb to give Worcester a 2-0 lead after one. The Pirates started to chip away at that lead in the second period. On the powerplay, Trent Whitfield set up Colin Forbes in the slot, and he beat goalie Reinhard Divis for his fifth goal of the year. In the third, Forbes struck again, keeping the puck along the left wing boards and beating Divis with a wrist shot to make it 2-2. The IceCats had both shots in overtime and won it when Jay McClement threw a backhander over a sprawled Maxime Ouellet.
PIRATES HOST A PAIR AT HOME
* Friday, December 5, 2003 vs. Hartford, 7:05 PM
The Pirates welcome the Atlantic Division-leading Wolf Pack to Portland for the third time this season. The game will be the fourth meeting overall between the two division foes. So far, Hartford has won all three meetings. The last time the two teams met, the Pack earned a 2-0 shutout in Portland on November 7th. Hartford is 2-0-0-0 in Portland this year. Overall, the Wolf Pack lead the all-time series 17-7-5 and own a record of 9-3-3 in Portland. The Wolf Pack begins the week in first place in the division with a record of 11-4-4-1, good for 27 points. Hartford is 5-4-1-0 in its last ten games. Chad Wiseman leads the Pack in scoring with five goals and 15 points in 19 games. Jason MacDonald leads the team with eight goals and is second in scoring with 13 points. Jason LaBarbera has worked the lion's share of time in net and has posted a record of 8-1-3 and a goals-against average of 1.76. That mark puts him fifth overall in the AHL. Hartford visits Manchester on Wednesday before coming to Portland on Friday.
* Saturday, December 6, 2003 vs. Springfield, 7:05 PM
The Pirates and the Falcons get together for the second time this season. The first meeting was also in Portland. The Pirates earned a 1-0 shutout in that game on November 9th. Trent Whitfield had the game-winning goal and Maxime Ouellet made 16 saves to earn the shutout, his second of the season. The Pirates trail the all-time series with the birds 27-40-6, but they are 18-16-3 against the Falcons at home. Springfield begins the week in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 7-12-2-1, good for 17 points. The Falcons have gone 2-6-1-1 in their last ten games and are 2-7-1-1 on the road. Jeff Taffe leads the Falcons in scoring with ten goals and 16 points but he is currently on recall to the Phoenix Coyotes. Former Pirate Peter Ferraro is second in scoring with seven goals and 15 points. Jean-Marc Pelletier and David LeNeveu have split time in goal. LeNeveu has a team-best four wins and a 2.77 goals-against average. The Falcons host Worcester on Friday before visiting the Pirates.
SHIP'S LOG:
* The Pirates have allowed 13 powerplay goals this season but only two have come at home.
* The Pirates once-struggling powerplay has now scored at least one goal in seven of the last nine games (8/50) for a success rate of 16%. The overall success rate of the powerplay has risen more than 4% in that time.
* Former Pirates' goaltender Rastislav Stana earned his first National Hockey League win in his first NHL start. He stopped 38 shots for the Washington Capitals in a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on November 24th.
TRANSACTIONS:
11/29/03 ADD Mike Vigilante (LW), signed to a professional tryout 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' broadcaster Dave Ahlers will join the "Morning JAB" program on Thursday at 8:00 a.m. On that same day, Pirates' defenseman Dwayne Zinger will appear on WMSJ at 8:15 a.m.
In addition to the broadcast events, Zinger, Jason Ulmer and their wives will be packing toys for the Bruce Roberts Toy Fund on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. at the Portland Press Herald. Also on Tuesday, Brad Parsons and Matt Yeats are scheduled to appear at the Joy of Sharing Event at Hannaford Supermarket in Gorham from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. On Wednesday, Gary's House, one of the Pirates' core community causes, will hold its annual "Maine Diner Day" in Wells. On Thursday, the Pirates will present their "Goals For Success" aspirations program to the students at the Woodside Elementary School in Topsham at 1:45 p.m. Forward Francois Methot is scheduled to appear at the event.
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.
American Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2003
- Wellwood Named AHL Rookie of the Month - Toronto Marlies
- Bulldogs look to extend lead in North division - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Royal Review - Manchester Monarchs
- Wolves Weekly - Chicago Wolves
- Franchise Records Fall As Sound Tigers Go Unbeaten Through November - Bridgeport Islanders
- Defense Keys Griffins' Six-Game Unbeaten Streak - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Phantoms Weekly - Adirondack Phantoms
- Roy Sets Record in Split with Roadrunners - Manitoba Moose
- Jeff MacMillan Re-Called by Dallas - Utah Grizzlies
- Red Wings Sign Blake Sloan - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Jeff Hamilton Named AHL Player Of The Week - Bridgeport Islanders
- Grizzlies Split Series with Ducks on the Road - Utah Grizzlies
- P-Bruins to Play Four Games this Week - Providence Bruins
- Roadrunners to Play Crunch for First Time - Edmonton Road Runners
- Phantoms Reappearing Among AHL's Best - AHL
- Sound Tigers' Hamilton named Sher-Wood AHL Player of the Week - AHL
- Leafs' Wellwood named AHL Rookie of the Month - AHL
- Scoville Has Big Weekend - Syracuse Crunch
- IceCats Announce Free Team Autograph Session - Worcester IceCats
- IceCats Release Defenseman - Worcester IceCats
- Pair Of Sound Tigers Recalled By Islanders - Bridgeport Islanders
- Norfolk Finishes Week with Win, Loss and Tie - Norfolk Admirals
- Bears Still Tops in AHL as Calendar Turns to December - Hershey Bears
- Bears Announce Busy Monday of Roster Moves - Hershey Bears
- Barons On Three-Game Win Streak - Cleveland Barons
- Pirates Plan Some Home Cooking - Portland Pirates
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.
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