Pirates start the week in Springfield

November 30, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


THIS WEEK: The Pirates post a 9-9-1-2 record and are fifth place heading into this week's games. The Pirates will look to climb up in the Atlantic Division standings when travel to Springfield, MA on Friday night for a 7:30 p.m. face off against the Falcons. The Pirates will then travel back to Portland for two games at the Cumberland County Civic Center this weekend.

On Saturday night, Hockey Night in Portland, the Pirates will host the Hershey Bears at 7:05 p.m. The first 1,100 fans will receive an official Pirates hockey puck courtesy of NAPA Auto Parts. Oakhurst Dairy will also be giving out free samples of Oakhurst egg nog! Before the game, don't forget to take advantage of pre-game specials at local restaurants including David's, Rivalries, Mavericks, Margarita's, Boru's and Gritty's. Leading up to game time fans can make signs for the Pirates at the A.C. Moore crafts table in the main lobby. After the game, Pirates fans can join the players after the game at The Stadium Restaurant and Sports Bar for the post-game festivities. On Sunday afternoon, the Pirates will run up against the Worcester IceCats at the Civic Center at 4:05 p.m.

FRIDAY DEC. 3rd @ SPRINGFIELD (7:30 p.m.): Friday will be the fourth meeting between the team teams this season. The Pirates hold a 2-1 edge in the season series, in which all three games have gone to overtime. Graham Mink has been dominant against the Falcons this season with four points (3 goals, 1 assist) in the three games. The Falcons are in last place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 6-11-2-1 heading into this week.

SATURDAY, DEC 4th vs. HERSHEY (7:05 p.m.): The Pirates and the Bears will battle for the first of two meetings this season on Saturday, Hockey Night in Portland at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Pirates have punished the Bears in the all time series with an 18-9-1 record against Hershey. The Bears are in last place in the East Division with record of 7-12-1-0 heading into this week. The Bears travel to Portland as part of a four game road trip to Albany, Worcester and Providence.

SUNDAY, DEC 5th vs. WORCESTER (4:05 p.m.): The Pirates and IceCats have met twice already this season. The Pirates won the first meeting back on November 6, in Worcester, MA on Brooks Laich's overtime goal to give the Pirates the 4-3 win. The IceCats claimed the most recent victory over the Pirates in a 9-3 win last week in Worcester at the DCU Centre. Owen Fussey has found the most success playing against the IceCats this season for the Pirates. He has two goals and an assist in the two meetings between the two division rivals. The Pirates are 46-39-11 all time against the IceCats.

GET YOUR TICKETS: Tickets start at just $6! Pirates' individual tickets start at just $6 and can be purchased by calling the Civic Center Box office at 775-3458. Full season, half season, flex packs, birthday and group ticket packages for the 2004-2005 season are on sale now. Fans can receive more information by logging on to the Pirates' web site, portlandpirates.com, or by calling the Pirates at (207) 828-4665 (x 350).

Get your Holiday Shopping done early!

It's the Pirates Holiday Pack. 5 Main Deck flex tickets plus an Olympia Sports – Portland Pirates T-shirt, all for only $40! This package is valued at more than $90! To order, visit the Customer Service Booth in the Main Lobby, call the Pirates at 828-4665, ext. 350 or shop online at portlandpirates.com. You can also shop at the team store located at 531 Congress St. in Portland. The store will be open for extended hours during the holidays from 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

A LOOK AT LAST WEEK: The Portland Pirates picked up two points this past weekend. On Saturday night, the Pirates won 2-1 in a shootout against the Norfolk Admirals. On Sunday, the Pirates were defeated by the Admirals 3-1. The Pirates went 1-3-0-0 last week and are 9-9-1-2 overall and sit in fifth place in the Atlantic Division. The teams ahead of the Pirates in the Atlantic Division standings (with the exception of Manchester) are separated by just five points.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 24th @ WORCESTER (9-3 L): Worcester's Brendan Brooks, Alexi Shkotov and Konstantin Zakharov all scored two goals as the Worcester IceCats defeated the Pirates 9-3 at the DCU Centre. With the win, the IceCats evened the season series at one game a piece. The Pirates had goals from Boyd Gordon, Brian Sutherby and Owen Fussey in the loss. However, the Pirates still hold a firm 46-39-11 edge all-time versus Worcester.

FRIDAY, NOV. 26th @ MANCHESTER (6-0 L): Behind a shutout from Adam Hauser the Manchester Monarchs beat the Portland Pirates 6-0 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. Manchester had six different goal scorers as Matt Ryan, Dustin Brown, Tom Kostopoulos, Michael Cammalleri, Petr Kanko and Noah Clarke were able to beat Maxime Ouellet to give the Monarchs their second win against the Pirates this season.

SATURDAY, NOV. 27th vs. NORFOLK (2-1 W SO): Brooks Laich had two goals, including the game winner in the sudden death shootout to lift the Portland Pirates to a 2-1 win over the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday night at the Civic Center in front of 4,060. Pirates goaltender Maxime Ouellet came up big for the Pirates with 30 saves, and was named the Allied Home Mortgage number one star of the game. With the win, the Pirates evened their record to 5-5-3 all-time against Norfolk.

SUNDAY, NOV. 28th vs. NORFOLK (3-1 L): Pavel Vorobiev scored two goals, including the game-winner to give the Norfolk Admirals the 3-1 victory over the Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Sunday afternoon. Trent Whitfield scored the only Pirates goal on a breakaway for his sixth gal of the season. Justin Eddy was solid between the pipes as he made 22 saves in the loss. There were just four minutes of penalties between the two teams over the 60 minutes of play which was the fewest so far this season for either team, and was an all-time record low for the Admirals.

PIRATES NOTABLES:

· With an assist on Saturday and a goal on Sunday, Trent Whitfield now has a two game point streak and leads the team in points with 18 and in assists with 12.

· The Pirates powerplay currently ranks 8th in the league at 18.3%. Pirates forward, Brooks Laich and leads the team with four powerplay goals.

· Jakub Klepis and Brooks Laich are tied for the team lead for game winning goals with two each.

· With Laich's goal production this weekend, he took over the team lead with seven tallies this season

· Defenseman Steve Eminger is tied for eighth among AHL blueliners with 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists).

· After this weekend's games, the Pirates are now 7-0-1-2 in games decided by one goal.

· Jakub Klepis is tied for 7th among rookie scoring with 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists).

· Graham Mink has the highest shooting percentage on the Pirates at 17.6%

PIRATES SPOTLIGHT: # 44 Brooks Laich

Laich scored the game tying goal on Saturday in the Pirates game against Norfolk. In the sudden death shootout, Laich scored the Pirates game winning goal to give the Pirates the 2-1 victory.

Laich's first goal on Saturday against the Admirals was his 7th goal of the season to lead the Pirates in that category. It was also a powerplay goal giving him four powerplay goals this season which also leads the team.

PIRATES IN THE COMMUNITY:

· On November 30, Pirates forwards Jakub Klepis and Tomas Fleischmann will speak to Kindergarteners at the Breakwater School in Portland. The two players will talk about the adversity and the challenges they faced growing up in the Czech Republic.

· Pirates' defenseman Nolan Yonkman will be the Grand Marshall at the Maine Street Magic Parade of Lights on December 3, in Freeport, ME. The parade starts at 6:00 p.m.

· On Saturday, December 4, Pirates defensemen Nolan Yonkman and Dwayne Zinger will be at Play-It-Again Sports on 315 Marginal Way in Portland. The players will be at the store and signing autographs from 12:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m.

· On Thursday, December 9th, Shipyard Brewing Company's Pub Crawl. Shipyard will be distributing 100 Pirates tickets at each of the locations. The area restaurants include Ri-Ra, Nappi Pizza, Rosie's Bull Feeny's, Commercial Street Pub, Beachers, Margaritas, Boru's, Rivalries and Fore Play. In addition, Shipyard will be raffling off prizes at the locations to benefit Opportunity Farm.

· Pirates' defenseman Louis Robitaille will be on WBLM 102.9FM every Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. with the Captain and Mark.

· Listen every weekday morning at 7:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. for the "Voice of the Pirates" Greg Glynn with your Portland Pirates daily report on WJAB 95.5FM and 1440AM.

· Catch the Pirates' Head Coach Tim Army on WJAB every Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. on the "The Morning Jab" on WJAB 95.5FM and 1440AM.

· Hear Tim Army's wife, Sue Army on WMGX 93.1FM and WPOR 101.9FM every Friday morning when the Pirates have a home game on Saturday. Sue Army's reports can be heard at 7:52 a.m. and 5:25 p.m.

· Maine's WB and Maine's UPN have teamed up with the Portland Pirates to create two promotional initiatives on behalf of families and children in the greater Portland area.

"Ticket Treasure" is the first campaign and it collects winter gloves and hats for area children. To encourage donations, everyone who brings a new pair of gloves and hat to either the Civic Center on game nights or the Pirates retail store (at 531 Congress St. in Portland) will receive two free tickets to an upcoming Pirates home game!

SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 3rd (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):

Monday, Nov. 29 OFF DAY

Tuesday, Nov. 30 OFF DAY

Wednesday, Dec. 1 10 a.m. Practice

Thursday, Dec. 2 10 a.m. Practice

3:00 p.m Depart for Springfield, MA

Friday, Dec. 3 10 a.m. Pre-game skate

7:30 p.m. @ Springfield

Saturday, Dec. 4 10 a.m. Pre-game skate

7:05 p.m. vs. Hershey

Sunday, Dec. 5 10:00 a.m Pre-game skate

4:05 p.m. vs. Worcester

PIRATES ON THE AIR: All Portland Pirates games are broadcast live on the Pirates Radio Network WJAB 1440AM/95.5FM and 1220AM ESPN Radio. Fans can also access the broadcasts online at www.portlandpirates.com. Tune in 15 minutes prior to face-off for the Pirates pre-game show with Brian Demoree and the voice of the Portland Pirates, Greg Glynn.

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 stats, goaltending performances, shots, powerplays, attendance and any record or notables as well as the date for the Pirates next game. Game recaps and other Pirates' news is also available at www.portlandpirates.com.

For ticket information call 207-828-4665 ext. 350 or visit www.portlandpirates.com.



American Hockey League Stories from November 30, 2004


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