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Pirates\' home stand concludes this week

February 2, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME – The Portland Pirates will finish a busy stretch of home games this weekend when they host two Atlantic Division rivals, the Worcester IceCats and the Providence Bruins. Since the turn of the new year, the Pirates have played nine home games; the games this Friday and Saturday will finish a four-game home stand, their longest of the season. Last week, the Pirates snapped a five-game winless streak with a win over the Lowell Lock Monsters. The Pirates earned a point but lost in overtime to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers the next night. The Pirates are in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 17-17-7-6, good for 47 points. That puts them one point behind Lowell in the race for the last playoff spot in the division. The Pirates have gone 12-6-5-3 at home this season.

LAST WEEK:

Friday, January 30, 2004: Pirates 2, Lowell 0

The Pirates shook off a five-game winless streak with a 2-0 shutout of the Lowell Lock Monsters at the Civic Center. The two teams played a scoreless first period with the Pirates carrying the play throughout the stanza. The Pirates had lost the first two games of a rare stretch of three straight games against the Lock Monsters. The Pirates finally broke through early in the second period. Boyd Gordon dug the puck off the left wing wall and fed Mike Souza for a one-time shot. Owen Fussey raced to the rebound and knocked it past goaltender Patrick DesRochers for his fifth goal of the season. DesRochers protested that Fussey had kicked in the goal, but after conferring with the linesman, referee Brian Pochmara allowed the goal to stand. The Pirates doubled their lead early in the third. Andrej Podkonicky slipped the puck through traffic to Louis Robitaille who cut through the defense and steered the puck on goal. DesRochers trapped the puck but then released it before the whistle, allowing Colin Forbes to poke home his ninth goal of the year. Again, DesRochers protested but to no avail. The Pirates were tested during two late penalty kills but continued their string of perfect play while a man down to cement the win, their third in six games against Lowell. Maxime Ouellet earned his fifth shutout of the year with 23 saves.

Saturday, January 31, 2004: Bridgeport 3, Pirates 2 OT

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers erased a 2-0 deficit and beat the Pirates 3-2 in overtime at the Civic Center. The Pirates weathered a penalty kill in the extra session but surrendered the extra point when Ryan Kraft scored with just four seconds remaining. The Pirates seized the lead with a little more than five minutes played in the first period. Roman Tvrdon tracked down a loose puck along the left wing wall in the Bridgeport zone. He waited for Graham Mink to crash the net before throwing the puck in front. It ricocheted off a skate and past goalie Dieter Kochan for a 1-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, the Pirates doubled their lead early in the third period when Francois Methot blew a slap shot past Kochan from the left wing wall. The Sound Tigers responded quickly when Cail MacLean tallied off a face-off win in the Pirates' zone to make it 2-1. Then midway through the period, Kraft sprinted down the right wing and slid the puck in the slot to Justin Mapletoft who beat Maxime Ouellet to force the overtime. In extra time, Dwayne Zinger picked up a slashing penalty, but the Pirates were able to kill it. As the seconds dwindled down and with the Pirates battling for control of the puck, it squirted to Kraft who knocked it past Ouellet for his second point of the night.

PIRATES FINISH HOME STAND WITH TWO GAMES

- Friday, February 6, 2004 vs. Worcester, 7:05 PM

The Pirates welcome the Worcester IceCats to Portland for the third time this season. The Pirates are 2-1-1-1 against the ‘Cats this year including a record of 1-0-0-1 at home. The two teams haven't met since a 4-0 Pirates' win on December 31st. The Pirates continue to hold the advantage in the all-time series, 42-36-11. They are 20-17-7 against the IceCats in Portland. Worcester begins the week tied with Manchester for third place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 21-16-9-1, good for 52 points. That puts them five ahead of the Pirates. The IceCats are 3-0-1-0 in their last four games. They've also done well away from the Centrum Centre, posting a record off 11-6-5-1 on the road. Ernie Hartlieb leads the IceCats in scoring with 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points. His assist total is also a team high. Mike Glumac is second in scoring with 29 points including a team-best 14 goals. Curtis Sanford is currently carrying the load in the Worcester net. In 19 games this season, he is 9-7-1 with a 2.42 goals against average and two shutouts. The IceCats are in Lowell on Wednesday before visiting Portland.

- Saturday, February 7, 2004 vs. Providence, 7:05 PM

The Pirates finish the short week with a game against their oldest rivals, the Providence Bruins. Half-way through this ten-game season series, the Pirates are 1-2-2-0 against the Bruins including a mark of 1-0-2-0 at home. All time, the Pirates lead the series 49-44-14. They are 29-17-8 against the Baby Bs at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Bruins are in second place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 22-15-10-1 good for 55 points, eight more than the Pirates. The Pirates have one game in hand. The Bruins are 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games. Andre Savage leads the Bruins in scoring with 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points. His 20 assists are a team high. His goal total ties him with Carl Corazzini for the team lead. Corazzini is currently with the Boston Bruins. Former Pirate Matt Herr is second in scoring with nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points. In goal, Tim Thomas and Hannu Toivonen have nearly split the time. Thomas has a team high 12 wins, a 2.02 goals-against average (5th in the AHL) and a .940 save percentage (3rd in the AHL). Providence hosts Hartford on Friday before coming to Portland.

SHIP'S LOG:

Defenseman Dwayne Zinger played in his 250th AHL game on Friday, January 30th against Lowell.

The Pirates' 2-0 win over Lowell on January 30th marked the first game in the season series that had been decided by more than one goal.

The Pirates tied their own AHL record for home shutouts when they blanked the Lowell Lock Monsters 2-0 on Friday, January 30th. The Pirates now have nine home shutouts this season, ten overall.

The Pirates killed off all six of their opponents' powerplays last weekend and have now successfully killed 15 straight penalties.

TRANSACTIONS:

1/31/04 DELETE Steve Eminger (D), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)

IN THE COMMUNITY:

February begins as January ended for the Portland Pirates in the community—with a full schedule of appearances. On Tuesday, head coach Tim Army will appear on WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. On Wednesday, Pirates' forward Mike Souza and Junior Pirates' goaltender Shane Brooks will visit the Cathedral School in Portland at 1:30 p.m. as part of the Goals For Success program. This appearance was rescheduled from last week. Later in the day, the Pirates will join Squirt players from Auburn Youth Hockey for a practice at 5:00 p.m. At 6:10 p.m., defenseman Dwayne Zinger and forward Garret Stroshein will join the Mites from Huskies Youth Hockey in Gorham. On Thursday, Pirates' broadcaster Dave Ahlers is a guest of WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. Later in the day, Pirates' goalie Matt Yeats and Junior Pirates' forward Eric Bouchard will bring Goals For Success to the Holy Cross School in South Portland at 1:30 p.m. At 2:30 p.m., head coach Tim Army, forwards Francois Methot and Andrej Podkonicky and defenseman Louis Robitaille will take part in a clinic for middle school players at North Yarmouth Academy as part of a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish of Maine. 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 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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