Race for the playoffs

Published on March 22, 2005 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO – With only three weeks remaining in the regular season, UHL teams are in a battle to propel themselves into one of the eight spots for the Colonial Cup Playoffs. Adirondack and Danbury have clinched playoff berths as both have earned at least a second place finish in the Eastern Division. Muskegon has also clinched a berth by earning at least a second place finish in the Central Division. The Western Division is currently led by Rockford (93 pts) and Fort Wayne (91 pts), but Missouri (80 pts) and Quad City (74 pts) are still eligible to secure one of the top two spots in the division. Missouri and Quad City currently sit in the 7th and 8th spot in the overall standings with Flint (73 pts) on their heels. Richmond, Port Huron, Kansas City, and Motor City all still have the opportunity to enter the playoff picture.

DEADLINE DEALS

Several players were wearing different uniforms by the time the UHL trading deadline expired on Friday. Teams looked to bolster their rosters for the final stretch of the regular season. Some of the notable trades included:

Francis Belanger (F) traded to Danbury from Flint
Jay Murphy (RW) traded to Danbury from Kansas City
Jamie Thompson (F) traded to Quad City from Elmira
Nathan Grobins (G) traded to Flint from Richmond
Kevin Kerr (F) traded to Kalamazoo from Flint
Jim Duhart (RW) traded to Richmond from Flint
Dan McIntyre (G) traded to Richmond from Flint

IN THE STANDS

UHL fans showed up in big numbers to support their teams in week 23. The Missouri River Otters enjoyed their largest crowd since the 1999-2000 season when 8,517 fans spun the turnstiles on Saturday night. Kalamazoo had a sellout crowd of 5,413 on Thursday, which was their second sellout crowd in as many games. Kalamazoo has not sold out back-to-back games since the 1998-99 season when the team was in the IHL. Rockford hosted 6,130 fans on Saturday, which was their highest single game attendance of the season. Muskegon also hosted their largest crowd of the season when 5,021 fans saw their game vs. Adirondack on Saturday. Danbury hosted a sellout crowd of 3,005 on Friday vs. Elmira.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Adirondack Frostbite - (1-3-0) – Hugo Belanger leads the UHL in scoring with 94 points (30g, 64a)...The Frostbite have the second best record in the league (43-19-8)...Defenseman Bob Rapoza scored his 300th career point Wednesday vs. Elmira...Center Sylvain Cloutier notched his 300th professional assist on Wednesday...The Frostbite are last in the league averaging 18.8 penalty minutes per game. They are also last in the league in minors and majors. Despite this, left wing Scott Page leads all rookies in penalty minutes and majors...Adirondack leads the league in road power play (21.9%) and are second in overall power play (21.0%).

Danbury Trashers - (2-0-0) – Danbury recorded their fourth shutout of the season with a 3-0 vs. Elmira on Friday. Scott Stirling has been in net for all four shutouts...The Trashers are 5-1-1 in the month of March while averaging 3.86 goals per game and holding opponents to 2.00 goals per game...Six players are averaging at least one point per game in March (Alex Goupil, Bruce Richardson, Doug Christiansen, Jeff Daw, Mike Bayrack, and J.F. David)...Goupil is riding a seven-game scoring streak (8g, 3a) and has scored in 12 of his last 13 games (16g, 4a)...Center Bruce Richardson (1g, 5a) and defenseman Nic Bilotto (1g, 5a) are both riding four-game scoring streaks.

Elmira Jackals - (0-4-0) – Forward Charlie Elezi scored his first goal as a Jackal on Sunday... On Sunday, center Alex Mathieu and defenseman Sergei Durdin each scored their first goal in a Jackals uniform since being traded from Quad City on Monday...Center Jason Cassells made his professional debut on Saturday vs. Danbury. He then recorded his first pro points when he notched two assists on Sunday vs. Richmond...Elmira suffered their worst home loss of the season on Saturday when Danbury defeated them 7-1.

Flint Generals - (1-2-0) – Newly acquired goaltender Nathan Grobins recorded his first victory as a General when Flint defeated Missouri 3-2 on Sunday...Flint's last road victory prior to Sunday was March 2nd at Kalamazoo...Their victory vs. Missouri was only the second win in regulation by one goal this season...Bobby Reynolds recorded his 900th career point when he scored a goal in the second period vs. Kansas City on Friday...Right wing Rob Valicevic took over the team lead in goals (35) during the week. Rookie winger Mike Kinnie is second (34).

Fort Wayne Komets - (1-1-1) – Four players have skated in all 70 Komet games this season (Sean Venedam, P.C. Drouin, Danny Stewart, and Rob Guinn)...Goaltender Kevin St. Pierre appeared in his 100th career game in a Fort Wayne uniform on Thursday vs. Kalamazoo. He is also two wins shy of his 3rd straight 30-win season and 4th overall...Right wing Chris Grenville's next game will be his 400th career UHL game...Center Colin Chaulk is one assist shy of his 200th Fort Wayne career assist...Fort Wayne

Kalamazoo Wings - (3-0-0) – The K-Wings are on a three-game winning streak and a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1)...Kalamazoo has won six straight road games...Newcomer Kevin Kerr had a four point night (1g, 3a) on Saturday vs. Fort Wayne and was also a plus-4. Both tie K-Wing season highs...Rookie forward Jason Deitsch has two goals and an assist in his first two games...Kalamazoo snapped Muskegon's five-game winning streak and 12-game unbeaten streak on Friday...Joel Martin is second among UHL goaltenders with a .932 save percentage.

Kansas City Outlaws - (2-0-0) – The Outlaws have won back-to-back games and four of their last six...Right wing Joe Seroski is second in the league with 37 goals...Seroski has points (9g, 5a) in eight straight games...Left wing Jason Ruff has posted multiple points in five of his last eight games...Kansas City is 2-3-0 in its last five road games and 3-1-1 in its last five home games...Goaltender Maxime Gingras has played in 12 straight games and 14 of the last 15 games

Missouri River Otters - (1-3-0) – Goaltender Kevin Reiter registered the team's 11th shutout of he season on Saturday vs. Flint. The River Otters had already broken the single season UHL record of nine shutouts set by Kalamazoo last season...Center Lars Pettersen notched his 500th professional point with an assist vs. Rockford on Wednesday...Left wing Barrie Moore scored the 199th goal of his professional career Sunday against Flint...Missouri currently holds the seventh spot in the UHL playoffs.

Motor City Mechanics - (3-1-0) – Right wing Jeff Doyle scored five points (2g, 3a) against Port Huron on Wednesday and added a hat trick (3g) on Saturday vs. Richmond...Center Sean Avery also tallied five points (3g, 2a) vs. Port Huron and has ten points in his last four games... Defenseman Chris Chelios tallied five points (2g, 3a) on Saturday vs. Richmond and forward Mike Burgoyne tallied three (1g, 2a)... Saturday's 10-2 win over Richmond was team record for most goals scored and largest margin of victory. It was Motor City's sixth consecutive win, which is also a team record.

Muskegon Fury - (3-1-0) – In their last 20 games, the Fury have outscored the competition 77-41...Muskegon's 28 home wins lead the UHL and equal the team season record...The Fury are on a nine-game unbeaten streak vs. the Western Division (8-0-1) and an eight-game win streak vs. the Eastern Division (8-0-0)...With two goals on Sunday vs. Motor City, Brant Blackned moved into 2nd place (136g) on the Fury all-time goal list...Right wing Scott Hollis notched his 300th professional goal on Friday vs. Kalamazoo, then scored his 100th Fury career goal on Sunday...Muskegon is undefeated when scoring four or more goals (34-0-1).

Port Huron Beacons – (0-3-1) – Left wing Trevor Edwards recorded his first professional hat trick on Friday vs. Fort Wayne...Of the Beacons 28 wins, 23 have come when left wing David Beauregard scores a goal...Center Aaron Brand is 12 points behind Michel Beausoleil for third on the Beacons all-time scoring list after tallying two points (1g, 1a) this week. Brand has 55 goals and 69 assists in 141 games played as a Beacon.

Quad City Mallards - (2-2-0) – Forward Joe Dusbabek played his 300th professional game on Sunday vs. Adirondack. In that game, he tallied two assists to reach the 200th point of his career...Center Jason Deskins scored two goals on Sunday which marked the fourth time he has scored two goals in a game this season...Defenseman Terry Hollinger has 11 points (3g, 8a) in his last nine games...Newcomer Jamie Thompson notched a goal in his Mallard debut on Wednesday vs. Muskegon. He has recorded three points (1g, 2a) in his first four games as a Mallard.

Richmond RiverDogs – (1-2-0) – Right wing David Brosseau and left wing David Hymovitz are tied for the team lead with 31 goals...Jim Duhart leads the league in shots with 297 while Brosseau is fourth with 264...David Hymovitz is second in the league in points with 88...Luch Nasato is third in the league among defensemen with 44 points (10g, 34a)...The ‘Dogs trail Quad City by 11 points for the 8th spot in the playoffs.

Rockford IceHogs - (5-0-0) – Rockford played five games last week and won all five. The five-game winning streak ties a season high...In the five games, they held their opponents to a total of seven goals...Defenseman Nathan Lutz set a team record on Sunday recording 42 penalty minutes in the game vs. Port Huron...The IceHogs have out-shot their opponents in 11 straight games...Goaltender Michel Robinson set an team record by recording his sixth shutout on Friday vs. Richmond...Center Olivier Proulx tied a team record by notching his sixth game-winning goal of the season on Sunday...Winger Jason Ralph tied a team record when he scored his third shorthanded goal of the season on Friday.

LEADING SCORERS
POINTS TEAM GP G A PTS
Belanger, Hugo P. ADI 69 30 64 94
Hymovitz, David RMD 71 31 57 88
Reynolds, Bobby FLT 68 25 62 87
Koehler, Greg ADI 65 35 50 85
Chaulk, Colin FW 65 18 67 85
Bouchard, Robin MUS 63 35 46 81
Valicevic, Rob FLT 68 35 46 81
Blackned, Brant MUS 64 29 52 81
Nelson, Jeff MUS 69 21 59 80
Richardson, Bruce DAN 65 21 58 79
Venedam, Sean FW 70 36 42 78
Kinnie, Mike FLT 65 34 40 74
Cloutier, Sylvain ADI 70 26 48 74
Dufour, J.F. RCK 67 23 51 74
Kompon, Mike QCY 67 28 42 70
Brand, Aaron PH 69 25 44 69
Drouin, P.C. FW 70 22 47 69
Bayrack, Mike DAN 60 35 33 68
Ruid, J.C. RCK 63 36 31 67
Daw, Jeff DAN 52 23 43 66

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Motor City forward Bryan Smolinski completed the week with eleven points (3g, 8a) and a plus-six rating in four games. In Wednesday's 6-1 victory vs. Port Huron, he recorded five points (1g, 4a). On Friday vs. Adirondack, he scored the game-winning goal with 1:10 remaining in the third period. Smolinski then notched his second five-point game (1g, 4a) of the week in Saturday's 10-2 win vs. Richmond. His six-game point streak ended in Sunday's 5-2 loss vs. Muskegon. He recorded 17 points (4g, 13a) during that span. The 33-year-old native of Toledo, Ohio has tallied 25 points (7g, 18a) in fifteen games for the Mechanics this season.

Other players nominated for the Sher-Wood UHL Player of the Week include: Adirondack left wing Hugo Belanger, Danbury defenseman J.F. David, Elmira center Alex Mathieu, Flint center Rob Valicevic, Fort Wayne defenseman Troy Neumeier, Kalamazoo right wing Kevin Kerr, Kansas City left wing Jason Ruff, Missouri forward Jamal Mayers, Muskegon right wing Scott Hollis, Port Huron left wing David Beauregard, Quad City defenseman Terry Hollinger, Richmond center David Hymovitz, and Rockford right wing J.F. Dufour.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Muskegon's Sylvain Daigle finished the week with a 3-0-0 record, a 1.67 GAA, and a .950 save percentage. In Wednesday's 4-2 victory in Quad City, he turned away 34 of 36 shots on goal. He then allowed only one goal and made 22 saves in Saturday's 4-1 victory over Eastern Division leader Adirondack. Daigle earned his third victory of the week on Sunday when he stopped 39 of 41 Motor City shots to give Muskegon the 5-2 win and snap the Mechanics' six-game win streak. The victory was also Daigle's 150th in a Fury uniform. He is currently riding a 13-game win streak in which he has allowed only 20 goals (1.54 GAA) and earned a .951 save percentage. For the season, the 28-year-old St. Hyacinthe, Quebec native has a record of 16-4-0, a 1.88 GAA, and a .937 save percentage.

Other players nominated for the Southern Sports Supply UHL Goaltender of the Week include: Adirondack's Derek Gustafson, Danbury's Scott Stirling, Elmira's Kevin Kurk, Flint's Nathan Grobins, Fort Wayne's Tyler Masters, Kalamazoo's Chad Alban, Kansas City's Maxime Gingras, Missouri's Kevin Reiter, Motor City's Rod Branch, Port Huron's Kory Cooper, Quad City's Robert Gherson, Richmond's Dan McIntyre, and Rockford's Michel Robinson.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 22, 2005


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