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Rivalries fuel playoff race in Atlantic

February 28, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... Manchester and Hartford have occupied the top two spots in the Atlantic Division all season long. But behind them, a battle is raging for the right to qualify for the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs.

The Providence Bruins currently occupy third place in the Atlantic, with 69 points in 60 games. With three-time AHL All-Star Andy Hilbert and 2004 Second Team AHL All-Star Brad Boyes both among the league's top 10 scorers, Providence has gone 10-4-1-0 in its last 15 games. Hilbert and Boyes have combined to score 29 power-play goals on the season, leading the Bruins to the second-best efficiency in the AHL at 20.5 percent.

Keith Aucoin has added 51 points in 53 games and Patrice Bergeron is averaging a point per game through 49 contests. Hannu Toivonen, who is expected to miss another three to five weeks after undergoing knee surgery on Feb. 22, still shares the AHL lead with seven shutouts and ranks sixth with his 2.03 goals-against average. In his stead, Chris Madden has stopped 82 of 84 shots in three starts (all wins) and Matt Underhill posted a shutout in his first AHL start of the year on Friday night.

One point behind Providence are the Lowell Lock Monsters, with 68 points and five games in hand on the Bruins. Out of the playoffs in 2003 and 2004 and without a series victory since 2000, Lowell is led in scoring this season by the terrific threesome of Eric Staal (59 points), Chuck Kobasew (56) and Colin Forbes (52), who also own three of the top four plus/minus ratings in the league.

Mike Commodore, who like Kobasew played in the Stanley Cup Finals with Calgary last spring, and rookie Richie Regehr, younger brother of the Flames' Robyn, anchor a defense that has improved from 26th in the AHL in goals allowed last year (3.03) to eighth this season (2.51). And in nets are a pair of former first-round draft picks in Brent Krahn and first-year pro Cam Ward, who leads the AHL with his .937 save percentage.

Sitting one point back of Lowell and two behind Providence are the Worcester IceCats, who are looking to reach the Calder Cup Playoffs for the 10th consecutive spring. Jon DiSalvatore is the top goal-scorer and Blake Evans the leading point-getter for the IceCats, and 2005 AHL All-Star Dennis Wideman is making a case to become the first defenseman ever to win the Garrett Award as the AHL's top rookie.

This race is primed to come down to the final weekend of the 2004-05 season, as the Bruins play nine of their final 20 games against the Lock Monsters (four) and IceCats (five).

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AMERKS SET FRANCHISE RECORD ... A 5-2 victory over Syracuse at the Blue Cross Arena on Sunday was the 16th consecutive home victory for the Rochester Americans, surpassing the previous franchise record of 15 set by the 1964-65 squad that went on to win the Amerks' first Calder Cup.

Members of the 1964-65 team included Hockey Hall of Famers Gerry Cheevers and Al Arbour as well as AHL greats Don Cherry, Dick Gamble, Bronco Horvath, Les Duff, Gerry Ehman and head coach Joe Crozier.


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BARONS HONORING BOWER ... The Cleveland Barons will be inducting AHL great and Hockey Hall of Famer Johnny Bower into the Cleveland Hockey Legends Ring of Honor prior to this Saturday night's game against Hamilton. Bower, whose number 1 was retired by the Barons, is the AHL's all-time leader in victories (359) and shutouts (45) and was a three-time league MVP and six-time postseason AHL All-Star selection.


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WHO ARE THESE MASKED MEN? ... While familiar names like Ryan Miller, Kari Lehtonen and Jason LaBarbera continue to dot the AHL's goalie leaderboard, some unheralded players have made quite an impression in just a short time.

In addition to Chris Madden and Matt Underhill in Providence (see above), Dany Sabourin has allowed just 15 goals in 11 games (1.51, .948) for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season; Mike Morrison has taken advantage of his chance in Edmonton and has posted a 1.70 GAA, .939 save percentage and two shutouts in 12 appearances with the Road Runners; and veteran Kirk Daubenspeck has made 11 straight appearances for Portland, going 7-3-1 (1.46, .955) with three shutouts.

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OFF THE ICE ... Fans can purchase $17 tickets for just $10 to each of Grand Rapids' six upcoming home games against Canadian AHL teams... Tuesday night will be Manchester's third annual Mullet Night; the first 5,000 fans will receive a free mullet wig... The Edmonton Road Runners on Saturday night honored the 40 participants in the World's Longest Hockey Game, which lasted 240 hours from Feb. 11-21, and raised additional funds for the Alberta Cancer Foundation.


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ETC. ... Hershey paid tribute on Sunday to the late Frank Mathers, whose jersey number 3 hangs from the Giant Center rafters, then fittingly scored three goals on 33 shots in a win over Albany... Average attendance at the AHL's 30 weekend games was 7,668, nearly 1,800 over the league's season average... Chicago played before a combined 28,461 fans at Allstate Arena for games against Utah on Saturday and St. John's on Sunday... Philadelphia drew a total of 25,373 fans for their games on Friday and Sunday, the team's most successful weekend at the gate in five years... Chris Kunitz beat the horn at the end of overtime to give Cincinnati a 4-3 win over Houston on Saturday night... Brian Willsie tallied his first pro hat trick in Portland's 5-1 win at Providence on Saturday... Jon Sim's natural hat trick for Philadelphia on Friday was the fourth three-goal game of his AHL career... The Springfield Falcons are Jim Campbell's ninth career AHL team; the all-time record of 10 is owned by Steve Bancroft... Rochester is 37-0-3-3 when tied or ahead after two periods this season... Hershey is 10-1 in games decided after regulation, including a perfect 6-0 in shootouts... Iowa Stars co-owner Howard Baldwin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture as one of the producers of the Ray Charles biopic, Ray.

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