River Rats to begin home stretch

January 3, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


The Albany River Rats host the Hershey Bears in a pair of games at Pepsi Arena this week. The East Division rivals meet up first on Wednesday night at 7:00pm where All seats are just $10 and the club's face-off again on Friday night in another Capital District meeting at 7:00pm The Bears (17-17-1-0, 6th East) defeated the Worcester IceCats 5-1 at home on Sunday night for their fourth consecutive victory. C Eric Perrin has heated up and tops the club with 28 (12-17) points, including a team-high five game-winning goals in 35 games this season LW Mathieu Darche leads the top affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche with 14 goals and ranks fourth in the American Hockey League with 128 shots on goal. Albany holds a 29-23-1-3 record in the all-time regular season series against Hershey, including a 16-11-1 mark on home ice. The River Rats show a 0-3-1 record against the Bears during the 2004-05 season series, having been outscored 15-7 in the previous four games. The teams hook up another two times at Hershey's GIANT Center on January 30th and February 27th.

The River Rats then visit the Wachovia Spectrum to take on the Philadelphia Phantoms in a 5:05pm start on Sunday evening. The Phantoms (22-7-2-3, 1st East) dropped a 4-2 decision to the Rochester Americans at home last night and host Syracuse on Friday before visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday. LW Jon Sim has put up 16 (8-8) points with a plus eight rating in 20 games since joining the top affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers from Utah in exchange for longtime C Peter White. D Joni Pitkanen is tied for the team lead among defensemen with 20 (3-17) points along with a plus-11 rating during the 2004-05 season. Albany sports a 14-13-4-3 record in the all-time regular season series against Philadelphia, including a 5-8-2-1 mark road record. The River Rats trail the 2004-05 season series 0-0-1-1 following Saturday's 5-4 shootout loss at Pepsi Arena. The East Division rivals meet another three times on January 23rd and April 10th at the Wachovia Spectrum before wrapping it up on Fan Appreciation Day at Pepsi Arena on April 16th at 4:00pm.

River Rats this week: * Practice times are subject to change, please call the River Rats office to confirm dates and times.

Tuesday - Practice at Pepsi Arena, 10:00am

Wednesday - Game Day Skate at Pepsi Arena, 10:00am; Hershey Bears @ RIVER RATS, 7:00pm

Thursday - Practice at Pepsi Arena, 10:00am

Friday - Game Day Skate at Pepsi Arena, 10:00am; Hershey Bears @ RIVER RATS, 7:00pm

Saturday - Practice 10:00am at Pepsi Arena; Travel to Philadelphia

Sunday - Game Day Skate at Wachovia Spectrum, TBD; RIVER RATS @ Philadelphia Phantoms, 5:05pm

Monday - Practice TBD

Rat Bites: * C Zach Parise posted nine assists in 13 December games and leads the River Rats in both assists (21) and points (26) during the 2004-05 campaign. The assist and point totals top all AHL rookies during the 2004-05 regular season.

* LW Dean McAmmond has assists in two straight games and led the River Rats with 10 (3-7) points during the month of December. The veteran of 645 National Hockley League games ranks second on the team with 18 assists and 25 points.

* D Ray Schultz has three (1-2) points and a plus three rating over the last five games. He leads all River Rat defensemen with 12 (4-8) points in 34 games this season.

* C Pascal Rheaume scored in all three games last week to extend his point-scoring streak to a team/season-high eight straight games (7-1-8). The Quebec City native moved into second place on the all-time power play goal-scoring list with his 25th career power play goal on Friday in Rochester. Rheaume is also one point shy of moving into a third place tie with 212 points as a River Rat.

Over the Air:

Wed., Jan. 5th vs. Hershey Bears, 7:00pm (6:45pm Capitaland Motors GMC Pre-Game Show, AM 1160 WABY)

Fri., Jan. 7th vs. Hershey Bears, 7:00pm (6:45pm Capitaland Motors GMC Pre-Game Show, AM 1160 WABY)

Sun., Jan. 9th @ Philadelphia Phantoms, 5:05pm (4:50pm Capitaland Motors GMC Pre-Game Show, AM 1160 WABY)

** Hear all the action LIVE at www.albanyriverrats.com**

Community Outreach Appearances:

Mon., January 3rd @ 5:15pm - RW Cam Janssen & C Ivan Khomutov will attend at Clifton Park Mini Mite Youth Hockey practice from 5:15-6:15pm to help young players develop their hockey skills. The practice is scheduled to take place at Clifton Commons in Clifton Park.

River Rats Rewind: Week 12 - December 27, 2004 (0-2-0-1, 1pt)

December 29th - ROC 2 @ ALB 1 - C Pascal Rheaume opened the scoring with his 10th goal just 27 seconds into first meeting of the season between the New York State rivals. Rochester G Ryan Miller (32 saves) was named first star and C Paul Gaustad scored the game-winner at 6:29 of the third period in front of a record Wednesday night sellout crowd of 6,982.

December 31st - ALB 1 @ ROC 3 - C Pascal Rheaume scored for the second straight game but the River Rats would go on to drop their second straight to Rochester. Amerks LW Milan Bartovic scored a shorthanded tally, while C Derek Roy and RW Jason Pominville added power play goals in a game that saw each marker come on special teams.

January 1st - PHI 5 @ ALB 4 F/SO - D Ray Schultz and C Pascal Rheaume scored 34 seconds apart early in the third period as the River Rats earned their first point since December 11th. C Zach Parise added two assists, while C Adrian Foster & D Teemu Kesa each notched their second goal of the season in Albany's second ever shootout at Pepsi Arena.

Upcoming Promotions:

Wed., January 5th vs. Hershey Bears @ 7:00pm - $10 Wednesday!

All Seats are just $10!

Sat., January 7th vs. Hershey Bears @ 7:00pm - New Year's Ticket Special

Buy a ticket for the game on January 7th and receive a FREE ticket to games on

either January 19th vs. Rochester OR January 26th vs. Worcester

Sat., January 15th vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins @ 7:30pm - Meet Former New Jersey Devil Ken Daneyko!

Three-time Stanley Cup Champion Ken Daneyko at the game!

Win a trip to NYC for lunch & a live taping of the Conan O'Brien show @ NBC Studios!



American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2005


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