River Rats Weekly

February 23, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


2008-09 Record: 24-24-3-3, 54 points (14-8-3-1 Home, 10-16-0-2 Road), Tied-Sixth Place - East Division

Week 20 Recap:

The River Rats had their Week 19 schedule dramatically shortened after the team endured a horrific bus accident on the Massachusetts Turnpike in the early hours of Thursday morning. Thankfully every player, coach and staff member was able to walk out of the wreckage and there were no life-threatening or career-ending injuries. Following the incident, the team received an overwhelming display of support and compassion from everyone from fans and local supporters to opposing teams and their fans and for that the entire River Rats organization is incredibly grateful.

The River Rats were on their way home at the time, after losing to the Lowell Devils 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday night at Tsongas Arena. Dwight Helminen scored his 15th goal of the season midway through the first period to give the Rats a 1-0 lead. But the Devils struck back with two second period goals and carried a 2-1 lead into the third period. But Nicolas Blanchard answered for Albany, tying the game at 8:00 as his unassisted goal sent the game into overtime. In the shootout Bryan Rodney scored for the River Rats, but former Albany captain Pascal Rheaume scored the shootout-winning goal to haunt his old team and give the Devils the extra point. Last Monday Albany fell short 4-3 to Manchester in a President's Day game at the Times Union Center. The Rats trailed 4-1 going into the third period, but scored two goals to cut the lead to 4-3 with five minutes remaining, setting up a frantic finish that saw the Monarchs just hang on to the win. The River Rats two remaining games in their Week 19 schedule, Friday vs. Bridgeport and Sunday vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton were both postponed and rescheduled for later dates in March.

Week 21 Preview:

The River Rats return to the ice this week, trying to regain a sense of normalcy to the club as they get ready for a stretch of four games in five days. Albany starts the grind with a Wednesday night game at Bridgeport at 7:00 pm at the Arena at Harbor Yard; their first game since last week's bus crash. The Rats continue their road trip on Friday, February 27th at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (7:05 pm) and Saturday, February 28th at Syracuse (7:30 pm). The River Rats are coming back home for their first game at the Times Union Center since the accident on Sunday, March 1st as they host the Norfolk Admirals for a 5:00 pm face off.

The Rats have a two-fold challenge this week; they have to get back to action after the major ordeal of last Thursday and they have to try to make up ground in the East Division standings with a patchwork lineup. With at least seven players out of the lineup due to injuries suffered in the crash, Albany will have to call upon the ECHL for some reinforcements. None of the four players hospitalized will be in action on Wednesday and several others are questionable for the other games of the week. River Rats radio color analyst John Hennessy, who also spent one night at Berkshire Medical Center, will be on the air Wednesday in Bridgeport; injured defenseman Casey Borer will join Hennessy and play-by-play broadcaster Owen Newkirk on the River Rats home broadcasts, making his Rats radio debut on Sunday, March 1st as Albany battles Norfolk.

Week 21 Schedule:

(All games are broadcast LIVE on 104.5 FM "The Team" ESPN Radio, are streamed free over the Internet at www.albanyriverrats.com and can be watched via internet pay-per-view video on www.ahllive.com)

Wednesday, February 25 - 7:00 pm - Arena at Harbor Yard - Bridgeport, CT

@ Bridgeport Sound Tigers (33-17-3-4, 73 pts)

Third Place, East Division

The Sound Tigers are heating up as they try to keep in contact with the top two teams in the East Division. Bridgeport have earned points in each of their last seven games (5-0-0-2) and have not lost in regulation since a 2-1 defeat in Philadelphia on February 8th. Goaltender Tobias Stephan is 4-0-0-1 in his first five starts for the Sound Tigers since being loaned by the Dallas Stars. Albany is 2-3-0-0 against Bridgeport this year with three games remaining in the season series. Leading Scorer: Mike Iggulden (C) - 52 points (21 goals, 31 assists) in 57 games played. Leading Goaltender: Nathan Lawson (G) - 1.79 GAA, 0.937 save pct., 13-7-1 record in 22 GP. Who's Hot: Kurtis McLean (C) - 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) and a +1 rating in last seven games played. Ben Walter (C) - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in last five games played. Jesse Joensuu (LW) - 3 assists and a +3 rating in last two games played. Friday, February 27 - 7:05 pm - Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza - Wilkes-Barre, PA

@ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (36-17-1-2, 75 pts)

Second Place, East Division

The Penguins saw their nine game winning-streak come to an end on February 21st in Hamilton; the loss was just the team's second in fourteen games dating back to January 18th at Bridgeport - one game after the Penguins' 5-3 loss in Albany. The River Rats also took the previous game in Albany on January 2nd to split the season series at 2-2. John Curry was in goal for twelve games during Wilkes-Barre's 14-game run, but backup Adam Berkhoel has been in net for three out of the Penguins' four games this season against Albany. On Monday the Penguins introduced Chris Cichocki as the new Interim Assistant Coach, joined Interim Head Coach Todd Reirden behind the bench; the coaching changes came after Dan Bylsma was promoted to Pittsburgh. Leading Scorer: Jeff Taffe - 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists) in 51 games played. Leading Goaltender: John Curry - 2.35 GAA, .921 save pct, 22-8-0-3 in 31 games played. Who's Hot: Connor James (C) - 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) in last four games played. Mark Letestu - 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in last three games played. Luca Caputi (LW) - 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in last four games played.

Saturday, February 28 - 7:30 pm - War Memorial at Oncenter - Syracuse, NY

@ Syracuse Crunch (27-25-3-2, 59 pts)

Fifth Place, North Division

The Crunch ended a three-game losing-streak on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Hamilton. Syracuse had been outscored 14-8 during their brief skid and they now sit six points behind Toronto for the final playoff spot in the North Division. Goaltender Sebastian Dahm started nine consecutive games and went 4-5-0-0 heading into Sunday's match up, but was rested in favor of Dan LaCosta; before Dahm's impressive run, LaCosta had started six straight games and went 3-2-1-0. The River Rats are 2-2-0-1 this season against the Crunch and the clubs next meeting is on March 8th at the Glens Falls Civic Center; on March 21st the teams will face off in Syracuse for their final meeting of the season. Leading Scorer: Mike York (RW) - 41 points (9 goals, 33 assists) in 53 GP. Leading Goaltender: Dan LaCosta (G) - 2.65 GAA, .915 save pct, 16-14-2-2 record in 36 GP. Who's Hot: Mike York (RW) - 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists) in last four games played. Craig MacDonald - 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in last four games played. Kevin Harvey - 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in last three games played.

Sunday, March 1 - 5:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

vs. Norfolk Admirals (23-26-3-5, 54 pts)

Tied-Sixth Place, East Division

The Admirals have won their last two games and have earned points in four of their last five games, as the squad looks to climb out of the East Division basement. With goaltenders Mike McKenna and Kari Ramo both on NHL recall with Tampa Bay, the Admirals have turned to rookie goaltender Riku Helenius, who is unbeaten in regulation in his last four starts, going 3-0-1-0 with a 2.00 GAA over that stretch. Norfolk has gotten the better of Albany this season, going 4-2-0-0 in six meetings. The teams' next and final meeting will be Wednesday, March 11 in Albany. A bitter rivalry has brewed this season as the two teams have combined for 349 penalty minutes in their first six games. Leading Scorer: Brandon Bochenski - 41 points (21 goals, 23 assists) in 54 GP. Leading Goaltender: Riku Hilenius - 2.18 GAA, .938 save pct, 4-4-0-1 in 9 GP. Who's Hot: Brandon Segal (RW) - 8 goals in last 5 games played. Blair Jones (C) - 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) in last three games played. Brandon Bochenski (RW) - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) in last 5 games played. Week 20 Game Results:

February 16, 2009 Manchester 4 @ Albany 3

February 18, 2009 Albany 2 @ Lowell 3 - (3-1 in shootout)

River Rats Player of the Week: (Week 20)

Dwight Helminen - C - #11 2 GP, 3 Points (1 goal, 2 assists), +1, 0 PIMs

Center Dwight Helminen was one of the players that Head Coach Jeff Daniels needed to step up to fill the void when All-Star Michael Ryan was recalled to the Carolina Hurricanes for the third time this season. Helminen has done just that, scoring four goals in his last four games. The Hancock, Michigan native tallied two assists on Monday against Manchester and then scored his 15th goal of the season on Wednesday in Lowell, one of two River Rats to score in their 3-2 shootout loss against the Devils. With the rest of the week postponed after Albany's bus crash, Helminen's three points were even more crucial as the one-point secured against Lowell helped inch the River Rats towards playoff contention. On the season Helminen has 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in 50 games played and ranks second on the Rats in goals. He made his NHL debut with Carolina on October 28th at Montreal and recorded two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in eight games for the Hurricanes.

Rat Bites:

- HELPING HAND - Joe Jensen is on a five-game assist streak (5 assists) dating back to February 11th against Binghamton. The streak ties Jakub Petruzalek's mark for the team's longest assist-streak of the season and puts Jensen within one game of tying Michael Ryan's team-high six-game points streak.

- HEATING UP - Dwight Helminen tallied his 200th career professional point on February 18th in Lowell. In 336 professional games the center has 90 goals and 110 assists; Helminen is two games shy of his 250th AHL game. The goal also extended Helminen's point-streak to four games (4, 2, 6) dating back to February 13th against Springfield.

- ALSO STREAKING - Jerome Samson is on a four-game points streak (2-4-6) dating back to February 13th against Springfield. Jakub Petruzalek and Pat Dwyer both had their five-game points streaks snapped on February 18th at Lowell; both Petruzalek's (1-7-8) and Dwyer's (2-4-6) streaks began on February 10th against Portland.

- SHOOTOUT STATS - Albany's shootout loss to Lowell on February 18th snapped the team's run of four consecutive victories in games decided by shootouts. The River Rats are now 5-3 in shootouts this season.

- BACK TO RALEIGH - The Carolina Hurricanes recalled AHL All-Star and team points leader Michael Ryan on February 16th and captain Tim Conboy on February 19th. In four games since his most recent call-up Ryan has averaged 9:29 of ice time; Conboy has logged a fighting major in each of his three games played, all three were Hurricanes victories.

- MILESTONES - D Noah Babin played in his 100th career Pro Game and goaltender Justin Peters recorded his 2,000th career AHL save on February 18th in Lowell. LW Brad Herauf is 2 GP shy of his 300th Pro game and RW Jakub Petruzalek needs 2 GP to reach his 200th career Pro game. D Bryan Rodney needs 2 assists to reach 200 career Pro assists. D Brett Carson is 5 GP away from his 200th career Pro Game.

River Rats Recent Transactions

February 19 - DELETE Tim Conboy (D) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL).

February 18 - ADD Yannick Tifu (LW) - Recalled from loan to Florida (ECHL).

February 16 - DELETE Michael Ryan (LW) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL).

Albany River Rats Team Leaders:

Games Played: Mike Angelidis, Nicolas Blanchard & Nick Dodge (55)

Goals: Michael Ryan (25)

Assists: Jakub Petruzalek (29)

Points: Jakub Petruzalek & Michael Ryan (42)

Plus/Minus: Josef Melichar (+7)

Penalty Minutes: Nicolas Blanchard (132)

Power Play Goals: Michael Ryan (8)

Short Handed Goals: Pat Dwyer, Mark Flood & Dwight Helminen (1)

Game-Winning Goals: Michael Ryan (4)

Shots: Jerome Samson (156)

Shooting Percentage: Michael Ryan (20.5%)

Saves: Justin Peters (1,077)

Wins: Justin Peters (13)

GAA: Justin Peters (2.65)

Save Percentage: Justin Peters (0.914)



American Hockey League Stories from February 23, 2009


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