
Rivermen to Play Two Games This Week, All in One 24-hour Span
Published on January 31, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
Friday, February 3, RIVERMEN @ Toronto: Following the 2006 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic this Tuesday and Wednesday in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Peoria Rivermen will hit the road for two games against two opponents from the North Division of the Western Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). On Friday, the Rivermen will make their only trip of the season to Toronto, where they will take on the Toronto Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. CST. This match-up will be the final meeting of the 2005-06 regular season between the Rivermen and the Marlies. Back on Friday, November 11, 2005, the Marlies came to Carver Arena and handed the Rivermen a 4-2 loss. The Marlies are based in the same metropolitan area as their National Hockey League (NHL) parent club, the Toronto Maple Leafs. With an overall record of 25-19-3-0 and 53 points, the Marlies now occupy fourth place in the North Division of the Western Conference. Center John Pohl, Toronto's leading scorer, is now tied for 12th place in the AHL scoring race with 48 points on 25 goals and 23 assists in 40 games played. Jean-Sebastien Aubin has seen the most action in the Marlies' net so far this season, posting a 13-13-0 record, a 3.01 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage, and one shutout in 32 appearances. Toronto's 19.1-percent power-play conversion rate is now good for ninth place in the AHL. The Marlies' penalty-killing unit has not been quite as successful as the squad's power-play unit, as Toronto ranks 21st in the AHL in penalty killing with a success rate of 81.2 percent.
Saturday, February 4, RIVERMEN @ Cleveland: After their tilt in Toronto on Friday evening, the Rivermen will hustle back across the United States-Canada border and head to Cleveland for a Saturday matinee match-up with the Cleveland Barons. The Rivermen and the Barons have already tangled once this season, a 5-2 Cleveland triumph on Saturday, January 7. On Friday, February 24, and Sunday, March 12, the Rivermen will host the Barons at Carver Arena to finish out the 2005-06 season series between these two teams. The primary affiliate of the NHL's San Jose Sharks, the Barons now stand in sixth place in the AHL's North Division with a record of 20-29-2-1 and 43 points. Right wing Steve Bernier presently leads the Barons in total points with 42 (19 goals, 23 assists) in 44 outings. Goaltender Nolan Schaefer has played in 23 games thus far this season for Cleveland and registered a record of 11-12-0, a goals-against average of 2.88, a save percentage of .904, and two shutouts. The Cleveland club struggles on special teams, as the Barons currently rank 23rd in the League on the power play at 14.5 percent and 27th in the AHL in penalty killing at 77.8 percent.
RIVERMEN ACTION LAST WEEK
Tuesday, January 24, RIVERMEN 3 vs. Houston 0: Last Tuesday, the Peoria Rivermen claimed only their second victory in six meetings with the Houston Aeros so far this season, shutting out the current leaders of the Western Conference by a count of 3-0. Neither club was able to light the lamp in the first period of this game, as Houston netminder Seamus Kotyk stopped nine shots, and Peoria's Patrick Lalime turned aside 11 shots on goal. Just 12 seconds into the middle period, though, Rivermen center Ryan Ramsay beat Kotyk to stake his squad to a 1-0 lead. Right wing Lee Stempniak then broke through for his fifth goal in the last four games at the 7:48 mark of the second to extend the Peoria advantage to 2-0. From that point on, the Rivermen played well in front of Lalime, and the Peoria squad held the Aeros without a goal. The Rivermen clinched the win in this outing with an empty-net goal off of the stick of forward Troy Riddle at 18:33 of the third period. Over the course of the evening, Lalime saved all 33 shots that he faced from the Aeros. Neither the Rivermen nor the Aeros scored a power-play tally in this contest, as Peoria ended up zero for three on the power play, and Houston failed to convert any of its four man-advantage opportunities.
Friday, January 27, Houston 2 @ RIVERMEN 1: In a closely contested battle with the current leaders of the Western Conference, the Houston Aeros, the Peoria Rivermen suffered a 2-1 loss at Carver Arena. The Aeros notched the first goal of the contest at the 8:12 mark of the first period on a nice passing play from right wing Matt Foy to centerman Rem Murray at the top of the crease. Just more than a minute later, left winger Bill Kinkel netted his first goal of the season to extend the Aeros' lead to 2-0. Midway through the opening period, at 10:01, the Rivermen pared the Houston advantage down to 2-1 on an all-star caliber play by 2006 AHL All-Star winger Mike Glumac. Unable to get his stick on a pass into the slot by right wing Jon DiSalvatore, Glumac stopped the puck with his left skate and then wired a shot through the five-hole of Aeros goaltender Miroslav Kopriva. From that point on, the Rivermen and the Aeros continued to battle and exchange scoring chances, but neither team was able to score the rest of the way. In the end, Houston skated out of Carver Arena with a 2-1 victory. Patrick Lalime absorbed the loss in goal for Peoria in this game despite allowing only two goals on 26 shots. The Rivermen out-shot the Aeros by the close margin of 27-26. On the power play, both squads went zero for five.
Saturday, January 28, Grand Rapids 4 @ RIVERMEN 2: The Grand Rapids Griffins dealt the Peoria Rivermen their second loss in a row on Saturday evening, out-scoring the Rivermen by a count of 4-2. The Rivermen grabbed a 1-0 lead within the first five minutes of the game when right winger Jon DiSalvatore banked the puck into the goal off of Griffins netminder Joey MacDonald at 4:15 of the first. The Griffins then proceeded, however, to reel off four consecutive goals. A strike by Grand Rapids center Eric Manlow got things going at 3:07 of the second period. Center Donald MacLean then notched his 31st goal of the season at 15:04 of the second, and he got his 32nd tally of 2005-06 at 5:55 of the third. At the 7:25 mark of the third period, left winger Ryan Oulahen gave Grand Rapids a 4-1 lead. Peoria cut the Griffins' lead down to two goals at 4-2 on forward Cam Keith's first career AHL goal at 16:00 of the third frame, but that was all the offense the Rivermen could muster on the night, and they absorbed a 4-2 loss. Goaltender Patrick Lalime took the loss in net, making 27 saves on 31 shots. The Griffins out-shot the Rivermen by a count of 31-29. On the power play, Peoria ended up two for five, while Grand Rapids went one for six.
Sunday, January 29, RIVERMEN 3 @ Omaha 2 (OT): This past Sunday in Omaha, the Rivermen claimed the first overtime victory in the history of the AHL Peoria Rivermen franchise by a score of 3-2 over the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights. The Omaha squad broke out on top with a goal from left wing Lynn Loyns at 18:18 of the first period. In the second period, the Rivermen responded with two goals, the first a Brendan Brooks deflection of a Trent Whitfield shot from above the left circle at 9:39. Then at the 11:08 mark of the middle frame, Rivermen winger Cam Keith struck for a shorthanded goal to put Peoria up 2-1. The Ak-Sar-Ben Knights drew even with the Rivermen at two goals apiece just 1:48 into the third period when Omaha right wing Tomi Maki dented the twine for the ninth time this season. This game proceeded to a sudden-death overtime period when the score remained knotted at 2-2 at the end of regulation time. The overtime period was short-lived, however, as Whitfield poked the puck past Omaha netminder Curtis McElhinney just 21 seconds in. Reinhard Divis earned the win in goal for Peoria, stopping 25 of the 27 shots that he faced from Omaha. The Ak-Sar-Ben Knights out-shot the Rivermen in this contest by only one, 27-26. Going one for three with the man-advantage, Peoria scored the game's only power-play goal. The Omaha team failed to convert any of its five power-play chances.
YET ANOTHER ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR LALIME
Last Tuesday, Rivermen goaltender Patrick Lalime posted the first AHL shutout of his 12-year professional career. The whitewash was a 3-0 victory over the Houston Aeros at Carver Arena, and Lalime made a total of 33 saves in the win. After some initial troubles just after joining the Rivermen back in mid-December, Lalime has pulled his goals-against average down to a current 2.85. He also now owns a record of 6-6-1 and a save percentage of .903.
A FIRST FOR THE AHL RIVERMEN
Peoria's 3-2 overtime victory at Omaha this past Sunday was the first overtime triumph in the history of the AHL Peoria Rivermen franchise. Center Trent Whitfield scored the franchise's first game-winning overtime goal. So far this season, the Rivermen have gone to overtime on seven occasions, and their record in overtime is now 1-1-5. In five shootout tournaments thus far in 2005-06, the Rivermen are 3-2.
A FEW FIRSTS FOR KEITH
Rivermen forward Cam Keith notched the first points of his young AHL career last week. Last Saturday, Keith registered his first AHL point on a goal against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Then on Sunday, he picked up another goal to go along with the first assist of his AHL career. Keith now has two goals and one assist in 12 career AHL games with Peoria, St. John's, and Hartford since the 2003-04 season.
RAGING RIVERMEN
D Mike Mottau has dished out an assist in each of the last two games...D Brendan Buckley picked up his fourth assist of the season on 1-29 @ OMA...RW Mike Glumac has notched five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in his last four outings...F Cam Keith has scored two goals and one assist in the past two tilts...C Trent Whitfield recorded the game-winning goal and one assist in Peoria's 3-2 OT win at Omaha this past Sunday...RW Brendan Brooks tallied one goal on 1-29 @ OMA...G Reinhard Divis won his last start this past Sunday with 25 saves on 27 shots faced.
RECENT RIVERMEN TRANSACTIONS
January 30, 2006 C Trent Whitfield recalled from his loan to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).
January 30, 2006 C Jay McClement recalled from the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).
January 28, 2006 RW Mike Glumac recalled by NHL St. Louis from AHL Peoria.
January 28, 2006 RW Lee Stempniak recalled from his loan to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).
January 26, 2006 C Trent Whitfield returned to AHL Peoria on loan from NHL St. Louis.
January 26, 2006 RW Jon DiSalvatore returned to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) on loan from the St. Louis Blues (NHL).
January 25, 2006 RW Reed Low reassigned by the NHL St. Louis Blues from the AHL Peoria Rivermen to the UHL Missouri River Otters.
January 24, 2006 C Trent Whitfield recalled from his loan to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).
January 24, 2006 D T. J. Kemp released from his 25-game try-out contract.
January 23, 2006 F Cam Keith recalled from his loan to ECHL Alaska by AHL Peoria.
January 23, 2006 C Ryan Ramsay reassigned from the Alaska Aces (ECHL) to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).
January 23, 2006 D Patrick Wellar reassigned to AHL Peoria from ECHL Alaska by NHL St. Louis.
RIVERMEN ACTION THIS WEEK
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3
PEORIA RIVERMEN @ Toronto Marlies
6:30 p.m., Ricoh Coliseum
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4
PEORIA RIVERMEN @ Cleveland Barons
12:00 p.m., National City Rink at Quicken Loans Arena
Radio: All Rivermen games are broadcast LIVE on HOPE 98.5 (WPIA-FM), the flagship radio station of the Peoria Rivermen.
Internet Audio: LIVE streaming audio of all Rivermen games is available for no charge at www.rivermen.net.
Internet Video: LIVE streaming video with the accompanying audio feed is available at www.rivermen.net through the facilities of the b2 networks. The video Webcast of each game is available for a pay-per-view fee of $6.
American Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2006
- Canadians capture Skills, 21-12 - Manitoba Moose
- Lessard helps Canada in skills competition - Iowa Chops
- Canadians win AHL All-Star Skills Competition - AHL
- Rivermen to Play Two Games This Week, All in One 24-hour Span - Peoria Rivermen
- Stars Junior Lessard in All-Star Classic - Iowa Chops
- Falcons Weekly Notes - Springfield Falcons
- Michaud joins Bulldogs - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Portland Pirates Weekly Report - Portland Pirates
- Blackhawks assign Vorobiev to Norfolk - Norfolk Admirals
- Rampage loan Stirling to ECHL's Trenton Titans - San Antonio Rampage
- Regehr in for Giordano at AHL All-Star event - AHL
- Canucks Recall Jesse Schultz - Manitoba Moose
- Bulldogs in the community - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Jacques Recalled by Edmonton - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Charlie Cook to participate in on-ice clinic - Adirondack Phantoms
- Hockey and Harley-Davidson - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Bulldogs in the Community - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Crunch Participate in Book Drive - Syracuse Crunch
- All-Star Classic Airing Live Locally - Peoria Rivermen
- Crunch Signing Autographs at Bradley's - Syracuse Crunch
- Blackhawks Call Up Wisniewski - Norfolk Admirals
- Sound Tigers Recognizing Community Fans - Bridgeport Islanders
- Rissmiller To Participate in All-Star Action - Cleveland Barons
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