AHL Peoria Rivermen

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Published on December 11, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


WEEK SIX - RIVERMEN ACTION (0-2-0-0)

Sunday, December 10, RIVERMEN 0 @ Manitoba 3: On Sunday afternoon, the Peoria Rivermen had almost three times as many shots on net as the Manitoba Moose; however, none of them made it past Moose goaltender Drew MacIntyre, as Manitoba shut out the Rivermen 3-0 in front of 7,539 at the MTS Centre and swept Peoria in the two-game weekend set. Manitoba goaltender Drew MacIntyre stopped all 33 Peoria shots, including 16 in the first period, which earned him first star honors. In the two contests against the Rivermen this weekend, MacIntyre turned away 62 of the 63 shots he faced. The Rivermen (13-8-1-2, 29 pts) failed to record a goal for the second time this season; the first came in a 5-0 loss at home to Chicago on October 7. Peoria was 0-for-7 against the Moose's second ranked penalty killing unit, which owes an 88.1 percent efficiency rating; the Rivermen were 0 for 4 on the power play in Friday's 4-1 loss to Manitoba. In Sunday's game, the Rivermen failed to score while on a 5-on-3 power play for just over a minute and over three minutes of an uninterrupted five minute major penalty. Peoria got a scare early in the middle period, when center Trent Whitfield was elbowed in the eye by Manitoba defenseman Joe Rullier. Whitfield was taken to the locker room to stop the bleeding and was able to return later in the game. After a scoreless first period, the Moose (12-12-3-2, 29 pts) registered the first goal of the contest on only their second shot of the game on a two-man advantage at 7:46 of the second stanza. From the right point, left wing Jason Jaffray fired a pass to the bottom of the right face-off circle for center Brad Moran, who quickly dished the puck to center Brandon Reid at the left side of the crease, where Reid was able to tap it past a sliding Rivermen netminder Chris Beckford-Tseu. It was Jaffray's team-leading 16th marker of the season. Manitoba added another goal on center Nathan Smith's sixth tally of the year at 8:42 of the final session. After Beckford-Tseu mishandled the puck on a dump-in behind the net, Moran circled at the right face-off dot, where he found a streaking Smith in the slot for a one-timer that made its way over the right shoulder of the Rivermen goaltender as he was scrambling to cover the net. Moose center J.J. Hunter completed the scoring with an empty net tally at 19:56 of the third frame for his second goal of the season.

Friday, December 8, RIVERMEN 1 @ Manitoba 4: Three streaks ended on Friday night at the MTS Centre. The Peoria Rivermen had their five-game winning streak and nine-game point streak halted in a 4-1 loss to the Manitoba Moose, who snapped a season-worst four-game losing streak, before a crowd of 7,552. The Moose (11-12-3-2, 27 pts) struck first on a 5-on-3 power play midway through the opening session. Left wing Jason Jaffray took a pass from center Brandon Reid just off the left post and slid a centering pass under sliding Rivermen defenseman Mike Stuart to right wing Lee Goren for an easy tap-in from the top of the goal crease past a diving Peoria netminder Chris Beckford-Tseu at 9:24. It was Goren's seventh marker of the year. The Manitoba goal kick-started the Peoria offense, as it dominated the chances and shots (12-5) for the remainder of the period. The Moose, though, grabbed a 2-0 lead at 4:20 of the second frame. Milan Gajic stole the puck from the Rivermen defense just inside the blue line, raced in alone on Beckford-Tseu, who stopped 21 of 24 in his first regulation loss of the season in four decisions for Peoria, and snapped his first tally of the year through legs of the Peoria netminder. Gajic was on call-up from the ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings for just his second contest this year. Manitoba pushed its lead to 3-0 with its second power-play goal of the game with 5:35 left in the middle stanza. Center Brad Moran took a pass in the right-wing corner from Goren and fired a pass into the slot, where Gajic one-timed his second of the game and the season with the Moose past Beckford-Tseu. The Rivermen (13-7-1-2, 29 pts) got on the board with 2:49 left in the second. Right wing Mike Glumac worked in from the right face-off dot, stickhandled through traffic and flipped a weak backhand shot that made its way over the right pad of Manitoba goaltender Drew MacIntyre and trickled into the net. It was Glumac's sixth marker of the season and it extended his point streak to five games with eight points (2g, 6a). MacIntyre turned away 29 of 30 Rivermen chances for his fourth victory of the season. Reid put the game out of reach with an empty-net tally from the center red line with 1:04 remaining in regulation. It was Reid's fifth goal of the season.

FURTHERING PAST FIVE IS FOILED

With Friday's 4-1 defeat in Manitoba and their subsequent 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Moose, the Rivermen saw their season-best, five-game winning streak snapped this past weekend, along with their nearly-month-long, nine-game point run that dated back to November 11 in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Admirals. Peoria had secured points in nine straight games with 16 out of a possible 18 for a 7-0-1-1 mark. Peoria is now in third place in the West Division, three points ahead of the Iowa Stars with a game in hand.

TWO TOO FEW

By scoring two or less goals in each of their losses this past weekend, the Rivermen dropped to 1-6-1-2 when that happens. The Rivermen are 12-2-0-0 when scoring three or more goals in a contest this year. Friday's one-goal output was the fifth time the Rivermen had been held to just one tally in a game this season. Sunday's shutout loss was the second this season; Peoria suffered three all season in 2005-06. When the Rivermen give up two or less goals, they are 9-0-1-0.

DA'CRAZY DECEMBER

After a nine-game month of November, the Rivermen now get knee-deep into a 14-game month in December to close out the 2006 calendar year. Peoria plays nine total games in a 17-day span from December 15 through December 31; seven of those contests are at home. Add to that another seven games, four of them on the road, in 13 days to begin the New Year, and the Rivermen play 16 games in 30 days from December 15-January 13. Eight of Peoria's 14 December games are against West Division foes. The other six are against North-Division foes. Seventy-five percent of their 2006-07 AHL Schedule (60 of 80) is against the West.

GETTING GAVIN

Eight-year veteran center Gavin Morgan has been re-signed for the duration of the 2006-07 Rivermen AHL season after opening the season in the Austrian League with the Vienna Capitals. The 30-year-old pivot collected 19 points (7g, 12a) in 24 games and a team-leading 117 penalty minutes for Vienna before his departure. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound native of Scarborough, Ontario, had 13 goals, nine assists and a +4 plus/minus rating in the last 21 games of the 2005-06 regular season, during which the team went 13-5-3; netted a career-best 18 goals for the season; registered the first hat trick in Rivermen AHL franchise history on March 3 in Omaha; and ranked third on the team in penalty minutes (PIM-117). The eighth-year professional has skated in 555 career professional games and tallied 274 points (93g, 181a) and 1,435 PIM. In five AHL seasons, Morgan has collected 177 points (61g, 116a) and 908 PIM in 365 career games. The NCAA Division I University of Denver product made his NHL debut for the Dallas Stars on December 2, 2003 and amassed 21 PIM in six games for the Stars during the 2003-04 season.

WELCOME BACK, BECKS

With Jason Bacashihua and Marek Schwarz on call-up to the St. Louis Blues due to emergency conditions (Curtis Sanford & Manny Legace are hurt), third-year goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu has returned from the Alaska Aces (ECHL) and grabbed the starting job this past weekend for the Rivermen. In five starts for Peoria this year, after Friday night's 4-1 loss and Sunday afternoon's 3-0 shutout loss; both in Manitoba, the 6-foot-2, 201-pound native of Toronto, Ontario, owns a 2-2-1 mark with a 2.15 GAA and a .911 save percentage. With the Aces, he is 5-0-0, including a 25-save shutout of Utah on November 10 and a 24-save shutout of Victoria on December 1, and has a 0.79 GAA and a .969 save percentage; he has given up just four goals on 129 shots in 305 minutes of play.

SCHWOW!!

Rookie goaltender Marek Schwarz left the Rivermen with a five-game winning streak (team, season best) in hand after two straight one-goal games over the Iowa Stars (25 saves, 3-1 road win, December 2) and Houston Aeros (26 saves, 4-1 home win, December 3). The 20-year-old native of Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic, has five one-goal games to his credit. In fact, Schwarz is unbeaten in regulation in his last nine starts (8-0-1-0) since his North American professional debut - a 5-0 loss to the Chicago Wolves on October 7 at home. For the 5-0-0-0 stretch, he owns a 1.78 goals against average (GAA) and a .929 save percentage (118/127). In his four-game winning streak earlier this season, he owned a 1.50 GAA and a .944 save percentage (102/108). The 6-foot, 180-pound netminder is 9-2-0 this season with a 2.28 GAA and a .912 save percentage.

RECENT RIVERMEN TRANSACTIONS

December 7, 2006 G Steffan Braunlich signed to a professional try-out agreement.

December 6, 2006 G Marek Schwarz recalled from loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) under emergency conditions.

December 5, 2006 D Stephen Wood, RW Ryan MacMurchy returned on loan to the Alaska Aces (ECHL).

December 5, 2006 C Gavin Morgan signed to an American Hockey League (AHL) contract.

December 3, 2006 G Chris Beckford-Tseu reassigned to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) from the Alaska Aces (ECHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

December 2, 2006 G Jason Bacashihua recalled from loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) under emergency conditions.

November 29, 2006 D Jeff Woywitka return on loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

November 27, 2006 G Chris Beckford-Tseu reassigned from the Alaska Aces (ECHL) to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

November 24, 2006 G Jason Bacashihua loaned by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL).

November 20, 2006 D Jeff Woywitka recalled from loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

November 20, 2006 RW Kevin Croxton returned on loan to the Alaska Aces (ECHL).

November 18, 2006 RW Mike Glumac, D Jeff Woywitka returned on loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

November 15, 2006 G Chris Beckford-Tseu reassigned to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) from the Alaska Aces (ECHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

November 15, 2006 G Jason Bacashihua recalled from loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

November 15, 2006 D Stephen Wood, RW Kevin Croxton recalled from loan to the Alaska Aces (ECHL).

November 12, 2006 RW Mike Glumac, D Jeff Woywitka recalled from loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

November 11, 2006 RW Mike Glumac returned on loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

November 10, 2006 RW Mike Glumac recalled from loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

RIVERMEN ACTION THIS WEEK

all times are local

DAY DATE TIME OPPONENT

Friday December 15, 2006 7:30 PM Iowa Stars

Saturday December 16, 2006 7:00 PM Grand Rapids Griffins

Sunday December 17, 2006 4:00 PM Iowa Stars

Radio: The Rivermen will be broadcast LIVE on Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16, and TAPE DELAY on Sunday, December 17 on Classic Country 1290 AM (WIRL-AM), the flagship radio station of the 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 Web cast of each game is available for a pay-per-view fee of $6.

SCOUTING THE STARS

National Hockey League Parent Club: Dallas Stars

Record Entering This Week: 13-12-0-0

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen): 26 (-3)

Western Conference Standing: T-7th Place

West Division Standing: 4th Place

Rivermen Record vs. Stars: 3-0-0-0

Leading Scorer: RW Junior Lessard (21 GP, 9 G, 12 A, 21 PTS), C Marty Sertich (23 GP, 8 G, 13 A, 21 PTS) & C Joel Lundqvist (24 GP, 7 G, 14 A, 21 PTS)

Number-1 Goaltender: Dan Ellis (14 GP, 7-7-0, 3.86 GAA, .872 SV PCT.)

AHL Power-play Ranking Entering This Week: T-17th (15.8%)

AHL Penalty-kill Ranking Entering This Week: 19th (85.1%)

SCOUTING THE GRIFFINS

National Hockey League Parent Club: Detroit Red Wings

Record Entering This Week: 11-11-2-2

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen): 26 (-3)

Western Conference Standing: T-7th Place

North Division Standing: 4th Place

Rivermen Record vs. Griffins: 1-0-0-0

Leading Scorer: C Kip Miller (26 GP, 10 G, 18 A, 28 PTS)

Number-1 Goaltender: Jimmy Howard (22 GP, 10-8-1, 2.73 GAA, .909 SV PCT.)

AHL Power-play Ranking Entering This Week: 21st (14.4%)

AHL Penalty-kill Ranking Entering This Week: 11th (84.7%)

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 11, 2006


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