AHL Peoria Rivermen

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Published on December 18, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


WEEK 11 - RIVERMEN ACTION (2-1-0-0)

Sunday, December 17, RIVERMEN 3 vs. Iowa Stars 2: The Peoria Rivermen used a power-play goal in each period to nip the Iowa Stars 3-2 Sunday afternoon in front of 3,154 at Carver Arena. Prior to the game, Peoria was ranked 11th in the AHL in power-play efficiency at a 17.3-percent mark. After converting on three out of their four opportunities, the Rivermen jumped to ninth in the League, scoring on 30 of 160 power play chances. The game-winner for the Rivermen (15-9-1-2, 33 pts), who have won two in a row, came at 17:58 of the final period. Left wing Jon DiSalvatore took a shot from the right face-off dot that Iowa netminder Tobias Stephan knocked away with his blocker; the puck kicked out to Sejna in the slot, where he found center Trent Whitfield camped at the right side of the net. Whitfield, who tried to center the puck back to Sejna, had the puck deflect in off an Iowa defender's stick. The tally was the 13th of the year and his second in as many games for Whitfield, who leads Peoria with 23 points (13g, 10a). The Rivermen opened the scoring on defenseman Roman Polak's first career professional goal, a power play goal, at 9:11 of the first frame. From the left face-off circle, left wing Charles Linglet dished the puck off to left wing Michal Birner at the left point, where he quickly sent it to Polak at the right point. Polak pushed the puck to the top of the right face-off circle and blasted a one-timer that flew above the right pad of Iowa goalie Tobias Stephan. The tally was the first goal of the year by a Rivermen defenseman this season; Peoria was the only team out of 117 in all of professional hockey that had not received a goal from its defense. Iowa (14-15-0-0, 28 pts) responded with forward Chris Conner's eighth marker of the season at 14:06 of the opening session. Defenseman Nicklas Grossman fed the puck to Conner along the left-wing boards in the neutral zone, where he skated down to the bottom of the left face-off circle and found a small opening over the right shoulder of Peoria netminder Marek Schwarz, who went down too early. The Stars grabbed their first lead of the game with a goal late in the first period at 19:23 to make it 2-1. From behind the net, forward Dan Hacker fired a pass to the left point for Grossman, who launched a shot that was redirected in the slot by right wing Vojtech Polak past the outstretched right leg of Schwarz. The marker was Polak's eighth of the season. Peoria tied the game on their second man-advantage tally at 14:36 of the second stanza. After a Jon DiSalvatore shot from the right face-off circle was stopped by Stephan, the puck kicked out to defenseman Tomas Mojzis at the left point, where he blasted a shot that was stopped by Stephan but the rebound came right to left wing Peter Sejna, who was off balance and whacked a slap shot from the right face-off dot into the open net. The goal was Sejna's seventh of the 2006-07 campaign.

Saturday, December 16, RIVERMEN 4 vs. Grand Rapids 2: The Peoria Rivermen and the Grand Rapids Griffins traded goals in the first two periods, but the Rivermen were able to tally two in the final frame to snap their season-worst, three-game losing streak by defeating Grand Rapids 4-2 on Saturday night in front of 3,791 at Carver Arena. The Rivermen (14-9-1-2, 31 pts) registered the first tally of the night on the man-advantage at 8:23 of the opening period. Defenseman Tomas Mojzis blasted a slap shot from the left point that was redirected by right wing David Backes but was stopped by Griffins goaltender Stephan Liv. The rebound trickled to the right of the crease, where center Trent Whitfield was able to swat the puck through the legs of Liv for his 12th marker of the year. Whitfield leads the Rivermen in points with 22, even though the goal was his first point in four games. Grand Rapids (12-13-2-2, 28 pts) responded with a power play goal of its own a little more than two minutes later at 10:26 of the first session. From the left-wing boards, center Kip Miller fired a pass to the deep slot for defenseman Jonathon Ericsson, who launched a one-timer that clanked off the right post and in past Peoria netminder Marek Schwarz. The goal was Ericsson's third of the season. Peoria regained the lead on left wing Charles Linglet's team-leading 14th goal of the 2006-07 campaign, coming at 13:59 of the first frame. Left wing Peter Sejna sent a beautiful pass between two Griffins defenders ahead to Linglet as he crossed the Grand Rapids blue line for a breakaway opportunity; he skated one-on-one with Liv. At the slot, Linglet deked right then flicked the puck above the blocker of Liv. The Griffins tied the score at two on right wing Scott Barney's second marker of the year at 3:29 of the second stanza. Center Jeff Campbell skated around the net from right to left and dumped the puck off to Barney at the left side of the crease, where he took a couple of whacks at it and somehow sneaked it underneath Schwarz. The Rivermen grabbed their third lead of the game on right wing Mike Glumac's seventh goal of the season. While on a 3-on-2 opportunity, Linglet sent a pass from the right face-off circle to a streaking Sejna in the right slot. Sejna's tipped shot was stopped by Liv, and as Sejna tried to stop, he accidentally bumped into the Griffins goalie. The puck kicked out to Glumac in the slot, where he buried a shot into the top right corner of the net. Peoria capped off the scoring as right wing Jon DiSalvatore stole the puck at the Griffins blue line and flung it into the empty net for his sixth goal of the year at 19:56 of the final period.

Friday, December 15, Iowa 5 vs. RIVERMEN 3: Although the Peoria Rivermen outshot the Iowa Stars by a whopping 49-20, they were unable to come back from an early four-goal deficit and lost 5-3 Friday night, their first three-game losing streak of the season, in front of 3,572 at Carver Arena. The 49 shots the Rivermen took was the second highest total this year; the highest came in a 3-1 loss at Rochester on October 20 in which Peoria tallied 51 shots. It was the second straight game in which the Rivermen have at least doubled their opponent's in shot total. During the two-game span, Peoria is winning the shot battle 82-32 but have lost both contests. Iowa (14-13-0-0, 28 pts), who snapped a season-worst, three-game losing streak and a five-game overall skid, recorded the first tally of the contest on forward Chris Conner's seventh goal of the season at 2:30 of the opening frame. The Stars poked the face-off behind a Peoria defenseman after an offside call, and Conner won the race to the puck at his blue line, where he found himself one-on-one with Peoria goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu. Conner skated with the puck to the slot, where he sneaked it between the left post and Beckford-Tseu's right arm. The Stars made the game 2-0 at 8:49 of the first period off a rebound. Center Joel Lundqvist attempted a wrap-around at the right post that was stopped by Beckford-Tseu; unfortunately for the Rivermen, the puck was not completely covered, and right wing Junior Lessard was in position to jam it into the net for his team-leading 10th marker of the year. The Rivermen (13-9-1-2, 29 pts) got on the board on left wing Peter Sejna's fifth goal of the season at 17:11 of the first. Center Konstantin Zakharov skated down the left-wing boards into the corner, where he dumped it back to the left face-off dot. The puck was tipped by center Cam Keith to Sejna, who snapped a shot over the left shoulder of Iowa netminder Tobias Stephan and into the top right corner of the net. It was Sejna's fifth goal of the season and first of two on the night. Just 59 seconds later, Iowa regained the two-goal advantage on a short-handed marker. Lessard received a pass at the left point from defenseman Nicklas Grossman in the neutral zone and took off on a breakaway. Lessard skated down the left-wing boards, crossed in front of Beckford-Tseu at the top of the goal mouth, where Lessard flipped a backhand shot over the right shoulder of the Rivermen goalie for his second tally of the game and 11th of the season. The intermission couldn't cool off the Stars, as they continued their onslaught of goals with a tally at 1:16 of the middle stanza. Right wing Vojtech Polak snuck in under the defense and roofed a shot past the new Rivermen netminder Marek Schwarz for his seventh marker of the 2006-07 campaign. Schwarz replaced Beckford-Tseu to start the second period. Iowa increased their lead to 5-1 a minute and a half later at 2:41 of the second. Defenseman Mario Scalzo blasted a shot from the left point that pin-balled off two skates in front and finally found the stick of Lundqvist along the left post, where he was able to tuck the puck in behind Schwarz for his ninth goal of the season. Peoria cut the deficit to three at 11:36 of the second frame on the same combination as its first goal. Keith skated around the net from left-to-right and found Sejna in the right face-off circle, where he blasted a one-timer between the legs of Stephan for his second goal of the contest and sixth of the year. It is the first time this year that Sejna has recorded a multiple-goal game. With Schwarz pulled from the net for the face-off in the offensive zone, the Rivermen were able to capitalize on the desperate move with a goal at 14:54 of the final period. Left wing Charles Linglet gathered the puck behind the net and as he was on the left side, chipped it at the back leg of Stephan and it somehow found its way into the goal. The tally was Linglet's 13th of the season, which is tops on the team.

WANNA BE THREE

With Sunday's 3-2 home victory over the Iowa Stars and Saturday night's 4-2 home win over the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Rivermen pushed their record to 14-3-0-0 when scoring three or more goals in a game and improved to 11-0-1-0 when allowing two or less tallies by the opposition. In Friday night's 5-3 home defeat at the hands of the Iowa Stars, Peoria lost for just the third time this season when scoring three or more in a contest. The Rivermen are 1-6-1-2 when they score two or fewer in a game this year.

DA'CRAZY DECEMBER

After a nine-game month of November, the Rivermen are now 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.

SEJNA-ING A LOT

Left wing Peter Sejna, who has been converted to center with the team's lack of depth up the middle, has six points (3g, 3a) in the past three games with an Even plus/minus and 12 shots; he is Peoria's nominee for the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week. The 26-year-old native of Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia, has 12 points (4g, 8a) his last eight games with a +3 plus/minus. He ranks first on the team in assists (15) and is tied for second in points (22).

MASTER MAREK

Rookie goaltender Marek Schwarz, who made his NHL debut with the St. Louis Blues this past Tuesday by stopping 21 shots in a 3-2 home loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, picked up his 10th and 11th wins of the season in Sunday's 3-2 home win over the Iowa Stars and Saturday night's 4-2 win over the Griffins. With the Rivermen, the 20-year-old native of Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic, is 11-3-0 with a 2.29 goals against average (GAA) and a .911 save percentage. His team, season-best five-game winning streak was snapped in Friday night's 5-3 home loss to the Iowa Stars, coming on in relief of Chris Beckford-Tseu for the second and third period. In fact, Schwarz had been unbeaten in regulation in his last 10 starts (9-0-1-0) 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 had 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).

RECENT RIVERMEN TRANSACTIONS

December 14, 2006 G Marek Schwarz returned on loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL).

December 12, 2006 G Steffan Braunlich released from professional try-out agreement.

December 11, 2006 D Stephen Wood recalled from loan to the Alaska Aces (ECHL).

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 loaned by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL).

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 loaned by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL).

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).

RIVERMEN ACTION THIS WEEK

all times are local

DAY DATE TIME OPPONENT

Friday December 22, 2006 7:30 PM Grand Rapids Griffins

RIVERMEN PROMOTIONS THIS WEEK

Friday, December 22

- Coca-Cola/Insight Date Night - Two (2) Upper Bowl Center tickets, two (2) Cokes & a TUB of popcorn for just $25 ($38 value!)

- "Championship Night" - Team to wear commemorative jerseys from the 1990-91 IHL Turner Cup Championship season and the still-world-record, 18-game winning streak

-Jerseys will be auctioned off after the game to benefit the Children's Hospital of Illinois

- U.S. Cellular's 25 Greatest Rivermen of All-time continues with Steve Tuttle cards to the first 2,500 fans

Radio: The Rivermen will be broadcast LIVE on Friday, December 22 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 GRIFFINS

National Hockey League Parent Club: Detroit Red Wings

Record Entering This Week: 12-14-2-2

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen): 28 (-5)

Western Conference Standing: T-8th Place

North Division Standing: T-4th Place

Rivermen Record vs. Griffins: 2-0-0-0

Leading Scorer: C Kip Miller (30 GP, 10 G, 21 A, 31 PTS)

Number-1 Goaltender: Jimmy Howard (25 GP, 11-10-1, 3.02 GAA, .900 SV PCT.)

AHL Power-play Ranking Entering This Week: 23rd (14.5%)

AHL Penalty-kill Ranking Entering This Week: 13th (82.4%)

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 18, 2006


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