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AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Weekly

January 5, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


UPCOMING PROMOTIONS

All Wednesday Games - Pilot's House tickets to all Rivermen Wednesday home games are available for just $8 until the end of the season.

Present - January 11 - Kids 12 and under can get a $5 lower bowl ticket through Coca-Cola kids special. Tickets are available at the Peoria Civic Center box office and fans must mention the Coke Kids Special.

Wednesday, January 7 - All fans that bring their business card to the Peoria Civic Center box office will receive a $20 lower bowl ticket for just $5. Plus the Rivermen will be holding a drawing with the collected business cards for a FREE party box suite.

Sunday, January 11 - Comcast/Journal Star/Fun on the Run/Coke Family Day: Kids 12 and under - $1 Upper Bowl admission plus hot dogs, chips and soda available for just $1 each from 4-5 p.m. There will be inflatable games, balloon art (from Unique Twist) and face painting in the Great Hall. Post game skate with the team.

WEEK 13 IN REVIEW (1-3-0)

DAY DATE OPPONENT RESULT RIVERMEN GOALS RIVERMEN GOALIE (GA/SV)

Tue. 12/30 vs. Grand Rapids 3-1 L Junland Ben Bishop (3/24)

Wed. 12/31 vs. Milwaukee 3-1 L Whitfield Chris Holt (3/22)

Fri. 1/2 vs. San Antonio 3-1 W Whitfield (3) Chris Holt (1/25)

Sat. 1/3 @ Milwaukee 2-0 L - Chris Holt (1/30)

vs. Grand Rapids (12/30): The Peoria Rivermen were able to end Daniel Larsson's shutout streak at 140:04, but one goal was all they would get. The Grand Rapids' netminder made 40 saves in the Griffins 3-1 victory over the Peoria Rivermen Tuesday night at Carver Arena. Larsson stopped all 18 shots the Rivermen threw his way during the third period and grabbed 14 of 15 during the middle frame. His 40 saves were second most made against the Rivermen this season, topped by only Hamilton's Marc Denis when he saved 43 shots on Nov. 22. That game was also the only other time the Rivermen have registered more than 40 shots in a game.

vs. Milwaukee (12/30): The Milwaukee Admirals scored two goals in the third period to break a 1-1 tie and pull away for a 3-1 win over the Peoria Rivermen on Wednesday night at Carver Arena. The Rivermen outshot the Admirals in every period but Milwaukee scored the final three goals of the game to erase an early lead.

Trent Whitfield scored the game's first goal 5:50 into the second period. Jim Jackson's shot from the right point hit a mass of bodies in the slot and bounced to the side of the goal for Whitfield. He wristed it home before Mark Dekanich could dive across. Josh Soares earned the assist on Whitfield's eighth of the season. Peoria failed to capitalize on seven power plays while the Milwaukee scored once on their seven chances. The loss extended the Rivermen's losing streak to four games (0-3-0-1) and the Admirals' winning streak to six games.

vs. San Antonio (1/2): Trent Whitfield scored all three goals for Peoria to earn his first professional hat trick and a 3-1 win for the Rivermen over the San Antonio Rampage, Friday night at Carver Arena. He recorded a power-play goal, a shorthanded goal and an even-strength goal spread throughout the three periods. It was the 773rd game of his professional career that has spanned 10-plus seasons. He now has 11 goals on the season and 211 in his career. Steve Regier assisted on all three goals while Charles Linglet was involved in two out of the three. Chris Holt made 25 saves to earn his sixth win of the season.

@ Milwaukee (1/3): The Peoria Rivermen had the game-tying goal disallowed with 1:18 left in regulation and the Milwaukee Admirals went on to win 2-0 at the Bradley Center. Charles Linglet put the puck behind Drew MacIntyre for the first time in the game but the referee lost sight of the puck and blew the play dead. The score remained 1-0 Milwaukee and they later added an empty net goal to finish off the Rivermen. Chris Holt stopped 30 shots and kept the Rivermen in the game but MacIntyre notched his second shutout of the season by stopping all 28 Peoria attempts. The Rivermen were held to 0-for-7 on the power play for the second time in as many games against the Admirals and Milwaukee's game winner came on a power play in the second period.

TEAM LEADERS

THIS SEASON THIS WEEK

POINTS Regier - 28 Whitfield - 4

GOALS Conner - 13 Whitfield - 4

ASSISTS Regier - 17 Regier - 3

POWER PLAY 38-for-214, 17.8% 1-for-22, 4.5%

PENALTY KILL 158-for-190, 83.2% 11-for-15, 73.3%

NEWS AND NOTES

Hats off...Trent Whitfield's hat trick on Friday night was the first for the Rivermen since March 21, 2008 when Julian Talbot accomplished it as part of a four point night (3g, 1a). Peoria had a total of two last season with Jean-Guy Trudel scoring four goals on December 28, 2007. Whitfield assisted on three of those goals for Trudel.

Long time coming... Whitfield's hat trick was the first in his professional career. The feat occurred in the 773rd regular season game of his career and his 794th overall.

Shots aren't adding up...The Rivs are averaging 30.6 shots per game over the past six games. Despite the increase in shots, Peoria is averaging just 1.50 goals per game (4.9 shooting percentage). Overall this season the Rivermen are averaging 27.84 shots and 2.87 goals a game (10.0%).

Killing the problem...Over the last 18 games, the Rivermen have reduced the number of penalties against and increased their penalty kill percentage. Forced to kill off 116 power plays in the first 20 games of the season, the Rivermen were successful 79.3 percent of the time. Since Nov. 28, the Rivermen have killed off 71 of their 79 opportunities, 89.8 percent.

Lack of Support...Since Chris Holt returned from Alaska on Dec. 11, the Rivermen have not provided him many goals to work with. In his last nine starts (4-5-0) the Rivermen are averaging 1.66 goals per game. Only once (Dec. 26 vs. GR) have the Rivs posted more than three goals for him.

Holt is still hot...Overall this season Chris Holt is 6-5-0 with a 1.73 goals-against average and has only allowed more than two goals twice. He is 23 minutes shy of qualifying to be the AHL leader in GAA (Mark Dekanich currently leads the league with a 1.98 mark.

Just One More...The Rivermen are 17-4-1-1 when scoring three or more goals in a game but just 3-12-0 when held to two or fewer.

Conner Earns Call Up...Chris Conner, property of the Stars, posted eight points (3g, 5a) in eight games since returning from Dallas. On Thursday he was summoned for the third time this season. Conner has appeared in 12 games this season in the NHL and totaled five points, all assists.

Busy Schedule...Saturday was the final day of a seven-game-nine-day stretch. Peoria is 5-6-0 in the first game of back-to-backs and 5-5-1 in game two. When the week continues to a third game, the Rivermen are 4-1-1 in the final game.

Rest or Rust...Wednesday against Iowa will be the 21st game of the season for the Rivermen with at least one day off preceding it. The Rivermen are 11-9-0 in the first game back.

Shortcake...Trent Whitfield's shorthanded goal on Sunday was the 10th shorty of the season for Peoria. The Rivermen are now tied with Hamilton for the most in the AHL. Overall, 18 of the 29 teams in the league have scored five or fewer shorthanded goals.

WEEK 14 PREVIEW

Iowa Chops

National Hockey League Parent Club Anaheim Ducks

Record 19-13-2-2

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen) 42 (even)

West Division Standing t-2nd

Rivermen Record Against 1-2-1

Leading Scorer Andrew Ebbett (10g, 19a - 29pts)

Starting Goaltender J.P. Levasseur (10-7-1, 3.19 GAA, .885 sv%)

AHL Power-Play Rank 10th - 18.8%

AHL Penalty-Kill Rank 16th - 82.7%

Chicago Wolves

National Hockey League Parent Club Atlanta Thrashers

Record 19-15-2-1

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen) 41 (-1)

West Division Standing t-3rd

Rivermen Record Against 2-1-0

Leading Scorer Joe Motzko (23g, 13a - 36pts)

Starting Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (6-5-1, 2.07 GAA, .925 sv%)

AHL Power-Play Rank 28th - 12.6%

AHL Penalty-Kill Rank 27th - 80.3%

Manitoba Moose

National Hockey League Parent Club Vancouver Canucks

Record 22-11-0-2

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen) 46 (n/a)

NORTH Division Standing 2nd

Rivermen Record Against 0-1-0

Leading Scorer Jason Krog (8g, 25a - 33pts)

Starting Goaltender Karl Goehring (12-8-2, 2.47 GAA, .908 sv%)

AHL Power-Play Rank 21st - 15.4%

AHL Penalty-Kill Rank 2nd - 87.6%

*All statistics as of 1/4/09

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

01/04/2009 Scott Fankhouser (G) DEL Released from PTO

01/03/2009 Scott Fankhouser (G) ADD Signed to PTO

01/03/2009 Steve Wagner (D) ADD Returned on loan from St. Louis (NHL)

01/03/2009 Steve Wagner (D) DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)

01/02/2009 Brian Hamilton (G) DEL Released from PTO

01/02/2009 Brian Hamilton (G) ADD Signed to PTO

01/01/2009 Chris Conner (RW) DEL Recalled from loan by Dallas (NHL)

12/31/2008 Ivan Vishnevskiy (D) DEL Recalled from loan by Dallas (NHL)

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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