AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Weekly

Published on April 13, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


NEWS AND NOTES

Final Numbers.The Rivermen finished the 2009-10 season with a record of 38-33-2-7 for a total of 85 points. Peoria collected the most points among all non-playoff teams. They finished six points back of the Milwaukee Admirals for the final playoff spot in the West Division.

About the team. 40 different players wore a Rivermen sweater during the 2009-10 season which does not include goaltenders Andrew Martin, Paulo Colaiacovo, Dan Battochio and Sebastian Dahm or forward Brock McBride or defenseman Ryan Turek who all practiced with the team but never played in a game. The team made 96 different transactions during the year including five players being called up to the St. Louis Blues (Tyson Strachan, Yan Stastny, Lars Eller, Jonas Junland and Derek Armstrong). Eller was the only Rivermen to make his NHL debut this season. A total of 10 players signed tryout (PTO or ATO) agreements with the Rivermen.

Career Years.Adam Cracknell (17), Daryl Boyle (8), Nicholas Drazenovic (19) and Nate Guenin (5) all notched career highs in goals.

Goaltending Notables.Ben Bishop set or matched team records in games played (48), minutes played (2,793), wins (23), losses (18), and shootout losses (4). Both Bishop (0.901) and Hannu Toivonen (0.906) passed Chris Beckford-Tseu's mark of 0.900 save percentage (min. of 25 games played) from 2006-07.

Shutout on shutouts.The Rivermen finished the 2009-10 season as the only team in the American Hockey League that failed to register a shutout. It is the first time a Rivermen team has played a full season without a shutout since 1992-93 when Geoff Sarjeant, Parris Duffus, and Nick Vitucci came up empty in the International Hockey League days. Since the Rivermen joined the AHL (2005-06) there have only been three other teams to go an entire season without blanking an opponent: Worcester (2006-07), Springfield (2007-08) and Iowa (2008-09).

Forgettables.The Rivermen set a few new team records this season that they would have preferred to avoid. Their 42 losses (33 regulation, two overtime, seven shootout) are the most in the Rivermen AHL era. Their previous high had been 37 which was set in 2007-08 and matched in 2008-09. The 248 goals they allowed is the most as well, topping the previous high of 242 which was accomplished twice (2006-07, 2007-08). The 2009-10 Rivermen also accumulated the fewest penalty minutes over the last five seasons. Their 1,363 was 16th among the 29 AHL teams this year but well short of their previous low of 1,522 set just last year.

20/20 vision.Nicholas Drazenovic and Barry Tallackson finished tied for the team lead in goals with 19. It is the first time in the 28-year franchise history (IHL - Prancers/Rivermen, ECHL, AHL) that the team has finished without a 20-goal scorer. The Toronto Marlies were the only other AHL team this season with a leading goal-scorer under 20. Only four teams (Rivermen included) in the AHL have finished without a 20-goal scorer since 2005-06: San Antonio (2005-06), Philadelphia (2006-07), Lake Erie (2008-09).

Trade Talk.On Dec. 7 the Rivermen and Syracuse Crunch swapped Pascal Pelletier and Brendan Bell. Both players finished the year by leading their new team in points. Pelletier had 14 goals and 28 assists in 55 games for Peoria and 58 points (17g, 41a) overall. Bell had 17 points (4g, 13a) in 22 games with the Rivermen before collecting 10 goals and 25 assists in 49 contests with the Crunch.

Working overtime.The Rivermen were one of seven teams to play more than 20 overtime games this season and their 14 shootout contests were second to only Toronto's 15. Peoria finished 5-2 in overtime games and 7-7 in games that required a shootout. Eight of the team's first 14 games went past regulation as well as six of the team's last 15.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

04/11/2010 Andrew Agozzino (C) DEL Released from ATO

04/11/2010 David Stich (D) DEL Released from ATO

04/11/2010 Jack Combs (F) DEL Released from PTO

04/11/2010 Matt Fraser (LW) DEL Released from ATO

04/10/2010 Tyson Strachan (D) DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)

04/08/2010 Andrew Agozzino (C) ADD Signed to ATO

04/08/2010 David Stich (D) ADD Signed to ATO

04/08/2010 Jonas Junland (D) DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)

04/08/2010 Lars Eller (C) DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)

04/08/2010 Matt Fraser (LW) ADD Signed to ATO

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 13, 2010


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