AHL Manchester Monarchs

Royal Review

January 6, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


Sher-Wood Player Of The Week Nomination: Cristobal Huet

Goaltender Cristobal Huet backstopped the Monarchs to their 21st win by turning aside 31 shots vs. the Lowell Lock Monsters in a 5-1 win at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Tuesday, December 31. Huet was especially strong in the second period, stopping all of the 14 shots he faced. Including Tuesday's result, Huet is 7-2-1 on home ice this season with a 1.94 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. Huet is 11-6-2 in 20 overall appearances for the Monarchs with a 2.37 goals against average and a .919 save percentage.

Huet Week 13 Totals:
Dec. 31 vs. Lowell: 1 Win, 1 Goal Allowed, 31 Saves, 1.00 Goals Against Average, .968 Save Percentage
Totals: 1 Win, 1 Goal Allowed, 31 Saves, 1.00 Goals Against Average, .968 Save Percentage

Monarchs Notables: Last Result: 2-1 loss vs. Hershey, January 5
Record: 21-8-3-3, 48 points
Streak: 1 loss

Next Game: January 8 at Albany

The Monarchs have lost three of their last four games, and all three losses have been by one goal...The Monarchs were 10-0-0-3 in one-goal games prior to their recent one-goal losing streak...The Monarchs roster has been greatly affected by the injury-plagued Los Angeles Kings...Eight players, including seven forwards, that began the season in Manchester are currently with the Kings...The list of players includes: center Derek Armstrong, center Michael Cammalleri, right wing Steve Heinze, defenseman Joe Corvo, left wing Kip Brennan, center Jerred Smithson, center Steve Kelly, and center Jared Aulin...The Monarchs have also been without the services of defenseman Richard Seeley and left wing Derek Bekar since December 20, and defenseman Joe Rullier since December 29 because of injuries...The Monarchs registered just one minor penalty in their Sunday, January 5 game against the Hershey Bears, a season-low...The Monarchs sold out the Verizon Wireless Arena (9,893) on Sunday, January 5...The sellout was the third consecutive and seventh overall for the Monarchs...The Monarchs have seven sellouts after 17 home dates this season, and another sellout is expected when the Monarchs host the Springfield Falcons at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday, January 10...After 17 home dates, the Monarchs lead the AHL in average attendance with 8,730 fans per game...The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins rank second in AHL attendance with an average of 8,307 fans per contest after 18 home dates...Scott Barney's six game-winning goals rank third in the AHL overall, and first among AHL rookies... Three players will represent the Monarchs at the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic, set for Monday, February 3 at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, ME...Aulin, who has seven goals and 28 points with the Monarchs in 30 games, will skate for the Canadian all-star squad...Defensemen Tomas Zizka, who has eight goals and 25 points in 29 games, and Corvo, who has eight goals and 26 points in 26 games, will skate for the PlanetUSA all-star squad...Despite being on recall with the Kings since December 28, Aulin still ranks sixth in AHL rookie scoring and fourth in AHL rookie assists...Despite being on recall with the Kings since December 15, Corvo and Zizka rank third in AHL defensive scoring...Zizka also ranks first in AHL defensive shooting percentage with eight goals on just 58 shots (13.8 percent)...The Monarchs 22.9 percent success rate on the power play ranks first in the AHL...The Monarchs 86.9 percent kill rate on the penalty kill ranks sixth in the AHL...The Monarchs 3.51 goals per game average ranks second in the AHL.

Kings Notables:

Last result: 3-2 loss vs. Dallas, January 4 Record: 16-16-4-3, 39 points Streak: Lost 4 Next game: January 6 at Minnesota The Los Angeles Kings will try to put the brakes on a four-game losing streak tonight when they head to Minnesota to face off with the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul...The Kings suffered their latest setback on Saturday with a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars...Mathieu Schneider and Lubomir Visnovsky scored for the Kings, who have dropped six of their last seven...Steve Heinze returned to the lineup for Saturday's game after missing the previous nine contests with a concussion...The Kings are expected to activate center Derek Armstrong (knee) from the injured reserve list prior to tonight's tilt...The Kings were saddled with yet another injury on Saturday when left wing Kip Brennan suffered a broken bone in his foot.

Kings Injury Report (as of 1/6/03)

Ken Belanger - post-concussion symptoms (suffered 11/5/02 at San Jose); has missed 25 games
Adam Deadmarsh - concussion-like symptoms; has missed eight games
Aaron Miller - broken left foot (suffered 12/11/02 at Dallas); has missed eleven games
Erik Rasmussen - back strain (suffered 12/22/02 at Chicago); has missed six games
Jason Allison - sore right knee (suffered 12/22/02 at Chicago); has missed six games
Bryan Smolinski - eye laceration (suffered 12/27/02 vs. Phoenix); has missed four games
Eric Belanger - back strain; has missed four games
Derek Armstrong - sprained right knee (suffered 12/30/02 vs. Chicago); has missed two games
Kip Brennan - foot contusion (suffered 1/4/03 vs. Dallas)

Week 13 Transactions:

1/4/03 Add Mat Snesrud (D), Brian McCullough (LW) and Brandon Dietrich (RW) recalled by Manchester from Reading (ECHL)
1/4/03 Add Chris Schmidt (C) assigned to Manchester (AHL)
1/2/03 Delete Chris Schmidt (C) recalled by Los Angeles (NHL)
1/2/03 Delete Mat Snesrud (D) Brian McCullough (LW) and Brandon Dietrich (RW) assigned to Reading (ECHL)

Week 13 Recap:

Sunday, January 5, Hershey 2, Manchester 1: Manchester, NH - Despite a flurry of chances in the third period, the Manchester Monarchs (21-8-3-3) came up short in their Sunday matinee with the Hershey Bears (18-11-7-1), suffering a 2-1 loss before a sellout crowd of 9,893 at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Scott Barney's tally 2:06 into the third period brought the Monarchs alive and cut the Hershey lead to 2-1, but the Monarchs were unable to solve Bears netminder Philippe Sauve the rest of the game. Sauve, named the starting goaltender for the PlanetUSA AHL All-Star team earlier in the week, made 13 third period saves. His biggest stop of the night was against the Monarchs Pavel Rosa with just 12 seconds left on the clock and the Monarchs skating with the extra attacker. After a flurry in front of the Bears net, the puck squirted free to Rosa in the slot. He then rifled a shot that nicked Sauve and deflected wide.

On the Monarchs lone goal, defenseman Tomas Zizka brought the puck into the zone and dodged one defender before dishing the puck off to Barney. Barney crashed the net and fired a low shot that beat Sauve stick-side.

Jordan Krestanovich started the Hershey scoring when he deposited the puck over Manchester netminder Travis Scott's shoulder 11:18 into the middle frame. Four and a half minutes later Cail MacLean finished off a tape-to-tape pass from Krestanovich, slipping the puck into the open net to give Hershey a 2-0 lead.

Tuesday, December 31, Manchester 5, Lowell 1: Manchester, NH - The Manchester Monarchs finished off the 2002 portion of their season by downing the Lowell Lock Monsters 5-1 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Tuesday night. The game was played before a sellout crowd of 9,908. The Monarchs netted two short-handed tallies and one power play goal while ending a two-game losing streak. The win was also the seventh straight for the Monarchs over their rivals to the south.

Chris Bogas' one-timer from the blue line 3:44 into the second period, his first goal as a member of the Monarchs, gave the home team a 2-0 lead. Chris Schmidt added the first Monarchs short-handed goal of the night at 14:17 of the second period for a 3-0 lead. Yanick Lehoux continued his personal hot streak against the Lock Monsters with a power play goal just 29 seconds into the third period. The goal gave him seven goals, three assists and 10 points in eight games against Lowell this season. Pavel Rosa netted a short-handed goal for Manchester at the 14:11 mark of the same period to give the Monarchs a commanding 5-0 lead. Dane Jackson started the Monarchs scoring when he deflected a Jason Holland shot past goaltender Damian Rhodes at 18:08 of the first period.



American Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2003


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.

OurSports Central