AHL Manchester Monarchs

Royal Review

Published on March 31, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


Monarchs Player of the Week: Eric Healey Eric Healey leads the AHL goal-scoring race by four goals with just four games remaining in the regular season. Not bad for a 28-year-old Hull, Massachusetts, native whose previous high for goals in a season was 24, set last year with the Monarchs. Healey scored his 40th goal against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday, March 29. The goal was his team-leading 10th game-winner of the season. Healey's impressive game-winning total is second best in the league. Healey added goals number 38 and 39 to his resume on Friday, March 28 against the Worcester IceCats, and he closed the week by registering two assists against the IceCats on Sunday, March 30. Healey has points in six straight games and his 70 overall points (40g, 30a) lead the Monarchs and rank ninth in the league. Healey also ranks first among active AHL players with a .229 shooting and fourth in the league with 14 power play goals.

March 28 vs. Worcester 2-0-2, 0 PIM, 3 Shots, Minus-1

March 29 vs. Bridgeport 1-1-2, 0 PIM, 2 Shots, Plus-2

March 30 vs. Worcester 0-2-2, 2 PIM, 2 Shots, Minus-1

Totals: 3-3-6, 2 PIM, 7 Shots, Even

Monarchs Notables:

Last Result: 7-6 Overtime Loss At Worcester, March 30

Record: 38-22-10-6, 92 Points (4th In The Eastern Conference)

Streak: Lost 1

Next Game: April 2 vs. Portland (7:05 p.m.)

Including Sunday's overtime tilt against the Worcester IceCats, the Monarchs have skated in 23 overtime games this season...The Monarchs in overtime have a record of 7-6-10 in the 23 overtime games...The Monarchs were 19-0-0-0 in games in which they scored five or more goals before Sunday's stunning result against the IceCats...Sunday's game was the 17th in the month of March for the Monarchs...The Monarchs previous high for games in a month was 15, set in December of 2001...The Monarchs finished the month of March with an 8-5-1-3 record...Derek Bekar extended his team-leading point streak to nine games with his two goal, one assist effort against the IceCats on Sunday...Bekar has 15 points (7-8=15) during the streak...Bekar also notched his 200th AHL point on Sunday's...Three times this season the Monarchs have allowed the opposition to score seven goals...The Monarchs are 1-1-0-1 in the three games (March 30, 2003 vs. Worcester, 7-6 Overtime Loss; October 25, 2002 vs. Hartford, 8-7 Win; October 11, 2002 vs. Lowell, 7-3 Loss)...The five goals allowed to the opposition in one period (3rd period) is a season high for the Monarchs and it tied a franchise record...The Lowell Lock Monsters registered five first period goal en route to a 6-3 win at the Verizon Wireless Arena against the Monarchs on January 11, 2002...The previous high for goals allowed in a period this season was four, accomplished by the Hershey Bears (2nd period, March 1, 2003) and the Hartford Wolf Pack (1st period, October 25, 2002)...Kip Brennan's one goal, one assist performance against the IceCats on Sunday marked his first multi-point game of the season...The Monarchs hosted their team-record 20th sellout of the season on Saturday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers...The Monarchs lead the AHL in attendance with an average of 8,966 fans per contest after 38 home dates...Goaltender Travis Scott established a new career high for appearances in a season with his 47th appearance on Saturday, March 29 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers...Scott's 3-0 win against Bridgeport was his fourth shutout in March...Scott is four appearances away from 200 in his AHL career...Pavel Rosa's appearance in Sunday's game against the IceCats was his 300th as a professional...Born in Most, Czech Republic, the 26-year-old Rosa ranks second on the Monarchs with 25 goals...Eric Healey tied Craig Darby of the Albany River Rats for the league-lead in points during the month of March, collecting 23 points (10-13=23) in 17 games...Healey has 22 goals in his last 31 games spanning two months...Sunday's game in Worcester was the 81st of the season for rookie Jeff Giuliano, who spent most of the first half of the season in the East Coast Hockey League with the Reading Royals...Giuliano, a native of Nashua, New Hampshire, has 13 points (4-9=13) in 43 games with the Monarchs...He also has 30 points (7-23=30) in 38 games with the Royals this season...Defenseman Jason Holland's assist on Sunday against the IceCats was the 199th point of his professional career...Rookie Yanick Lehoux, who registered a pair of assists on Sunday against the IceCats, leads all Monarchs with 74 games played...Rookie George Parros recorded his first professional point (an assist) and his first professional fight (vs. Brett Scheffelmaier) on Sunday at Worcester...With a win on Wednesday against the Portland Pirates, the Monarchs will set a new team record for wins in a season while equaling a team record for home wins in a season...The Monarchs, who have 38 wins overall and 22 on home ice, won 38 games including 23 on home ice during the 2001-02 season...The Monarchs set a new team record for points in a season with their win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday...The Monarchs, who have 92 points, totaled 90 points while finishing second in the North Division last season.

The Playoff Picture:

With four regular season games remaining, the Monarchs need just one more win or one more Bridgeport Sound Tigers loss to lock up fourth place in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. If the Monarchs finish fourth, they will begin a best-of-five first round series on Saturday, April 12 at the Verizon Wireless Arena against the fifth seeded team. Who the Monarchs could face in the first round remains unclear, as Bridgeport, Worcester, Hartford and Portland all could still make late runs and finish as high as fifth in the conference. Below are the current playoff standings including remaining games for all potential playoff teams.

Monarchs Week 25 Transactions:

3/28/03 Add Pavel Rosa (RW) assigned to Manchester (AHL)

3/28/03 Add Leon Hayward (C) signed by Manchester (AHL) to PTO under emergency conditions

3/26/03 Delete Pavel Rosa (RW) recalled by Los Angeles (NHL) under emergency conditions

3/26/03 Delete Kent Davyduke (C) released from PTO

3/25/03 Delete Steve Kelly (C) recalled by Los Angeles (NHL) under emergency conditions

Kings Notables:

Last Result: 5-1 Loss vs. Vancouver, March 29

Record: 30-37-6-5, 71 points

Streak: Lost 4, Winless In 7 (0-4-2-1)

Next Game: March 31 At Phoenix

Markus Naslund and Matt Cooke each finished with a goal and an assist as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-1, at STAPLES Center on Saturday night...Naslund leads the NHL with 102 points and he and his linemate Todd Bertuzzi are tied for the league- lead with 46 goals...Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Trevor Linden also scored for the Canucks, who are one point behind Detroit for second place in the Western Conference...Alexander Frolov scored for the Kings, who are winless in their last seven contests (0-4-2-1)... Ziggy Palffy's assist was his first point in three games...Vancouver had not won in Los Angeles in 14-games before Saturday's result...Prior to Saturday, the Canucks last win in Los Angeles occurred on April 6, 1996.

Get Your 2003-04 Season Tickets Today:

Attention fans, if you're interested in season tickets for the 2003-04 season the Monarchs are now accepting $100 deposits to be placed on the team priority list. Go to the Monarchs Customer Service table behind section 105, or call the Monarchs at (603) 626-7825 to get your name placed on the list. The priority list is for Monarchs fans that are not 2002-03 season ticket package holders.

Two Monarchs Fundraisers Raise Over $76,000 For Area Charities:

The Manchester Monarchs are pleased to announce that last Tuesday's "At Your Service" Dinner at C.R. Sparks in Bedford, New Hampshire, netted over $60,000 for charitable partners of the Monarchs Care Foundation, including The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Manchester, Child Health Services, and The Boys & Girls Clubs of New Hampshire. The Monarchs began the week by raising over $16,000 for the New Hampshire Hockey Hall of Fame. Defenseman Joe Rullier, wearing his throwback Berlin Maroons jersey, scored the game-winning goal with two tenths of a second left in overtime to give the Monarchs a 4-3 victory over the Albany River Rats on Sunday, March 23. After the game, the special jerseys were auctioned off with proceeds going to the NHHHoF. Not surprisingly, Rullier's jersey went for a top bid of $2,750.

Scott Named Sher-Wood Player Of The Week:

Week 24 of the 2002-03 American Hockey League season was a special one for Manchester Monarchs goaltender Travis Scott, who last Monday (March 24) was rewarded for his remarkable play by being named the Sher-Wood AHL Player of the Week. Scott, 27, went 2-0-1 in three starts during week 24 while stopping 113 of the 116 shots he faced (.972 save percentage). His exceptional week included shutout victories over the Norfolk Admirals (1st in the South Division) on March 19 and the Providence Bruins (1st in the North Division) on March 21. It also included a lengthy scoreless streak (162:58), a franchise-record 50 saves (March 19 vs. Norfolk, 3-0 Win), a franchise record 19th consecutive appearance (March 22 vs. Providence, 3-3 Tie), and a miniscule 0.97 goals against average. In recognition of his achievement, Scott will receive a Sher-Wood leather jacket, presented to him during an on-ice ceremony prior to the Monarchs game against the Portland Pirates on Wednesday, April 2 (7:05 p.m.). In addition, Sher-Wood will donate five travel bags to the Tri-Town Youth Hockey Association in his name.

Shirt Off Our Back Promotion:

The Manchester Monarchs are still selling entry tickets for the annual "Shirt Off Our Back" promotion in the Verizon Wireless Arena concourse during Monarchs home games. This annual rite of spring is planned for Saturday, April 5 vs. the Providence Bruins (7:35 p.m.). Each ticket costs fans one dollar with proceeds from the event benefiting the Special Olympics and the Monarchs Care Foundation. Located near the tickets will be a table full of jars, with each jar representing a particular jersey. After the ticket purchase, fans will be able to place their ticket in the jar of the jersey they'd like to win. A total of five road jerseys will also be auctioned off live to the highest bidder after Saturday's game.

Monarchs End Of Season Awards, April 5:

The winners of this year's Ace Bailey MVP Award, the Mark Bavis Unsung Hero Award, the Union Leader Fan Favorite Award and the American Specialty/HG Insurance Services/AHL Man of the Year/Monarchs Community Service Award will be unveiled as part of a post-game celebration at center ice following the Monarchs-Providence Bruins game at Saturday, April 5 (7:35 p.m.). Last year's award winners included Joe Corvo (MVP), Jerred Smithson (Unsung Hero), Richard Seeley (Community Service) and Ted Donato (Fan Favorite).

Seeley Honored For Charitable Contributions:

The American Hockey League last week announced the individual team winners of the American Specialty/HG Insurance Services/AHL Man of the Year awards, given to one player from each AHL member team for his outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations during the 2002-03 season. Manchester's Richard Seeley is one of 28 finalists up for the honor. From the list of 28, representatives from American Specialty, HG Insurance Services and the AHL will choose the winner of the 2002-03 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, to be announced during the Calder Cup 2003 Finals later this spring. The AHL's annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupre, who died in August 1997 at the age of 24, following a 16-month battle with leukemia.

How To Buy Monarchs Tickets:

In Person: at the Verizon Wireless Arena Box office, open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. By Phone: call Ticketmaster at (603) 868-7300. Online: at www.ticketmaster.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 31, 2003


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