Saad Earns Third Weekly Honor of 2009
February 16, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
FRISCO, TX (Monday, February 16th, 2009) - Mahoning Valley Phantoms forward Brandon Saad continued his stellar start to 2009 as he picked up his third Sherwood NAHL North Division Player of the Week award since New Years on Monday.
The award comes in the wake of a five-goal, two-assist performance for Saad as the Phantoms earned a 2-1-0 series win against the Marquette Rangers in Upper Michigan.
The first-year forward scored in each of the three games in the set, including a natural hat trick (three consecutive goals) in the Phantoms' 6-1 win in Saturday's rubber match.
Since the calendars rolled over to â09, Saad has scored 13 goals to go with 7 assists for 20 points; he was also named first-team all-tournament at the World Under-17 Challenge during the first week of January after leading all scorers in the preliminary round.
The Gibsonia, PA, native says that the new year has been very kind to him.
"It's been great. The team's doing well and I'm doing well," says the Phantoms' leading scorer (24-14-38), "it's the perfect time for everything to be clicking here, heading toward the end of the season."
Saad's honors mark the fifth time in '09 that a Phantom has been named Player of the Week; Nick Kenney has earned the weekly hardware twice.
At Marquette, the line of Saad, Johnny Meo and Stefan Salituro notched a 6-12-18 scoring mark, leading all four Mahoning Valley forward lines. Saad says that the line, formed for the Phantoms' January 30-31 series at Alpena, has found great chemistry in just three weeks.
"We've clicked since the second we got put on a line together," says Saad, "and we just keep getting better and keep progressing. It's been great."
Joining Saad on the weekly NAHL honor roll is Phantoms netminder Jordan Tibbett, who was once again named honorable mention for the league's Goalie of the Week award. In two games played, Tibbett compiled two wins and 60 saves, bumping his record for the '08-'09 season to 21-5-1.
Saad, Tibbett and the rest of the Phantoms are back in action on Thursday when they welcome the Motor City Machine to Youngstown's Chevrolet Centre at 7:15 PM.
The game is part of the Phantoms' pre-fight series with the Machine, leading up to Kelly Pavlik's World Middleweight Title bout with Marco Antonio Rubio on Saturday, February 21st.
Friday's series finale will be preceded by Pavlik's hydration weigh-in and a pre-fight rally for the Youngstown native's title fight at the Centre.
Thursday's game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW-AM, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks. The pregame show will begin at 7:00 PM.
North American Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2009
- First-Ever Outdoor Game Earns High Marks - NAHL
- Grogan Honored Again - Bismarck Bobcats
- Saad Earns Third Weekly Honor of 2009 - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Wildcats Return Home, Drop Two Versus St. Louis - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Outlaws' Split Weekend; Remain Four Points Out - North Iowa Outlaws
- Machine sweep North Stars - Motor City Metal Jackets
- Machine win in OT thriller, 3-2 - Motor City Metal Jackets
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