Saint John Flames Weekly
Published on December 30, 2002 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Saint John Flames News Release
The Flames enter the week ranked fourth in the Canadian Division with 23 points and a record of ten wins, eightteen losses, two ties and one overtime loss.
Saint John plays three games this week, hosting the Portland Pirates on New Year's Day, Wednesday, January 1 and the Worcester IceCats on Friday, January 3 and Saturday, January 4.
Flames Ticket package info is available by calling (506) 635-2637 or by stopping by the administration office on the second floor at Harbour Station.
THE OPPONENT...
The PORTLAND PIRATES enter the week ranked fourth in the North Division with 35 points and a record of 14-13-3-4. The Pirates, 5-4-1-0 in their last ten games, are coming off a 4-3 loss to Providence Saturday.
The mid-week game will be the third of ten on the season between the Clubs.
Leading Portland are left wingers Colin Forbes (11g- 15a=26pts), Mark Murphy (12g-13a=25pts) and Graham Mink (13g-10a=23pts).
The duo of Maxime Ouellet and Sebastien Charpentier handle the goaltending needs for Portland. Ouellet is 8-5-1 through 14 games with a 2.41 GAA and a .930 sv%. Charpentier, 3-7-2 through 12 games , posts a 2.31 GAA and a .925 sv%.
Through games of December 29, Ouellet ranks seventh among League goaltenders with a 2.41 GAA and first with a .930 save percentage while Charpentier ranks 12th overall among AHL goaltenders and third in save percentage.
The WORCESTER ICECATS enter the week ranked third in the North Division with 41 points and a record of 17-13-6-1. The IceCats, 4-4-2-0 in their last ten games, are currently unbeaten in three (2-0-1-0).
The back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday will be the second and third games of four this season between the Clubs.
Leading Worcester are centres John Pohl (15g-23a=38pts), Justin Papineau (15g- 13a=28pts) and Jeff Panzer (9g-18a=27pts) and left wing Sergei Varlamov (13g- 20a=33pts).
The duo of Curtis Sanford and Phil Osaer handle the IceCats netminding responsibilities. Sanford, 8-6-3 through 17 games, posts a 2.33 GAA and a .921 sv%. Osaer, 8-5-2 through 17 games, posts a 2.82 GAA and an .893 sv%. Entering the week, Pohl ranks third in League scoring and first among AHL rookies.
Varlamov rank 10th in League scoring and posts a +19 plus/minus rating, fifth best in the AHL. Sanford is tied for 8th among League netminders with a 2.33 GAA.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE...
The Saint John Flames nominated right-winger Robert Dome for Sherwood Player of the Week honours for the week ending Sunday, December 29. Dome posted 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) in the Flames 3 games last week, extending his current point streak to 5 games from December 20 to present with 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists).
Dome recorded consecutive multiple point games last week versus Portland on Thursday (1g-1a=2pts) and Friday (0g-2a=2pts). On Saturday, he recorded the gameâwinner in the Flames 1-0 shutout win at Manchester. Dome was selected as a game star twice during the week, earning second star honours Friday and a first star honours Saturday.
Dome ranked second among Flames in scoring during the Month of December with 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) in 8 games and currently leads Saint John in scoring with 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) through 24 games. He has recorded six multiple point games this season.
NOTABLES...
Saint John centre Jason Morgan led all Flames in scoring during December with 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 10 games. Nine of his 10 points (4 goals, 5 assists) came during a 6-game point streak from December 13 through 26.
Saint John held Manchester to only 2 shots in the first period of their contest on Saturday â the lowest single period shot total allowed by the Flames to date this season. Flames netminder Levente Szuper recorded Saint John's first shutout of the season on Saturday in Manchester. Szuper is the Flames all-time leader in shutouts with 8 to his credit.
Saint John's Robert Dome recorded back-to-back multiple point games versus Portland last week with 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) on Thursday and 2 points (2 assists) Friday. Dome added the lone goal in the Flames 1-0 shutout on Saturday to cap his week total at 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists).
ALUMNI REPORT...
Former Flame Yves Sarault, skating with Team Canada at the 2002 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, recorded 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) to help Canada to a 5-4 win over the Cologne Sharks last Thursday. Canada, with wins over TPS Turku (FIN) and Sparta Prag (CZE), was 3-0 entering Monday's contest versus reigning Spengler Cup champion HC Davos (SUI).
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS...
JANUARY 1 vs. PORTLAND
The Flames host the Portland Pirates this Wednesday, January 1, on "Buck-a-Bag Popcorn Night" and "Skate with Fleaburn Night".
All fans attending the night's game will be able to enjoy any size fresh popcorn for just $1 per bag. Fans attending the game are also encouraged to bring their skates for a free post game skate with Fleaburn.
JANUARY 10 vs. PORTLAND, JANUARY 11 vs. LOWELL
The Flames host the Portland Pirates Friday, January 10 and Lowell Lock Monsters Saturday, January 11 on "Video Collection Nights". Fans attending the weekend games are encouraged to bring in new or previously viewed video casettes to the game. The video casettes will be collected at the door by the Saint John Flames players' wifes and girlfriends on behalf of the Kiwanis Club of Saint John.
All videos collected will be distributed to Pediatrics Departments of hospitals in the southern New Brunswick region.
JANUARY 11 vs. LOWELL
The Flames host the Lowell Lock Monsters on "K-100 Family Pack Night" Saturday, January 11. A K-100 Family Pack includes 4 tickets (2 adult, 2 youth), 4 hot dogs and 4 soft drinks for only $48. Family Packs are available exclusively at the Harbour Station Box Office.
American Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2002
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- Alban Returned to K-Zoo - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Monarchs To Host Dinner With NASCAR Superstar - Manchester Monarchs
- River Rats Set to Begin Tenth Calendar Year - Albany River Rats
- Bulldogs Have a December to Remember - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Godard Recalled, DiPietro Reassigned - Bridgeport Islanders
- 'Scratch-ing Ahead - Worcester IceCats
- Aeros Go Three-for-Three - Houston Aeros
- Falcons Weekly - Springfield Falcons
- Rumble up, Svitovback down - Springfield Falcons
- Wanvig Reassigned to Aeros - Houston Aeros
- Ward Named AHL Player of the Week - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Time Changed for Saturday's Game in Milwaukee - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Ward Named Player of the Week - AHL
- Something Special is 'Bruin' - AHL
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Time Changed for Saturday's Game - Milwaukee Admirals
- Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Tonight - Cincinnati RailRaiders
- Crunch Looks to Snap Eight-Game Streak - Syracuse Crunch
- Additional Tickets Released for Tomorrow Night - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Americans vs. Syracuse Crunch - Rochester Americans
- Falcons in Greenfield Tuesday - Springfield Falcons
- Injuries, Schedule Test Pirates - Portland Pirates
- Blue and Gold Travel to Syracuse and Cleveland to Begin 2003 - Norfolk Admirals
- Buck-a-Bag Popcorn Night is Back - Saint John Flames
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