Saint John Weekly
January 27, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Saint John Flames News Release
THIS WEEK...
The Flames enter the week ranked third in the Canadian Division with 36 points and a record of 16 wins, 23 losses, 3 ties and 1 overtime loss.
Saint John travels to Bridgeport and Providence this week for games Wednesday against the Sound Tigers and Friday against the Bruins before returning to Saint John to host the Hartford Wolf*Pack Saturday at Harbour Station.
THE OPPONENT...
The BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS enter the week ranked second in the East Division with 51 points and a record of 20-17-9-2. The Sound Tigers, 2-6-1-1 in their last ten games, are coming off a 2-1 loss to Houston on Saturday.
This mid-week game will be the third of four meetings this season between the Clubs. Leading Bridgeport are right wing Trent Hunter (16g- 19a=35pts), centre Eric Manlow (13g-13a=26pts) and left wing Mike Souza (6g-14a=20pts).
David St. Germain and Stephen Valiquette handle the netminding needs for the Sound Tigers. St. Germain is 0-3-0 in 4 games with a 2.28 GAA and a .933 save percentage. Valiquette posts an 8-6-1 record through 16 contests with a 2.72 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
Entering the week, Bridgeport rookie Jeff Hamilton is tied for third among League rookies with 5 gamewinning goals.
The PROVIDENCE BRUINS enter the week ranked first in the North Division with 66 points and a record of 29- 11-6-2. The Bruins, 8-2-0-0 in their last ten games, are coming off a 7-4 loss at Portland on Saturday.
This will be the third of four meetings between the teams this season. Leading Providence are centres Matt Herr (21g-27a=48pts), Keith Aucoin (15g-31a=46pts) and Andy Hilbert (22g-17a=39pts).
Andrew Raycroft and Tim Thomas handle the goaltending responsibilities for the Bruins. Raycroft sports a 15-8-2 record, 2.66 GAA and .913 save percentage through 26 games while Thomas is 13-5-3 with a 2.77 GAA and .907 save percentage through 21 appearances.
Entering the week, Aucoin is tied for 7th in League scoring and ranks fifth in the League in assists, Herr leads the AHL with 9 game winning goals.
The HARTFORD WOLF*PACK enter the week ranked third in the East Division with 49 points and a record of 20-19-6-3. The Pack, 4-5-0-1 in its last ten games, is coming off a 4-1 loss to Chicago on Saturday. This will be the first of two meetings between the Clubs this season.
Leading Hartford are right wing Dixon Ward (16g-26a=42pts), left wing Nils Ekman (12g-15a=27pts) and centre Roman Lyashenko (8g-17a=25pts). Johan Holmqvist and Jason LaBarbera handle the goaltending for Hartford.
Holmqvist is 7-9-4 with a 2.53 GAA and a .913 save percentage through 23 games while LaBarbera is 12-11-2 with a 2.80 GAA and a. 910 save percentage through 28 games.
Entering the week, Ward is tied for 16th in League scoring, Jay Henderson ranks 4th in the League in PIMs with 169 and Holmqvist ranks 16th among AHL netminders with a 2.53 GAA.
NOTABLES...
With Calgary's acquisition of Mike Mottau last week, Saint John has two Hobey Baker award winning defencemen on its roster. Mottau, who received the award in 2000, joins the 2002 Hobey Baker winner Jordan Leopold as part of the Flames defence corps.
Calgary recalled Flames captain Micki DuPont last week. Flames defenceman Jordan Leopold has recorded 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in two games since his assignment by Calgary.
Saint John's Mike Martin recorded his first goal of the season on Wednesday in Manitoba. Martin also added an assist in the Flames win for his second multiple point game of the season. Flames rookie Matt Lombardi recorded 1 goal in Wednesday's 5-3 win at Manitoba. Lombardi leads all Flames with 15 goals this season.
ALUMNI WATCH...
Saint John alumni David Ling and John Tripp recorded their first career NHL goals last week.
Ling recorded his first NHL goal against Dallas netminder Ron Tugnutt in Columbus' 4-2 loss to the Stars on Wednesday while Tripp nothced his first NHL goal against Nashville netminder Tomas Vokoun as the New York Rangers defeated the Predators 4-2 on Thursday.
American Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2003
- Saint John Weekly - Saint John Flames
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- Sound Tigers Finish Road Trip, Open Homestand - Bridgeport Islanders
- Rochester Hosts Houston in Historic Two-Game Series - Rochester Americans
- Royal Review - Manchester Monarchs
- Griffins Dance Texas Two-Step - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Phantoms Weekly - Adirondack Phantoms
- Let's Play Three - Cleveland Barons
- Bulldogs Leading the Way - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Ouellet, Foster added to All-Star roster - AHL
- On the Road Again - Houston Aeros
- Toby Petersen and the Penguins Join Forces to Fight Diabetes - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Kings Recall Cammalleri from Manchester - Manchester Monarchs
- Geoff Ward Becomes Bulldogs Head Coach - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Ferraro named AHL Player of the Week - AHL
- All-Star Game is AHL's 'Maine' Event - AHL
- Blackhawks Recall Passmore, Assign Leighton - Norfolk Admirals
- Strong Play Helps Crunch Earn Points In Four Straight - Syracuse Crunch
- Bears Announce Updates to Merchandise Website - Hershey Bears
- Pittsburgh Penguins Recall LW Konstantin Koltsov from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Falcons sign Todd Gill - Springfield Falcons
- Payette released from PTO - Manitoba Moose
- Admirals Shut Out Opponents in Back-to-Back Games - Norfolk Admirals
- Bears Entrenched in Second Place - Hershey Bears
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