Saint John Weekly
April 1, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Saint John Flames News Release
THIS WEEK...
The Flames enter the week tied for third in the Canadian Division with 65 points and a record of 29 wins, 40 losses, 6 ties and 1 overtime loss.
Saint John wraps up the 2002/03 regular season with four games this week - versus the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday and Friday, versus the Lowell Lock Monsters Saturday and at Portland versus the Pirates on Sunday.
THE OPPONENT...
The SPRINGFIELD FALCONS enter the week ranked fourth overall in the East Division with 72 points and a record of 32-37-7-1. The Falcons, 4-5-1-0 in their last ten games, are coming off a 4-0 loss at Lowell on Sunday.
Wednesday and Friday's contests will be the third and fourth of four scheduled meetings between the clubs this season. Saint John is 0-2-0 this season versus the Falcons.
Leading Springfield are centres Jeff Taffe (23g-25a- 48pts) and Jeff Daw (16g-19a=35pts), right wing Frank Banham (23g-17a=40pts) and left wing Boyd Kane (14g-21a=35pts).
Jean-Marc Pelletier and Evgeny Konstantinov handle the netminding duties for Springfield. Pelletier, 11-6- 4 in 22 games, posts a 2.32 GAA and a .928 sv% while Konstantinov, 13-23-1 in 38 games, posts a 3.24 GAA and an .889 sv%.
Entering the week, Frank Banham ranks second in the League in shots on goal (257), Jeff Taffe ranks ninth in scoring among League rookies, tied for fourth in goals (23) and tied for second in powerplay goals (11).
Saint John is chasing Springfield for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Fans are encouraged to come out and cheer on the Flames as they make their push for the post season.
The LOWELL LOCK MONSTERS enter the week ranked fifth in the North Division with 48 points and a record of 19 wins, 47 losses, 7 ties and 3 overtime losses. Lowell, 3-5-2-0 in its last ten games, is coming off a 4-0 win versus Springfield on Sunday.
Saturday's game will be the sixth and final meeting between the clubs this season. Leading Lowell are defenceman Steve Halko (4g-22a=26pts), centres Jason Bonsignore (10g-15a=25pts) and Harold Druken (8g-13a=21pts) and left wing Mike Watt (9g- 14a=23pts).
Rob Zepp and Jayme Platt enter the week as the Lock Monsters goaltending duo. Zepp, 1-0-1 in 2 games, sports a 2.40 GAA and a .940 sv% while Platt, 0-1-1 in 2 games, posts a 3.85 GAA and a .912 sv%.
Entering the week, Lowell ranks last in the AHL's overall standings, last in average goals per game (2.20) and sport the highests shots allowed per game (35.21).
The PORTLAND PIRATES enter the week ranked fourth in the North Division with 79 points and a record of 32 wins, 26 losses, 12 ties and 6 overtime losses. Portland, 2-3-4-1 in its last ten games, is coming off a 2-1 overtime loss versus Saint John on Sunday.
Sunday's contest will be the tenth and final meetings between the clubs this season and will conclude Saint John's 2002/03 regular season.
Leading Portland are right wing Peter Ferraro (22g-41a=63pts), left wing Colin Forbes (22g-36a=58pts) and centre Chris Ferraro (19g-31a=50pts).
Maxime Ouellet and Rastislav Stana handle the netminding duties for Portland. Ouellet, 22-14-7 through 46 games, sports a 2.35 GAA and a .931 sv%. Stana, 7-11-3 through 22 games, sports a 2.29 GAA and a .931 sv%.
Entering the week, Ouellet ranks sixth among AHL netminders with a 2.35 GAA and 7 shutouts and Josef Boumedienne is tied for fourth among League defencemen in points (10g-27a=47pts).
NOTABLES...
Three Flames recorded multiple points in Saint John's 2-1 OT win at Portland Sunday - Chuck Kobasew (2 goals), Jason Morgan (2 assists) and Robert Dome (2 assists).
Saint John native Todd Baird signed an ATO and dressed as backup for the Flames Friday versus St. John's. This marked Baird's second time wearing the Flames jersey, having dressed as backup to Andrei Trefilov in the first ten games in Franchise history back in Oct./Nov. of 1993. Flames right wing Robert Dome is currently riding a 3-game points streak (1g- 3a=4pts) from March 28 to present.
Flames fan Melanie Horn, 13, and her mom Heather, joined the Flames for the trip to Portland after Saturday's home game versus St. John's. Melanie earned the "road trip" by winning the Write Your Face Off essay writing competition. The competition, an educational program developed jointly by the Flames and the New Brunswick Community College Saint John, had participation from over 2,000 grades six, seven and eight students in 18 local schools.
Saint John rookie Chuck Kobasew's 18.1% shooting percentage (21 goals, 116 shots) ranks second among AHL rookies.
ALUMNI IN PROFILE...
Flames alumni toiling in the British SuperLeague are having continued success. In recent action in the UK, former Flame Lee Jinman (1999/00) collected 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) for the Nottingham Panthers in a 10-3 win over the Bracknell Bees.
Also getting in on the action for Nottingham were former Flames Barry Nieckar (1995/96 - 1996/97) with 2 assists and Marc Hussey (1995/96 - 1996/97) with 1 assist. In consolation, former Flame David Struch (1993/94 - 1995/96) was named "Man of the Game" for Bracknell. Through games of March 30, 2003, Jinman leads the British Superleague scoring race with 36 points (12g-24a) through 32 games.
American Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2003
- Ducks Squeak by Barons - Cleveland Barons
- Pecker scores twice to lead Ducks past Barons - Cincinnati RailRaiders
- Godard Recalled By Islanders - Bridgeport Islanders
- 'Cats Five-Goal Outburst Highlights Weekend - Worcester IceCats
- Career Fair Set for Wednesday - Adirondack Phantoms
- Moose on Rogers Sportsnet against the St. John's Maple Leafs - Manitoba Moose
- Vermette Captures Rookie of the Month Honors - Binghamton Senators
- Sound Tigers Moving To News/Talk 960 Tomorrow - Bridgeport Islanders
- Bulldogs Playoff Tickets on Sale April 7th - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Vermette named AHL Rookie of the Month - AHL
- Conklin to Join Bulldogs on the Road - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Military Appreciation Night Tomorrow - Bridgeport Islanders
- Admirals Update - Norfolk Admirals
- Saint John Weekly - Saint John Flames
- Cincinnati Might Ducks Tonight - Cincinnati RailRaiders
- Syracuse Releases Scooter Smith - Syracuse Crunch
- Pirates Move Radio Broadcasts for Three Games This Week - Portland Pirates
- Blackhawks Recall Michael Leighton from Norfolk - Norfolk Admirals
- Moose Announce Record Amount Raised at 'Tin for the Bin' Game - Manitoba Moose
- Griffins One Win Away from Conference Crown - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Griffins Begin Calder Cup Chase on April 16 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- The Rock Report - Toronto Marlies
- Three to be added to Media Wall of Fame - Toronto Marlies
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.
