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Something Special is 'Bruin'

December 30, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MA ... While the Hamilton Bulldogs and Manchester Monarchs were stealing most of the headlines in the AHL's Eastern Conference, the Providence Bruins lay in wait. Now, riding the crest of a nine-game unbeaten streak, the B's sit atop the North Division.

Providence extended its run to 8-0-1-0 with a 3-2 win over Manchester on Sunday evening, unseating the Monarchs on the North Division throne. The Bruins' resurgent offense has scored 40 goals in the last nine contests after finding the net just four times in their five previous outings, including an 11-0 loss to Worcester on Nov. 30.

Rookie Martin Samuelsson has led the charge, nearly doubling his season totals with eight goals (including four game-winners) and 12 points during his current seven-game scoring streak. Matt Herr is sixth in the AHL with 34 points in 34 games, and 2002 AHL All-Rookie selection Andy Hilbert leads the B's with 18 goals on the year. Former NCAA Division III Player of the Year Keith Aucoin has five goals and 14 points during the current nine-game unbeaten streak.

Six-time AHL All-Star Rich Brennan is in a familiar position – tops among AHL defensemen in scoring. The former Calder Cup champion (Hershey, 1997) has 25 assists and 28 points this season while leading the entire AHL with 139 shots on goal. Rookie blueliner Shaone Morrisonn, a first-round draft pick in 2001, has already earned a pair of NHL call-ups to the parent Boston Bruins. In net, Andrew Raycroft and Tim Thomas have split duties, with Raycroft tied for the AHL lead with 13 victories this season.

Stability has been key for the Bruins, as 16 players have skated in at least 30 of Providence's first 37 games. Seven players have spent time with Boston this year, and seven other Beantown regulars – Glen Murray, Jozef Stumpel, Hal Gill, Ivan Huml, Nick Boynton, John Grahame and Jonathan Girard – are P-Bruins alumni.

Providence returns to action with a New Year's Eve matinee (4:05) against the rival Hartford Wolf Pack at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, where the Bruins are 10-1-3-1 in their last 15 games and 14-3-3-1 this season overall.

TYLER-MADE ... Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Arnason continued his outstanding rookie season with his first career hat trick on Saturday night in a 3-3 tie at San Jose. Arnason currently leads all first-year NHL players with 11 goals, 22 points and four game-winning tallies.

Arnason, last year's Dudley "Red" Garrett Award winner, is making a bid to become just the third player ever to be named rookie of the year in both the AHL and the NHL. Terry Sawchuk (1949, 1951) and Roger Crozier (1964, 1965) are the others.

FAN-TASTIC WEEKEND ... With Christmas still fresh in their minds, more than a quarter of a million fans still had an appetite for AHL hockey as the league resumed on Dec. 26.

From Thursday through Sunday, a total of 250,673 fans attended games in AHL arenas, with more than 100,000 taking in a full slate of 14 games on Saturday night alone. With rival Philadelphia in town, Hershey's Giant Center (10,601) sold out, as did Manchester's Verizon Wireless Arena (9,893) for a game against Saint John. Copps Coliseum hosted 9,018 Hamilton spectators on Saturday, bumping up the Bulldogs' season average by more than 300, while Pepsi Arena in Albany (7,014) and Portland's Cumberland County Civic Center (6,936) experienced season highs at the gate.

The Philadelphia-Hershey home-and-home series was witnessed by 23,599 fans, as the Phantoms drew 12,998 patrons to the First Union Spectrum on Friday, the third-largest crowd in the AHL this season.

OFF THE ICE ... One lucky fan won a $5,000 jackpot in the 50-50 drawing at Saint John's Harbour Station on Friday night... Saturday's Guaranteed Fun Night at the Pepsi Arena in Albany – which offered a free ticket to a future game to fans not satisfied with their experience – included an appearance by SpongeBob SquarePants and a giveaway of a trip for four to Universal Studios in Orlando... The Bridgeport and Hartford Fire Departments will play a charity game to benefit the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation prior to Saturday's Sound Tigers-Wolf Pack game in Bridgeport.

ETC. ... In addition to its 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2-0) and 18-game point streak (15-0-2-1), Hamilton has won 10 straight road games, three shy of the AHL record set by the 1995-96 Albany River Rats... After Rochester's Peter Ratchuk was denied by the Bulldogs' Ty Conklin on Friday night, goaltenders are 8-for-12 on penalty shots in the AHL this season... Hartford's John Tripp recorded his third hat trick of the season in the Wolf Pack's 3-2 win over Albany on Thursday, the same night rookie Mark Cullen scored three times in Houston's 7-2 win over San Antonio... Wyatt Smith has seven goals in his last five games, including a hat trick in Milwaukee's 6-1 win over Grand Rapids on Saturday... Of the seven goals scored this season by Chicago's Dan Snyder, a league-leading five have come shorthanded... Five shutouts were pitched on Saturday night, including Jean-Marc Pelletier's 29-save effort for Lowell in his first action since being recalled by Carolina on Nov. 30... Manitoba's Alex Auld shut out Bridgeport on Saturday for the second time this month... Worcester goaltender Curtis Sanford made three starts over the weekend, posting a 2-0-1 record with a 0.65 GAA and .975 save percentage... Seven players who began the season in Manchester skated in Los Angeles's game against Colorado on Sunday: Mike Cammalleri, Kip Brennan, Joe Corvo, Jerred Smithson, Steve Kelly, Jared Aulin and Derek Armstrong... Former #1 draft pick Alexandre Daigle joined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins over the weekend... The West Division is a combined 48-20-7-3 (.679) at home this season... Rosters for the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic will be announced on Thursday (PlanetUSA) and Friday (Canada).

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American Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2002


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