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Spezza, Cammalleri eyeing score title

March 28, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... With three weeks left in the regular season, the race for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy is a two-man pursuit between a pair of outstanding young stars.

Jason Spezza of the Binghamton Senators and Mike Cammalleri of the Manchester Monarchs have been running neck-and-neck atop the AHL's scoring leaderboard for more than two months. Both are Toronto-area natives (Spezza hails from Mississauga, Cammalleri from Richmond Hill), both were selected early in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft (Spezza was second overall, Cammalleri went 49th), and both have used an unexpected additional season in the AHL to further develop into two of the best up-and-coming players in hockey.

Spezza, the 21-year-old star who has been in the media spotlight since before Ottawa drafted him nearly four years ago, leads the AHL with 72 assists and 99 points while skating in all 70 of Binghamton's games to date. Spezza made his pro debut with Grand Rapids during the 2002 Calder Cup Playoffs, then turned in an AHL All-Rookie effort with Binghamton in 2002-03, registering 54 points in 43 games before earning a spot in Ottawa's lineup.

On the verge of becoming the AHL's first 100-point scorer in four years, the two-time AHL All-Star has also helped improve the players around him with the Senators. Brandon Bochenski has emerged as one of the top first-year players in the AHL this year, leading all rookies with 57 points. Antoine Vermette has regained his scoring touch to record 62 points, matching the output from his outstanding rookie year in 2002-03. Eighth-year pro Denis Hamel has set a career high with 69 points and is tied for fourth in the league with 33 goals, and Josh Langfeld (24) and Chris Kelly (21) have also set personal bests in goals.

Cammalleri has also been a model of consistency all season, recording at least one point in 57 of the 68 games he has played, including three separate scoring streaks of at least 10 games each. The 22-year-old Cammalleri, who had played 59 NHL games with Los Angeles over the previous two seasons, currently leads the AHL with 41 goals and trails only Spezza with 94 points.

The Monarchs are on the verge of their first division title, with Cammalleri pacing an offense that includes 20-year-old standout Dustin Brown, former league MVP and Calder Cup champion Brad Smyth, two-time Calder Cup finalist Tom Kostopoulos and 2004 All-Rookie forward Noah Clarke. Cammalleri has 11 games to make up ground and become the second consecutive Monarch (Pavel Rosa) to win the AHL's scoring title.


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MONARCHS CLINCH ... The Manchester Monarchs are the first team from the Eastern Conference to secure a berth in the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs. The Monarchs lead the Atlantic Division with 97 points, and while Providence and Worcester can each reach 98, the Bruins and IceCats face each other three more times, meaning at least one of them will not be able to catch Manchester.

The Monarchs, who finished in second place in the each of their previous three AHL seasons, own a five-point lead on Hartford with one game in hand.

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SIM-PLY AMAZING ... Jon Sim continued his white-hot pace with a pair of goals over the weekend, and now has 18 goals, five assists and a plus-17 rating in his last 15 games. The Philadelphia left wing is tied for second in the AHL with 34 goals this season, and shares the league lead with a franchise-record 10 game-winning goals.

Sim began the season with Utah before being acquired by the Phantoms in a swap for Peter White on Nov. 14. He was the MVP of the 2003 AHL All-Star Game in Portland, and won a Stanley Cup with Dallas as a rookie in 1999.


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OFF THE ICE ... Manchester's annual At Your Service dinner last week raised more than $65,000 for three area charities... Salty Pete's Skate for the Kids event on Apr. 3 will raise funds for the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at the Maine Medical Center... The popular Copabanana restaurant in Philadelphia has introduced the Phantom Umberger, a burger topped with muenster cheese and onion rings named for Philly rookie forward R.J. Umberger.


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ETC. ... Kari Lehtonen has won 13 straight games in net for Chicago since the All-Star break... Houston defenseman Ray Giroux scored the first penalty shot goal against Grand Rapids in the Griffins' nine-year history on Friday night... Derek Boogaard, Houston's 6-foot-7, 270-pound winger, scored in the Aeros' 3-2 win over Grand Rapids on Sunday, his first goal in 106 career AHL games... Eric Staal is two points shy of tying Lowell's franchise record of 70 points in a single season, a mark held by Staal's cousin, Jeff Heerema... Utah forward Kiel McLeod scored 32 seconds into Wednesday's game at Houston and 30 seconds into Friday's game against Chicago... Kyle Wellwood, David Ling and Matt Stajan each recorded a goal and three assists for St. John's in a 7-2 win over Manitoba on Saturday... Rochester's 23-game home points streak (20-0-1-2) ended in a 6-1 loss to Hershey on Friday... Norfolk has killed off 70 of its last 71 shorthanded situations (98.6%)... Edmonton returned home after a 12-game road trip and lost two games to Hamilton, 7-3 and 5-1... Worcester has not taken a lead into the first intermission in any of its past 31 games, since Jan. 15 at Springfield... Anthony Stewart, a first-round pick by Florida in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, made his pro debut for San Antonio on Saturday night... Springfield has lost 15 straight road games... Jordan Parise, older brother of Albany rookie Zach Parise, has backstopped the University of North Dakota to a berth in the 2005 Frozen Four.

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