AHL American Hockey League

The envelopes, please...

Published on April 4, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... The American Hockey League begins handing out individual awards this week in recognition of its outstanding performers during the 2004-05 season.

The AHL's rookie class of 2005 offers plenty of worthy candidates for the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award, including Binghamton's Brandon Bochenski, Rochester's Thomas Vanek, Norfolk's Rene Bourque, Philadelphia's R.J. Umberger and Albany's Zach Parise, who comprise the league's top five rookie scorers. No defenseman has ever won the Garrett Award, but Bridgeport's Chris Campoli, Worcester's Dennis Wideman, Manitoba's Kevin Bieksa and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Ryan Whitney are all deserving of consideration. The top first-year pros working AHL creases this year include Lowell's Cam Ward, Houston's Josh Harding and Hamilton's Yann Danis.

Hartford's Jason LaBarbera won the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Award as the league's outstanding goaltender in 2003-04, and currently ranks second in the AHL with a 1.82 goals-against average. No player has won back-to-back Bastien Awards since it was instituted in 1984. LaBarbera's teammate, Steve Valiquette, leads the league in GAA (1.72) and save percentage (.936); Rochester's Ryan Miller is on the verge of becoming the league's first 40-game winner in 40 years; and Chicago's Kari Lehtonen is among the top four in wins, saves and minutes played. Manchester's Mathieu Garon, Providence's Hannu Toivonen and Philadelphia's Antero Niittymaki have also had excellent seasons.

In the race for the Eddie Shore Award, presented annually to the AHL's best defenseman, the league's top four scorers among blueliners come from the West Division: Niklas Kronwall of Grand Rapids, Dan Hamhuis of Milwaukee and Travis Roche and Greg Hawgood of Chicago. Manchester's Mike Weaver and Joe Rullier lead all AHL defensemen in plus/minus rating and fellow Monarch Denis Grebeshkov is tops in assists. Joel Kwiatkowski of St. John's and All-Stars Brian Pothier (Binghamton), Andrew Hutchinson (Milwaukee) and Lawrence Nycholat (Hartford) are having noteworthy campaigns as well.

The winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL's outstanding coach traditionally parlays the honor into further success; recent winners include reigning Calder Cup champion Claude Noel and current NHL head coaches Claude Julien, Glen Hanlon, Peter Laviolette and Barry Trotz. Leading candidates this season are Rochester's Randy Cunneyworth, Manchester's Bruce Boudreau, Norfolk's Trent Yawney, Hartford's Ryan McGill and Cincinnati's Brad Shaw.

The award announcements begin on Tuesday when the AHL reveals the 28 finalists for the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the AHL's Man of the Year. The 2004-05 AHL All-Rookie Team will be announced on Wednesday, and the First and Second All-Star Teams will be unveiled on Thursday.

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PLAYOFF FEVER ... Seven of the 16 tickets to the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs have now been punched, with Chicago, Hartford, Binghamton, Philadelphia and Milwaukee all clinching berths over the weekend. And 15 teams are very much alive in the hunt for the nine remaining spots.

In the Atlantic Division, Providence has won six in a row to widen the gap on fifth-place Worcester, and the Bruins are now just two points behind third-place Lowell. In the East, Wilkes-Barre's six-game winless streak has allowed Hershey to climb to within three points of fourth place. Up North, Hamilton has started to pull away, but Syracuse, Edmonton and Cleveland can still taste the postseason. And in the West, Grand Rapids is just three points behind co-tenants Cincinnati and Houston for third place.

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OFF THE ICE ... The Lowell Lock Monsters and Aquatime Pools and Spas raised more than $6,000 for the Boston Children's Hospital with a spa raffle on Saturday night... Wolf Pack head coach Ryan McGill and former AHL and NHL defenseman Ulf Samuelsson joined local media members Saturday for a charity sled hockey game to raise funds for Chariots of Hope, which collects and refurbishes wheelchairs for confined individuals... Albany celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Calder Cup championship team during Friday night's game at the Pepsi Arena.

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ETC. ... Rochester claimed its 14th division championship with a 6-4 win over St. John's in Buffalo on Sunday evening... The Amerks hosted 15,326 fans at the HSBC Arena, two days after recording their first sellout (11,200) at the Blue Cross Arena since Mar. 30, 2001... Friday's defeat gave Rochester back-to-back regulation losses for the first time since dropping four straight from Feb. 4-13, 2004, a span of 90 regular-season games... Binghamton's Jason Spezza has run his league-leading points total up to 105, tied for the most by an AHL player since Brad Smyth recorded 126 points in 1995-96... Spezza has a 14-game scoring streak intact (4g, 20a), matching Manchester's Mike Cammalleri for the longest in the AHL this year... Cincinnati's Joffrey Lupul has scored a goal in seven straight contests, also tied for the league's season long... After being held scoreless in his Chicago debut on Mar. 11, Stephen Weiss has recorded a point in 12 straight games (6g, 8a)... Hartford's Jed Ortmeyer has five goals in seven games against Lowell this season, and two in 47 games against the rest of the AHL... Ryan Murphy capped his first pro hat trick with two empty-net goals for Albany in a 6-2 win over Worcester on Sunday... Former Penguin Brendan Buckley registered two goals and two assists as the IceCats ended a seven-game winless skid with a 4-3 overtime win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday; Buckley hadn't scored more than two goals in an entire season in five previous pro campaigns and four years at Boston College... Marek Svatos has nine points in his last four games for Hershey... Joakim Lindstrom, Columbus's second-round choice in the 2002 draft, has three goals in his first five AHL games with Syracuse... Springfield snapped a 16-game road losing streak with a 5-3 win in Portland on Sunday... St. John's beat Hamilton on Friday night, 2-1, in the 100th and final regular-season meeting between the teams; the Maple Leafs become the Toronto Marlies in 2005-06... The AHL has surpassed 6 million in attendance for the fourth consecutive year, and is poised to break the all-time records of total fans (6,366,996) and per-game average (5,895).

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