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December 15, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Johnstown Chiefs News Release


Johnstown, Pa. - The Johnstown Chiefs suffered their first losing week of the season last week, but still top the North Division standings. The Chiefs will have plenty of time, with a week off between games, to prepare for a big pair of games this weekend. Johnstown will play a home-and-home against Wheeling with first place in the North up for grabs.

Record: 18-7-1, 37 pts., 1st place North Division

Leaders:

Goals - Petr Pohl: 11

Assists - Petr Pohl: 16

Points - Petr Pohl: 27

+/- - Ryan Del Monte: +13

PIMs - Alex Penner: 94

PPG -Randy Rowe: 5

Wins - Kris Mayotte: 12

GAA - Kris Mayotte: 2.24

SVP - Kris Mayotte: .924

This Week:

12/9 at Wheeling, 8:05 p.m. & 12/10 vs. Wheeling 7:05 p.m. - Home (0-1-0), Away (2-0-0)

The season series between the Chiefs and rival Nailers tilted in Johnstown's favor with a 3-1 win at Wheeling on 11/26. The road team has had the upper hand in each of the first three contests with Wheeling winning 4-2 in the Chiefs' home opener on 10/18, and the Chiefs following that with a 3-2 shootout win on 11/1. Wheeling will carry a three-game winning streak into Friday's game, while the Chiefs are coming off of a 1-2-0 week last week, their first losing week of the season. Friday's start time has been pushed back from 7:30 to 8:05 due to the game being broadcast locally in Wheeling. For Saturday's game, the Chiefs will be hosting their first ever Ugliest Holiday Sweater Contest. The crowd will vote on their favorite ugly holiday sweater at intermission, and the winner will take home a Chiefs Prize Pack.

Day by Day:

Mon. 12/1: Practice at UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at CCWM, 11:00 a.m.

Tues. 12/2: Practice at UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at CCWM, 11:00 a.m.

Wed. 12/3: Practice at UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at CCWM, 11:00 a.m.

Thurs. 12/4: Practice at UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at CCWM, 11:00 a.m.

Fri. 12/5: Chiefs at Wheeling Nailers, 8:05 p.m.

Sat. 12/6: Chiefs vs. Wheeling Nailers, 7:05 p.m. - Ugliest Holiday Sweater Contest

Sun. 12/7: Off

Broadcast Schedule:

Fri. 12/19: Chiefs at Wheeling Nailers, 8:05 p.m. - radio and internet

Sat. 12/20: Chiefs vs. Wheeling Nailers, 7:05 p.m. - radio and internet

All Chiefs radio broadcasts can be heard on 1490 AM WNTJ and AM 990 WNTW, and live streaming audio of every Chiefs game is available courtesy of B2 Networks at www.johnstownchiefs.com or www.echl.com. The Chiefs radio network is presented by Dodge.

Last Week: (1-2-0)

12/8 at Cincinnati: L 3-4

With each team battling the flu bug, as well as each other, the Cyclones were able to grab a 3-0 lead after the first period with goals from Mark Van Guilder, Olivier Latendresse, and Ben McLeod in a span of 4:33. After weathering that storm, the Chiefs offense took control and responded with three straight goals of its own. Sean Berkstresser put the black and gold on the board with his second goal of the year, and Petr Pohl added a power play tally to cut the deficit to 3-2 heading to the third. With another power play chance, Pohl scored his second of the game, and 11th of the season, to knot the game at three. The Chiefs couldn't complete the comeback, though, as Ian McKenzie's second goal of the year turned out to be the game winner. Ian Keserich was pulled for the extra attacker with 48 seconds left, but Johnstown couldn't convert.

12/10 vs. Elmira: W 4-2

After wrapping up a four-game-in-six-days road trip, the Chiefs returned home to take on the Elmira Jackals for the second time this season. Elmira got the early drop on Johnstown with Pierre-Luc Faubert scoring at the 1:01 mark of the first period. Still trailing 1-0 in the second, Blair Yaworski jammed home a rebound for his first goal in his first game with the Chiefs. The score stayed tied at one heading to the third, making for an entertaining final 20 minutes. Mike Sgroi scored his second of the season on a bank pass off of the end boards by Randy Rowe to give the Chiefs their first lead of the game. Ryan Del Monte padded the lead at 8:14 with his fifth of the season, but Josh Aspenlind got Elmira back within one with a shorthanded breakaway goal 1:02 later. Andy Contois re-upped Johnstown's two-goal lead at 13:22 by finishing a nifty pass on a 2-on-1 from Petr Pohl. Kris Mayotte won his 12th game of the year by making 23 saves.

12/12 at Trenton: L 1-2

Johnstown hadn't scored more than two goals in a game at Trenton yet this season, and continued having offensive problems in the 2-1 loss. Trenton took the lead on markers from Matt Radoslovich (7:54, 1st pd.) and Jim Henkel (4:17, 2nd pd.). Henkel's came on a 5-on-3 PP advantage 15 seconds after David Schulz was sent to the box for high sticking. The Chiefs were left with four natural defensemen for the game due to call-ups to Mike Knight and Trevor Hendrikx so Mike Bartlett filled in as the fifth defenseman. Bartlett did more than just fill in as he scored the Chiefs' lone goal, cashing in at 12:11 of the second. Johnstown ratcheted up the attack in the third, launching 13 shots at Charlie Effinger, but the Devils' goalie denied them all to preserve the win.

CHIEFS CHOPS:

Scoring Streaks:

Goals:

Assists:

- Ray Macias; 10/30-11/2: 3 gms (4A)

Points:

- Ray Macias; 10/25-11/2: 4 gms (1G, 4A)

Points of Emphasis: There are a few Chiefs players who are closing in on or have recently reached milestone numbers in their career. Randy Rowe, in his fourth year with the team, came into the season with 82 assists for Johnstown. With 15 this season, Rowe is three away from 100 assists as a Chief. Mike Sgroi, who rejoined the team three games ago, after a hand injury delayed his season, has scored two goals already and needs one more to reach 50 in his ECHL career. He also needs only five more points to get to 100. Veteran Jason Spence currently ranks fourth all-time among penalty minutes with 749, and needs 51 to pass Perry Florio (799) for third. Recently acquired Andy Contois skated in his 150th ECHL game with Johnstown on December 8th in Cincinnati, and is three goals away from his 50th ECHL tally. Petr Pohl will be skating in his 100th ECHL game two games from now, and with three more helpers Trevor Hendrikx will have 50 in the ECHL. Defenseman Greg Gallagher skated in his 100th ECHL game 12/3 at Reading, while his regular partner Mike Knight needs one more assist to reach 50 in this league.

It's Stifling in Here: It may be cliché to say "defense wins championships" but Johnstown's defense has certainly helped win more than its fair share of games this season. The Chiefs have given up just 67 goals over 26 games for a 2.57 goals against average, which is tops in the North Division, third in the American Conference, and sixth in the ECHL. At their current pace, the Chiefs would give up roughly 185 goals this season which would beat the previous best of 195 goals given up by the 2003-04 team. Johnstown's defensive corps has been strong throughout this season, and is evidenced by only one of the current defensemen having a negative plus/minus rating. Kyle Bushee leads current defensemen at plus-eight while Kyle Wharton, currently with Syracuse (AHL), is a plus-10 with the Chiefs and was awarded as the ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for November when he was a plus-13. Also helping out the defensive efforts have been goalies Kris Mayotte who is second in the league with 12 wins, and Ian Keserich with his 2.75 goals against average and .903 save percentage.

Strong First Impression: Rookie center Blair Yaworski hadn't been able to find the back of the net in 16 games with Syracuse of the AHL before being loaned to Johnstown. After a couple practices with his new mates, Yaworski suited up for his first game with the Chiefs last Wednesday against Elmira and promptly found the back of the net. His first professional goal at 7:35 of the second period tied the game, and paved the way for the Chiefs' 4-2 win. In two games with Johnstown, Yaworski has the one goal, has an even plus/minus rating, and two penalty minutes.

A Well-Deserved Rest: Johnstown had a bruising schedule through November (14 games in 30 days) and early December (six games in 12 days), but handled the challenge admirably posting a 15-4-1 record over that span. With that out of the way, the Chiefs get a full week between their last game and this Friday's contest in Wheeling to rest and prepare. The Chiefs also have a lighter workload this week with only the two games against the Nailers. Johnstown hasn't had a two-game week since a weekend pair against Reading on 11/7 and 11/8. The Chiefs' 26 games played are the second-most in the division, and tied with several other teams for the third-most in the league.



ECHL Stories from December 15, 2008


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.

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