Weekly Arrowhead

February 2, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Johnstown Chiefs News Release


Johnstown, Pa. - The Johnstown Chiefs ripped off three consecutive wins on home ice last week to move into a tie with Wheeling for first place in the North Division. After protecting their house, the Chiefs hit the road this week, and will try to make themselves unwelcome guests in Elmira and Dayton.

Record: 26-16-2, 54 pts., T-1st place North Division

Leaders:

Goals - Jarrett Konkle (total): 23 Petr Pohl (team): 18

Assists - Petr Pohl/Ryan Del Monte: 22

Points - Petr Pohl: 40

+/- - Ryan Del Monte: +17

PIMs - Alex Penner: 94

PPG - Jarrett Konkle (total): 8 Petr Pohl (team): 6 SHG - Jarrett Konkle: 3

Wins - Kris Mayotte: 18

GAA - Kris Mayotte: 2.70

SVP - Kris Mayotte: .912

This Week:

2/6 at Elmira, 7:35 p.m. - Home (3-1-0), Away (1-2-0) The Chiefs kick off their road trip weekend with a visit to First Arena this Friday. They lost in their last game at Elmira, 5-3, on Jan. 10, but won 3-0 the previous night. Ian Keserich turned in a sparkling 38-save performance in that game to earn Johnstown's first shutout of the season. Johnstown was shut out in its first game in Elmira this season, 2-0, as David Shantz blanked the team for the second time this season. Overall, the Chiefs have been outscored 7-6 in Elmira this season. The Jackals enter play this week in fourth place in the North Division just two points behind the first place Chiefs. Johnstown has the advantage, though, of having three games in hand over the Jackals.

2/7 & 8 at Dayton, 7:30 & 5:00 p.m. - Home (1-1-0), Away (2-1-0) Johnstown will head to the Buckeye State to take on the Bombers for the first time since the weekend of Nov. 15 and 16. The Chiefs split those games, winning on the 15th but losing in the finale to snap their season high seven-game winning streak. This weekend's contests will be the last for Johnstown against Dayton this season. Saturday's game will be played at the historic Hobart Arena in Troy, Ohio as the Bombers continue their season-long tribute to the Troy Bruins. The Chiefs are 1-2-0 at Hobart over the last two seasons with the win coming via a 4-1 score on Nov. 15. Johnstown's win at the Nutter Center on Nov. 2 was their first against Dayton in Ohio in the regular season since March 31, 2007.

Day by Day:

Mon. 2/2: Off

Tues. 2/3: Practice at Northern Cambria Rec Center - 10:00 a.m.

Wed. 2/4: Practice at Planet Ice - 11:00 a.m.

Thurs. 2/5: Practice at Planet Ice - 11:00 a.m.

Fri. 2/6: Chiefs at Elmira Jackals, 7:35 p.m.

Sat. 2/7: Chiefs at Dayton Bombers, 7:30 p.m.

Sun. 2/8: Chiefs at Dayton Bombers, 5:00 p.m.

Broadcast Schedule:

Fri. 2/6: Chiefs at Elmira Jackals, 7:35 p.m. - radio and internet

Sat. 2/7: Chiefs at Dayton Bombers, 7:30 p.m. - radio only (due to game at Hobart Arena)

Sun. 2/8: Chiefs at Dayton Bombers, 5:00 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: (3-0-0)

1/28 vs. Mississippi: W 3-1 Petr Pohl had a hand in each of the Chiefs' three goals as they won the first ever meeting between Johnstown and Mississippi. Pohl's first goal of the evening came three minutes and 44 seconds into the game as he deflected a Todd Griffith pass behind former Chiefs goalie Ryan Munce. Pohl returned the favor to Griffith by setting him up on a 2-on-1 at 10:02 of the first. It was Griffith's first goal as a member of the Chiefs, and David Schulz also assists. Kyle Peto put the visitors within one on a 5-on-3 power play goal at 15:28 of the second, but Kris Mayotte wouldn't let them get any closer. The all-star goalie turned in 23 saves and Pohl added an unassisted empty net goal with 53 seconds remaining to seal the win.

1/30 vs. Mississippi: W 5-2 Mississippi couldn't find a way to slow Petr Pohl down for the second straight game as the Czech forward netted his first ECHL hat trick. His even strength goal at 3:49 of the first gave Johnstown the 1-0 lead and gave the crowd five dollars off of a ticket for the Sunday, March 8 home game as part of the We Score...You Score promotion. Pohl extended the lead on the power play at 10:51, but Mississippi fought back to tie it with goals from Alex Parent, at 17:10 of the first, and Jason Tejchma at 1:21 of the second. The Chiefs regrouped after Mississippi tied it, and Pohl completed the hat trick with his second PPG of the game at 5:10 of the second. The Chiefs never let Mississippi back into it, and Jarrett Konkle added two insurance markers to pad the win.

1/31 vs. Reading: W 5-3 Looking for its first three-game winning streak in two months, Johnstown powered past seventh place Reading last Saturday. Unlike the previous two games, the Chiefs spread the scoring around that game. Marty Mjelleli's first as a pro gave Johnstown the lead in the waning minutes of the first period, and Greg Gallagher's third of the season 36 seconds later, gave Johnstown a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission. Ryan Del Monte quickly added to that lead when he scored 33 seconds into the second period, but Dan Rudisuela put the visitors on the board exactly three minutes later. Another quick-strike tally to start the third, 13 seconds in, from Toby LaFrance proved to be the game winner. Todd Griffith's second of the weekend at 5:37 added insurance before Chris Stevens and Rudisuela made it tight with lat third period tallies.

CHIEFS CHOPS:

Scoring Streaks:

Goals:

- None

Assists:

- Ryan Del Monte; 1/30-1/31: 2 gms (3A)

- Blair Yaworski; 1/30-1/31: 2 gms (3A)

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

Points:

- Petr Pohl; 12/19-1/31: 8 gms (7G, 6A)

- Ryan Del Monte; 1/30-1/31: 2 gms (1G, 3A)

- Jarrett Konkle; 1/30-1/31: 2 gms (2G, 2A)

- Blair Yaworski; 1/30-1/31: 2 gms (3A)

- Todd Griffith; 1/28-1/31: 3 gms (2G, 2A)

- Ray Macias; 10/30-11/2: 4 gms (1G, 4A)

...And the Nominees Are: A pair of Johnstown Chiefs are in the running for ECHL weekly awards after a stellar trio of games last weekend. Petr Pohl has been nominated for Player of the Week, and Kris Mayotte is up for Goalie of the Week. Mayotte, who won the award with a 2-0-0 record from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2, went 3-0-0 this week with a 2.00 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. Mayotte's 18th win of the season came on Saturday against Reading and ties his career high for wins in a season. The Pittsburgh native was 18-9-4 with Fresno last season. Pohl, meanwhile, has been arguably the best player in the ECHL since returning from his six-game stint with Syracuse. His efforts this week included two three point games - 2G, 1A vs. Mississippi on Jan. 28 and 3G vs. Mississippi on Jan. 30 - and an assist in Saturday's 5-3 win over Reading. Pohl leads the team with 40 points and is tied with Ryan Del Monte for the team lead in assists with 22.

Streaking to New Heights: ECHL Player of the Week nominee Petr Pohl reached the longest point streak of the season for Johnstown with his two goal, one assist effort against Mississippi last Wednesday. With four points (3G, 1A) in the next two game's the Czech forward has points in eight straight games dating back to December. The streak began with an assist on Dec. 19 in a 7-3 win over Wheeling, and was extended with a goal and an assist against the Nailers the next night. Pohl's time in Johnstown was interrupted by a six-game reassignment to Syracuse in the AHL where he notched three points (1G, 2A) and a plus-2 rating. Since returning to Johnstown, Pohl has six goals and four assists in six games including three power play goals.

Offensive Awakening: It should surprise no one that Johnstown's recent success in the win-loss column has coincided with the offense and power play starting to produce again. When the calendar year turned to 2009, Johnstown's offense went dormant and produced more than two goals in a game only twice, and never more than three. After struggling to a 2-7-0 record through the three-fourths of January, the awakening began in earnest with a 3-1 against Mississippi , and was in full bloom with five-goal efforts in the next two games. Petr Pohl has led the charge with five goals and two in his last three games, but has had plenty of help. In last week's games 12 different Chiefs registered at least one point. Some highlights include: Toby LaFrance's first goal as a Chief, Marty Mjelleli's first pro goal, Ryan Card's first pro assist, Todd Griffith's first goal as a Chief, and a career-high three assist effort from Mike Bartlett. Over their last five games the Chiefs have gone 5-for-27 (18.5 percent) after snapping an 0-for-38 stretch that began on January 2.

Save the Date:

This is a reminder regarding some of the Chiefs' big promotions/events coming up in the near future.

- Feb. 13-15 - Hockey Weekend Across America: This is a weekend-long celebration of hockey in America, and Johnstown, that will be highlighted by a ceremony to honor Johnstown's hockey heroes on Sunday, Feb. 15. That afternoon, former Johnstown Jet great Reg Kent will have his number seven jersey retired in a pregame ceremony.

- Feb. 20 - Going Green Night #2 Presented by Business Records Management: To help in the going green effort the Chiefs, and Business Records Management, want you to bring your unwanted documents to the game to be securely disposed of and recycled. Anyone who brings documents to the game to be shredded will be entered in a raffle for great prizes, and folks buying walk up tickets can get one free kid's ticket with an adult ticket.

- Feb. 22 - Face Off Against Hunger: The Chiefs and Rotary International are teaming up to fight hunger in our area with a food drive at the game on Sunday, Feb. 22. Fans who donate non-perishable food items will receive $2 off their walk up ticket.

- March 4 - Pups and Pucks Night: For the second year in a row the War Memorial will be going to the dogs. Dog owners throughout the area are invited to bring their "best friend" to enjoy an exciting night.

- March 8 - AmeriServ Sellout Challenge #3: It's your last chance to sell out the arena and get free tickets to a future Chiefs game!



ECHL Stories from February 2, 2009


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