AHL American Hockey League

Wild, wild East

March 7, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... The four-team cluster atop the East Division is making for one of the wildest playoff races in recent memory, with one point currently separating the top four combatants.

Binghamton, Norfolk, Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have each occupied at least a share of first place at some point over the past weekend, with the Penguins and Senators reaching Monday morning with 75 points apiece, and the Phantoms and Admirals on their tails with 74 points each.


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East Division standings (since Feb. 25)
Feb. 25 Feb. 26 Feb. 27 Feb. 28-Mar. 2
PHI – 68 PHI – 70 NOR – 71 NOR – 71
BNG – 68 BNG – 70 PHI – 70 PHI – 70
NOR – 67 NOR – 69 BNG – 70 BNG – 70
WBS – 67 WBS – 67 WBS – 67 WBS – 69

Mar. 3-4 Mar. 5 Mar. 6 Mar. 7
NOR – 73 PHI – 74 BNG – 75 WBS – 75
PHI – 72 NOR – 73 PHI – 74 BNG – 75
BNG – 71 BNG – 73 WBS – 73 PHI – 74
WBS – 69 WBS – 71 NOR – 73 NOR – 74

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Wilkes-Barre's current four-game winning streak, which includes three one-goal victories over Philadelphia, has given them a division-leading .625 points percentage. Michel Ouellet leads the club with 30 goals, but hasn't found the net in nine games since the All-Star break, and Kris Beech (55 points in 55 games) is expected to be on the injured list for a month. Stepping up on offense, Matt Hussey has netted five goals during the Pens' four-game run, nearly matching his total (six) from the season's first 56 contests, while Ramzi Abid ranks second on the team with 22 goals on the year.

Binghamton has earned at least one point in nine of its last 10 outings (6-1-2-1), rebounding after a seven-game winless skid just prior to the All-Star break. Billy Thompson is 11-2-1 in the nets since Dec. 19, Jason Spezza continues to hang on to the overall AHL scoring lead with 85 points and Brandon Bochenski remains first in the rookie scoring race.

Philadelphia, which lost both ends of a home-and-home to the Penguins over the weekend, has been within striking distance of first place all season thanks to their early 17-game winning streak. Norfolk, meanwhile, ended a 10-game road jaunt on Sunday with a 5-4-0-1 mark, four points closer to first place than when they started on Feb. 20. The Admirals now play 14 of their final 18 games on home ice, where they are 18-7-0-1 so far this season.

And the Hershey Bears are still looking to crash the party as well, currently eight points out of the final playoff spot in the division. Hershey, which missed an invitation to the 2004 postseason by a single point, has not missed the Calder Cup Playoffs in back-to-back seasons since 1984-85.


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ROCH KEEPS ROLLIN' ... The Rochester Americans continue to pile up big numbers, and now have the two biggest ones in their sights: 57 and 124, the AHL records for wins and points in a season set by the 1992-93 Binghamton Rangers. The 2004-05 Americans, whose 96 points through 62 games match the pace set by those Rangers, need 13 wins and 28 points in their final 18 contests to match those marks.

The 2004-05 Americans – winners of eight in a row, 20-1-0-2 in their last 23 and a remarkable 36-4-1-4 since U.S. Thanksgiving – were one point out of first place in the North Division on the morning of Jan. 25. Six weeks later, they are 20 points up on second-place Manitoba and on the verge of their fourth 100-point season in seven years.

Another AHL record – 19 straight home wins – is also within reach. The Amerks have won 17 in a row on home ice heading into this week, with games at the Blue Cross Arena against the Binghamton Senators on Wednesday and Friday and the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday.


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Chasing History (through 62 games)
1992-93 Binghamton 44-10-8 96 pts.
2004-05 Rochester 44-10-3-5 96 pts.

04-05 Amerks 92-93 Rangers
63. Wed. vs. BNG 3/12 vs. Baltimore (W, 4-1)
64. Fri. vs. BNG 3/13 vs. Cap. Dist. (W, 6-2)
65. Sat. at SYR 3/17 at Adirondack (W, 5-3)
66. Sun. vs. SYR 3/19 vs. Utica (W, 7-2)

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CLEAR DAY SET ... Clear Day for the 2004-05 season has been set for Thursday, March 17. Each member club is required to submit their Clear Day list to the AHL office by 3:00 p.m. ET on that day. Only those 22 players listed on a team's Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the AHL regular season and in the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension. Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts after Clear Day, but only once their respective junior or college seasons are complete.


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OFF THE ICE ... Philadelphia raised $37,800 for the Phantoms Wives Charities with their jersey auction following Sunday's game... Lowell is holding a ticket fundraiser and jersey raffle on Wednesday to raise money for Helping Hands, a Boston-based organization whose goal is to improve the quality of life for quadriplegics by training monkeys to assist them with daily activities; Ayla, a 10-year-old capuchin monkey, will drop the ceremonial first puck.


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ETC. ... Philadelphia's Neil Little made 33 saves in Friday's 4-0 win at Bridgeport, becoming the 10th goaltender in AHL history with 200 career regular-season victories... Jason LaBarbera stopped 29 shots in Hartford's 2-0 win at San Antonio on Saturday, becoming the 16th goaltender in AHL history with 20 career shutouts... Chicago's Tommi Santala has recorded an assist in 11 straight games, the longest such streak since Christian Dube had a helper in 12 straight contests for Hartford during the 1997-98 season... Binghamton's Jason Spezza opened up an 85-80 lead over Manchester's Mike Cammalleri atop the AHL scoring race with four points on Saturday night; Cammalleri responded with four points of his own on Sunday, making it 85-84... Hamilton was 3-for-3 on the power play and scored two shorthanded goals in a 5-4 win over Cleveland on Saturday... Edmonton ended a nine-game winless skid on Mike Bishai's overtime goal at Syracuse on Saturday... Utah's Peter White has tied Bruce Cline for 14th place on the AHL's all-time scoring list with 773 career points... Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has not lost in regulation in 15 meetings this season with division foes Philadelphia (6-0-0-3) and Norfolk (5-0-1-0)... Lowell earned its first regulation win in 27 tries against Providence with a 3-2 decision on Friday... Portland has won six straight at home, their longest such streak since January 2000... Before Saturday's 3-2 setback at St. John's, Hershey had won nine consecutive shootouts dating back to its previous loss, a 4-3 defeat to Roydon Gunn and the Springfield Indians on Oct. 24, 1986.

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