AHL American Hockey League

Wolf Pack Howling Atop Standings

Published on November 3, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MA ... Nearly one month into the AHL's 2003-04 season, the Hartford Wolf Pack find themselves atop the league standings with 16 points, and are the only team still without a regulation loss.

The Wolf Pack are unbeaten in their last six games and own a 6-0-3-1 record overall, with a five-point cushion over Springfield and Manchester in the Atlantic Division. The leader of the Pack, second-year head coach Ryan McGill, has his team looking to rebound from a disappointing 2002-03 campaign which ended in a qualifying series sweep.

Hartford's early success has come courtesy of team defense, as the Wolf Pack lead the AHL allowing just 1.6 goals per game. Rookie Fedor Tyutin already has three goals and five assists in his first 10 games as a pro, and his plus-6 rating leads all team defensemen. Lawrence Nycholat and John Jakopin provide leadership on the blue line, while Jason LaBarbera is in just his second full season in the AHL, but he has established himself among the top goaltenders in the league with a 1.72 goals against average and .928 save percentage in nine outings this year.

Offensively, Chad Wiseman, a 22-year-old left wing acquired in the offseason from San Jose, is atop Hartford's scoring page with nine points on the year. Wiseman had totaled 38 goals and 102 points over the previous two seasons with the Cleveland Barons. Rookie Jed Ortmeyer has seven points and is tied for the team lead with a plus-6 rating in his debut out of the University of Michigan.

Ken Gernander, who has worn the captain's "C" for the Rangers' affiliates in Binghamton and Hartford since 1995, is closing in on 600 points for his AHL career, and he is joined this year by 1998 Calder Cup champion Paul Healey and two-time Calder Cup finalist Jason MacDonald in bringing experience to the Wolf Pack's group of young forwards.

Hartford's record represents the best 10-game start in the franchise's seven-year history, surpassing the team's 7-3-0-0 beginning to the 1998-99 season. Hartford skates 10 of its 11 November games against Atlantic Division opponents, including three against the arch-rival Providence Bruins.

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THE MOORE THE MERRIER ... Hartford rookie center Dominic Moore certainly had a weekend to remember. The former All-American at Harvard was recalled by the parent New York Rangers on Friday, then recorded three assists in the Blueshirts' 5-1 win in Montreal on Saturday, tying a franchise record for points by a Ranger in his NHL debut.

The next day, with his parents in the Madison Square Garden stands, Dominic and the Rangers faced older brother Steve Moore and the Colorado Avalanche, the first time the two had ever faced each other competitively. Steve left MSG with bragging rights after the Avs' 3-2 overtime victory.

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FALCONS TO NAME ANNIVERSARY TEAM ... From now until January 4, fans can visit falconsahl.com and vote for the Springfield Falcons' 10th Anniversary Team.

Springfield has been one of the most successful development teams since the Falcons came to town in 1994-95. Falcons alumni through the years include Nikolai Khabibulin, Shane Doan, Brad Isbister, Trevor Letowski, Daniel Briere, Robert Esche, Olli Jokinen, Sami Kapanen, Chad Kilger, Jason Krog, Manny Legace, Marek Malik and Radoslav Suchy.

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HALL HONORS 103rd, 104th AHL GRADS ... With Brian Kilrea and Grant Fuhr among today's inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame, 104 of the Hall's honored members now have ties to the AHL.

Kilrea played parts of 10 seasons in the AHL with the Springfield Indians/Kings and Rochester Americans, recording six 20-goal seasons and helping the Indians to three consecutive Calder Cup championships (1960-62). Fuhr had five separate stints in the AHL during his 19-year career, including one in 1982-83, one year before backstopping Edmonton to its first Stanley Cup title.

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OFF THE ICE ... After a two-game series in Utah on Friday and Saturday, Bridgeport Sound Tigers athletic trainer Garrett Timms returned east and finished Sunday's New York City Marathon in a net time of 4:15:55, just 63 seconds behind Sean "P. Diddy" Combs... The PNC Bank Penguins Check Card, featuring the logo of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, will be available this week to new and existing PNC customers... Both Syracuse (Nov. 7) and Philadelphia (Nov. 9) will be holding a Finding Nemo Night, with the Phantoms sponsoring a screening of the hit Disney/Pixar feature film, a movie poster giveaway at the game against Bridgeport and a concourse display by the New Jersey State Aquarium... Syracuse's Mike Pandolfo has been selected to participate in the Syracuse Post-Standard's "Perfect Pair" contest, where readers will play matchmaker for one bachelor and one bachelorette to go on a dream date (accompanied by a reporter and photographer), including limousine service, horseback riding, a day spa visit and dinner at a classic Italian restaurant.

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ETC. ... Toronto's Sean McAslan scored the first-ever goal at the Ricoh Coliseum, 12:06 into the second period of the Roadrunners' 1-1 tie with Rochester on Saturday; the 'Runners entertained a capacity crowd of 9,500 at their inaugural home opener... With his first-period goal on Sunday against Providence, the team he led to the 1999 Calder Cup championship, Springfield co-captain Peter Ferraro became the 66th member of the AHL's 500-point club; the three-time AHL All-Star ended the week with 501 points in 468 career AHL games... On Saturday in Binghamton, St. John's scored three times in the third period, including Kyle Wellwood's equalizer with 1:15 left, before Harold Druken's overtime goal gave the Maple Leafs a 4-3 win; the next day in Toronto, the Leafs trailed 3-0 and 4-2 before rallying for a 6-4 victory... Norfolk has been outscored 13-1 in the first five games of a 10-game road trip, and has scored just once in the last 317 minutes, 34 seconds of play... Travis Brigley netted his first NHL goal in Colorado's 3-2 win over the N.Y. Rangers on Sunday... Drew Fata, younger brother of two-time AHL All-Star Rico Fata, scored in his AHL debut with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday night... Manchester's Adam Hauser, who led Minnesota to the NCAA championship in 2002, has stopped all 56 shots he has faced in two starts this season, shutting out Providence on Oct. 26 and Norfolk on Nov. 2... Richard Scott, whose career high for goals in a season is two, scored twice – once shorthanded and once on a power play – in Hartford's 5-2 win over Providence on Friday night... Eight of the 12 AHL games played on Saturday required overtime... A season-high crowd of 12,818 fans at Allstate Arena saw Chicago erase a three-goal deficit to defeat Grand Rapids on Saturday, 4-3.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 3, 2003


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