SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Tucson Roadrunners forward Michael Carcone, Cleveland Monsters defenseman David Jiricek and Calgary Wranglers goaltender Dustin Wolf have been selected as the league’s award winners for December.
Carcone, the AHL Player of the Month, scored 10 goals and added 10 assists for 20 points in 10 games for Tucson during December.
Carcone had six multi-point efforts during the month, beginning with consecutive one-goal, one-assist nights on Dec. 4 at San Jose and Dec. 9 vs. Ontario. He notched his sixth career AHL hat trick on Dec. 13, part of a four-point performance as the Roadrunners downed Coachella Valley, 7-2, and registered two goals and two assists in a 9-4 win at San Diego on Dec. 17. Carcone tallied two goals and an assist on Dec. 20 to lead Tucson to a 3-2 road win over Coachella Valley and added a goal and an assist on Dec. 22 in a 6-2 victory over San Diego. He was recalled after the Christmas break and played three games with Arizona to finish the month, scoring a goal in his season debut on Dec. 27 as the Coyotes defeated Colorado, 6-3.
Carcone leads the AHL in scoring with 42 points (16 goals, 26 assists) in 27 games for Tucson this season, including a league-best 10 power-play goals. The seventh-year pro from Ajax, Ont., has collected 108 goals and 116 assists for 224 points in 360 career AHL games with Tucson, Belleville, Toronto and Utica. Carcone signed as a free agent with Arizona on July 29, 2021, and has played 24 NHL games with the Coyotes, recording five goals and two assists.
Jiricek, the AHL Rookie of the Month, notched two goals and 10 assists for 12 points in nine games for Cleveland during December.
Jiricek recorded assists in back-to-back games against Rochester on Dec. 1 and Dec. 3, and tallied a goal and an assist as the Monsters erased a four-goal deficit and took a 6-5 shootout win in Hershey on Dec. 11. He had three assists in another come-from-behind win, this time vs. Laval on Dec. 17, and he notched a goal and an assist vs. Utica on Dec. 22 in his final contest before joining the Czech team at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he has two goals and four assists in five games heading into Wednesday’s semifinal vs. Sweden.
The sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Jiricek has notched five goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 19 AHL games for Cleveland this season. The 19-year-old native of Klatovy, Czech Republic, has also skated in two games with Columbus, making his NHL debut on Oct. 28. Before coming to North America, Jiricek played professionally for Plzen in the Czech Extraliga, where he won rookie of the year honors in 2020-21.
Wolf, the AHL Goaltender of the Month, went 8-1-0 over nine starts in December, stopping 263 of 277 shots to record a 1.57 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage to lead Calgary to the top of the AHL standings.
Wolf made 19 saves in a 7-3 win at San Diego on Dec. 2, then blanked the Gulls in consecutive starts on Dec. 3 and Dec. 9 before his shutout streak finally ended at 174 minutes, 17 seconds, in a loss to Manitoba on Dec. 13. Wolf came back and won his final five decisions of the month, setting season highs for saves in consecutive starts against the Moose on Dec. 15 (36 saves) and vs. Ontario on Dec. 20 (37 saves) and Dec. 21 (38 saves) before finishing December with wins at Bakersfield on Dec. 28 and at Ontario on New Year’s Eve.
A second-year pro, Wolf leads the AHL in wins (18), shutouts (3), minutes played (1,374), shots faced (687) and saves (638) this season, and ranks second in save percentage (.929) and fourth in goals-against average (2.18) over 23 appearances for the Wranglers. Wolf won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender as a rookie in 2021-22, and has a career record of 53-14-4 with a 2.33 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 73 AHL games with Calgary and Stockton. The 21-year-old native of Gilroy, Calif., was a seventh-round choice by the Calgary Flames in the 2019 NHL Draft.
