AHL announces award winners for October

Photos: Ross Dettman, Micheline V, WBS Penguins

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Chicago Wolves forward Andrew Poturalski, Rochester Americans forward Jack Quinn and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Filip Lindberg have been selected as the league’s award winners for October.

Poturalski, the AHL Player of the Month, totaled five goals and nine assists for 14 points in six games for Chicago to begin the season.

Poturalski found the scoresheet in each of the Wolves’ first six games of 2021-22, including five consecutive multiple-point efforts. After picking up an assist in an opening-night loss to Rockford on Oct. 16, Poturalski picked up two helpers in a 3-2 win at Milwaukee on Oct. 22, and added a goal and an assist in a 6-1 win over the Admirals on Oct. 23. He tallied two assists as Chicago earned a 3-0 win at Grand Rapids on Oct. 27, and his goal and an assist helped the Wolves rally for a 4-2 win in Milwaukee on Oct. 29. Finally on Oct. 31, Poturalski recorded his first career hat trick and set a personal high with five points as Chicago defeated Grand Rapids, 6-3.

Coming off a season in which he won the AHL scoring title, Poturalski again leads the league with his 14 points. The sixth-year pro from Williamsville, N.Y., has played 305 regular-season games in the AHL with Chicago, San Diego and Charlotte and has registered 82 goals and 158 assists for 240 points. Poturalski was also named MVP of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs, when he tallied 23 points in 18 games as Charlotte won the championship. Originally signed by Carolina in 2016 as an undrafted free agent out of the University of New Hampshire, Poturalski returned to the Hurricanes organization on Aug. 11, 2021, signing a one-year contract. He has skated in two career NHL games, both with Carolina during the 2016-17 season.

Quinn, the AHL Rookie of the Month, tallied five goals and five assists for 10 points, already surpassing his offensive output from his truncated 2020-21 campaign.

Limited to 15 games last season after undergoing hernia surgery in April, Quinn returned to the Amerks and scored less than five minutes into their season-opening contest at Utica on Oct. 17. He notched his first three-point game as a pro on Oct. 22, picking up a goal and an assist in a 5-3 win over Syracuse, and his first career two-goal game lifted Rochester to a 7-3 victory at Toronto on Oct. 23. Quinn closed out the month by tallying two assists in a 4-3 win at Laval on Oct. 29, followed by a goal and an assist in a 6-5 overtime win over the Rocket on Oct. 30.

A first-round choice (eighth overall) by Buffalo in the 2020 NHL Draft, Quinn recorded two goals and seven assists in 15 games with Rochester as a 19-year-old last season. The native of Ottawa, Ont., also won a silver medal with Canada at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. Quinn played two seasons of junior hockey with Ottawa (OHL) and finished second in the league with 52 goals in 2019-20.

Lindberg, the AHL Goaltender of the Month, was 4-0-0 over his first four pro starts, allowing a total of seven goals on 121 shots (1.71, .942).

Lindberg made his professional debut on Oct. 16 and made 30 saves to backstop the Penguins to a 2-1 win over Lehigh Valley. He followed that with a 30-save effort on Oct. 22, earning a 2-1 overtime victory vs. Hartford. Lindberg stopped 20 shots in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 4-2 decision over Lehigh Valley on Oct. 27, and he finished with 34 saves as the Penguins edged Springfield, 4-3 in overtime, in a battle of the Atlantic Division’s top two teams on Oct. 30.

Lindberg signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh after three seasons at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he posted a record of 29-10-6, a 1.58 GAA and a .937 save percentage in 50 career appearances, including a shutout in the 2021 NCAA national championship game. The 22-year-old native of Espoo, Finland, was originally a seventh-round choice by Minnesota in the 2019 NHL Draft.