AHL Quick Hits — January 5-7, 2007

LOOKING BACK:
On Thursday night, Eric Godard recorded two goals and two assists to lead Omaha past Milwaukee, 4-3… Marek Schwarz made 35 saves as Peoria beat Houston in a shootout, 4-3… On Wednesday, Brandon Bochenski tied an AHL record with his second consecutive hat trick, pacing Norfolk past Hershey, 5-4… Darren Haydar ran his scoring streak to 37 games with two goals in Chicago’s 5-3 loss to Houston… Mike Iggulden scored twice as Worcester defeated Springfield, 5-3.

Wed 1/3
HARTFORD 4, Providence 1… NORFOLK 5, Hershey 4… HAMILTON 4, Iowa 3 (OT)… Houston 5, CHICAGO 3… PEORIA 3, Omaha 2 (OT)… WORCESTER 5, Springfield 3

Thu 1/4
Peoria 4, HOUSTON 3 (SO)… MANITOBA 6, Rochester 4… Omaha 4, MILWAUKEE 3… SAN ANTONIO 3, Syracuse 2 (SO)


LOOKING AHEAD:
Grand Rapids heads east for a three-game road trip beginning in Wilkes-Barre on Friday night… It’s the first meeting between the teams since the Griffins defeated the Penguins in a 2003 Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series… Grand Rapids is coming off back-to-back shutout wins over division foes Hamilton and Rochester last weekend, and is 3-1-2-0 in its last six games… Kip Miller had a hand in all five Griffins goals in those two victories, scoring twice and adding three assists… On Dec. 1, Wilkes-Barre was in first place in the East Division; the Penguins have gone 9-2-1-1 since then, but have fallen to third place… Defenseman Noah Welch has tallied 10 points (3g, 7a) in his last eight games for the Pens, and Kyle Brodziak has 13 points (5g, 8a) in his last 10.

The top half of the North Division could get a makeover this weekend as Rochester (47 pts.) takes its precarious lead into road tilts against Manitoba (45 pts.) on Friday and Hamilton (46 pts.) on Saturday… The Amerks dropped a 6-4 decision to the Moose on Thursday night, despite two-point nights from Drew Stafford, Rob Globke and Greg Jacina… Rochester, 8-9-0-0 in its last 17 games, is looking to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season… Brad Moran’s four-point effort on Thursday gives him 11 points (2g, 9a) in the Moose’s last four games… Manitoba enters the weekend on an eight-game points streak (4-0-2-2), and with just one regulation loss in its 13 games (8-1-2-2).

Manchester has surged to the top of the Atlantic Division, but faces three tough tests this weekend, beginning Friday night in Hartford… The Monarchs have won four in a row and are 10-2-1-0 since Dec. 3, opening up a six-point lead atop the rest of the division… The other six teams are separated by just four points, with the Wolf Pack finally climbing out of the basement with Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Providence… Al Montoya ran his personal winning streak to five games with 28 saves for Hartford on Wednesday… Former Pack goalie Jason LaBarbera has won nine of his last 12 decisions, including a 26-save shutout of Springfield on New Year’s Eve… The Monarchs host the Bruins on Saturday before heading to Portland on Sunday.

(all times Eastern)
Fri 1/5
Bridgeport at Albany, 7:00… Manchester at Hartford, 7:00… Toronto at Binghamton, 7:05… Lowell at Philadelphia, 7:05… Worcester at Providence, 7:05… Grand Rapids at W-B/Scranton, 7:05… Hershey at Norfolk, 7:15… Iowa at Hamilton, 7:30… Portland at Springfield, 7:35… Chicago at Omaha, 8:00… Rochester at Manitoba, 8:30

Sat 1/6
Grand Rapids at Albany, 7:00… Rochester at Hamilton, 7:00… Iowa at Toronto, 7:00… Philadelphia at Binghamton, 7:05… Worcester at Portland, 7:05… Hartford at Springfield, 7:05… Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 7:05… Lowell at Norfolk, 7:15… Providence at Manchester, 7:35… Peoria at San Antonio, 8:00… Chicago at Milwaukee, 8:30… Syracuse at Houston, 8:35

Sun 1/7
Worcester at Hartford, 4:00… Manchester at Portland, 4:05… Springfield at Providence, 4:05… San Antonio at Houston, 6:05

Mon 1/8
Grand Rapids at Philadelphia, 7:05

Tue 1/9
Peoria at Chicago, 8:00


ALUMNI WATCH:
On Thursday, former AHL All-Stars Bates Battaglia (2g) and John Pohl (1g, 2a) helped Toronto to a 10-2 win in Boston… Two-time AHL All-Star Lawrence Nycholat had a goal and an assist in Washington’s 5-1 win over Montreal… 2005 AHL All-Star Zach Parise scored twice as New Jersey beat the N.Y. Islanders, 4-3… David Booth scored his first NHL goal in Florida’s 4-3 overtime loss at Calgary… Josh Gorges netted his first NHL goal in San Jose’s 9-4 win over Detroit.


BY THE NUMBERS:
48
— Players who will become AHL All-Stars when the rosters for the 2007 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic are announced on Tuesday. The event is set for January 28-29 at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto.


AHL ON B2 NETWORKS:
B2 Networks brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts of nearly every AHL game… Visit theahl.com for details.