LOOKING BACK:
On Wednesday night, Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves as Hamilton blanked Albany, 1-0… Craig Weller and Ryan Callahan each had two goals in Hartford’s 4-3 win over Portland… Troy Brouwer netted the go-ahead goal with 5:03 left, sending Norfolk past Bridgeport, 3-1… Chicago improved to 5-0-0-0 on the road this season with a 4-2 win at Houston.
Wed 11/1
Hamilton 1, ALBANY 0… HARTFORD 4, Portland 3… NORFOLK 3, Bridgeport 1… Chicago 4, HOUSTON 2
Thu 11/2
No games scheduled
LOOKING AHEAD:
They haven’t met since Mar. 30, 2001, but Rochester and Springfield renew an old rivalry when the Amerks visit the MassMutual Center on Friday night… The history between two of the AHL’s most storied cities includes three Calder Cup Finals meetings, all won by the Springfield Indians (1960, 1990 and 1991)… This year’s Amerks have won eight of their first nine games, while the Falcons have won two of their last three following a four-game skid… A fixture with in Rochester for five seasons (2000-05), Springfield captain Norm Milley leads the team with 13 points in eight games… Clarke MacArthur paces the Amerks with eight points on the year… Rochester goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier played parts of three seasons for the Falcons, leading them to their last playoff appearance in 2003.
Grand Rapids and Manitoba renew their own rivalry with four meetings in six days, beginning with a pair at Van Andel Arena this weekend… The teams have not faced off against each other since the Griffins’ dramatic Game 7 win in last year’s division finals, in which the Moose took a 4-1 lead into the final moments of the second period before falling, 5-4… Drew MacIntyre, who earned the win in relief for Grand Rapids in that clincher, is now manning the Manitoba crease (1-3-1, 2.35, .922)… Jimmy Howard and Stefan Liv have shared the goaltending duties for the Griffins this season, alternating starts since opening night… Moose forward Jason Jaffray is the reigning CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week, with five goals and seven points in his last three games… Grand Rapids, wrapping up an eight-game homestand, is just 2-3-0-1 at Van Andel Arena this season after going 30-6-1-3 there a year ago.
Norfolk kicks off a six-game road swing with a busy weekend, including meetings with division leaders Portland (Friday) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Sunday)… The Admirals hit the road with a seven-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents by a 33-12 count… Corey Crawford has stopped 96 of 99 shots in his last four starts (0.75, .970)… Norfolk has already scored five shorthanded goals this year, three fewer than the team total from all of last season… Rookie Bryan Bickell has nine points to show for his first six pro games… The Pirates have lost three in a row after a 6-0-0-1 start… Michael Leighton, who won 75 games in four seasons with the Admirals from 2001-05, is 2-2-0 in five appearances for Portland… Pirates forward Pierre Parenteau has five goals and an assist in his last three games.
(all times Eastern)
Fri 11/3
Manitoba at Grand Rapids, 7:00… Providence at Hartford, 7:00… Bridgeport at Binghamton, 7:05… Albany at Philadelphia, 7:05… Norfolk at Portland, 7:05… Syracuse at Hamilton, 7:30… Lowell at Manchester, 7:35… Rochester at Springfield, 7:35… Iowa at Milwaukee, 8:00… Chicago at Omaha, 8:00… Toronto at Houston, 8:35
Sat 11/4
Providence at Albany, 7:00… Manitoba at Grand Rapids, 7:00… Houston at Hamilton, 7:00… Norfolk at Hartford, 7:00… Syracuse at Hershey, 7:00… Lowell at Binghamton, 7:05… W-B/Scranton at Philadelphia, 7:05… Bridgeport at Portland, 7:05… Worcester at Springfield, 7:05… Rochester at Manchester, 7:35… Iowa at Omaha, 8:00… Toronto at San Antonio, 8:00… Chicago at Peoria, 9:00
Sun 11/5
Hartford at Bridgeport, 4:00… Springfield at Lowell, 4:05… Binghamton at Providence, 4:05… Philadelphia at Hershey, 5:00… Iowa at Peoria, 5:00… Norfolk at W-B/Scranton, 5:05
Mon 11/6
No games scheduled
Tue 11/7
Grand Rapids at Manitoba, 8:30
ALUMNI WATCH:
On Thursday night, 2003 Calder Cup Playoffs MVP Johan Holmqvist made 30 saves for his first career NHL win, leading Tampa Bay past Philadelphia, 5-2… Maxim Afinogenov scored twice and Ales Kotalik once as Buffalo rallied for a 5-4 shootout win over Boston… 1996 AHL All-Star Manny Legace made 44 saves for St. Louis in a 4-1 win over Colorado.
BY THE NUMBERS:
115 — Combined number of seasons that AHL hockey has been played in the cities of Springfield (64th year) and Rochester (51st year).
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.
