Milwaukee’s O’Reilly named Player of the Month

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass.
… The American Hockey League announced today that Milwaukee Admirals center Cal O’Reilly has been named the CCM/AHL Player of the Month for February. O’Reilly led all AHL scorers with 24 points on five goals and 19 assists in 16 games last month.

O’Reilly began the month with a pair of big games, tallying a goal and two assists in a 5-4 win over Chicago on Feb. 1 and dishing out four assists in a 7-3 win at Peoria on Feb. 2. His seven-point weekend earned him Rbk/AHL Player of the Week honors. O’Reilly then registered the first five-point game by an Admiral this season (1g, 4a) in a 6-4 victory at Grand Rapids on Feb. 16, and came back with two goals and an assist in a 4-0 win at Rockford on Feb. 17. He also assisted on the game-tying goal in what would be a 5-4 overtime win at Iowa on Feb. 21.

In recognition of his achievement, O’Reilly will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Admirals home game.

A second-year pro and a 2005 draft choice by the Nashville Predators, O’Reilly ranks third in the AHL in assists (51) and points (64) and leads Milwaukee in plus/minus rating (+12) while appearing in all 62 games so far this season. The 21-year-old Toronto native led all AHL rookies in 2006-07 with 47 assists and was the Admirals’ second-leading scorer with 65 points in 78 contests.

Other nominees for CCM/AHL Player of the Month include Albany center Jamie Johnson, Binghamton left wing Denis Hamel, Bridgeport center Trevor Smith, Chicago center Jason Krog, Grand Rapids right wing Darren McCarty, Hamilton center Mikhail Grabovski, Hartford defenseman Andrew Hutchinson, Houston goaltender Barry Brust, Lake Erie goaltender Mike Wall, Lowell right wing Barry Tallackson, Manitoba center Brad Moran, Norfolk right wing Norm Milley, Peoria right wing Nikolay Lemtyugov, Philadelphia center Jared Ross, Portland right wing Bobby Ryan, Providence right wing Jeff Hoggan, Quad City center Krys Kolanos, Rochester left wing Marc-Andre Gragnani, Rockford right wing Derek Nesbitt, San Antonio right wing Bill Thomas, Springfield center Marc Pouliot, Syracuse center Derek MacKenzie, Toronto right wing Jeremy Williams and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton right wing Jean-Michel Daoust.