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January
01/31/04 Bridgeport trips up Monarchs at Verizon
Staff Report Union LeaderMANCHESTER – Five unanswered goals silenced the Monarchs’ tenth sellout crowd of the season – a very rare occurrence – as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers outplayed Manchester over the last two periods, stealing away with a 5-2 victory.
Bridgeport (26-11-6-3, 61 points) is unbeaten in three and took sole claim of first in the East Division since Philadelphia tied Atlantic Division-leading Hartford last night. The Sound Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak on the road and ended the five-game home-ice win streak of Monarchs goalie Mathieu Chouinard (20 saves).
Rob Collins scored twice and assisted on a goal, while Kevin Colley, Derek Bekar and Ryan Kraft added single tallies for the Sound Tigers who pumped in more than three goals in a game for the first time in 12 outings.
“Nobody’s cheering this time,” said Bekar, a former Monarch not re-signed by the Los Angeles Kings in the off-season. “A few boos. . . . It’s definitely easier to get pumped up coming into a building like this even as the enemy.”
“(Bridgeport) just shut the door,” said Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau.
The Monarchs (23-19-2-3, 51 points) have dropped two straight but stay third in the tight Atlantic Division tied with Worcester. Mike Cammalleri figured in on both Manchester goals.
Colley, in his first full AHL season, scored at 10:59 of the final period and Collins added his second of the game on an empty net with 1:04 to go for insurance.
The Monarchs may have killed off 22 straight opponent power plays, but it was a shorthander before those last two goals that killed them. Collins’ first goal in 27 games was a crowd-squelching shorthander seven minutes into the third period putting Bridgeport ahead, 3-2. Game over. A second-year pro out of Ferris State, Collins intercepted the point-to-point pass of Monarchs’ all-star defenseman Bryan Muir. From his own blue line Collins carried and finished.
Boudreau was right to the point, saying the Monarchs were beaten “on bad plays.”
“I don’t know what (Muir) was thinking,” Boudreau said. “He made a mistake. He made a bad play. I’m sure he knows he made a bad play. He’s not a dummy.”
Bekar and former Minnesota star Kraft tied the game 2-2 in the second period. Bekar knotted it with his 18th goal via a backdoor one-timer completing Tomi Pettinen’s and Alan Letang’s perfect passing at 13:01. Chouinard’s personal shutout streak ended at 173 minutes and 24 seconds when Bridgeport’s Kraft completed a 2-on-1, 3:40 into the second.
“I’d like to say it was just one of those games, but it was one of those games we wanted to win pretty badly,” Boudreau said. “They came back and beat us pretty good. . . . We figured if we can get two it should be enough to win against these guys. They had scored 12 goals in the last 16 games.”
Just two minutes into the second period the Monarchs were threatening a runaway. They had their “two” as Sam Ftorek finished Cammalleri’s dig off the backboards. Ftorek’s third goal of the season was especially sweet since he was cut by the Sound Tigers in preseason camp.
Cammalleri ripped away the only goal of the opening period just 1:38 in. Slicing through three Sound Tigers starting at his own blue line, Cammalleri fired a wrister off the stick of Sound Tigers defenseman Alain Nasreddine that cleanly beat Tigers goalie Dieter Kochan (33 saves) over the shoulder.
“There are some games where you have a bad feeling, but I wasn’t nervous,” said Bridgeport coach Greg Cronin, a past Islanders assistant. “Obviously we hadn’t scored a lot and there was some concern about our ability to come back.”
Bridgeport played without leading scorer, all-star right wing Jeff Hamilton, who has been out since Jan. 3 after an accidental high stick injured his left eye. Hamilton leads the league in goals with 25.
The Monarchs are at Worcester tonight at 7:05. They return home to host Worcester on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 7:35 p.m.
01/31/04 Ex-Monarch's 'strange' return
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports WriterMANCHESTER - Derek Bekar was back home last night, but in the wrong uniform. The former UNH Wildcat left wing faced his old AHL teammates, the Manchester Monarchs, for the first time ever in front of a partisan-packed Verizon Wireless Arena.
“Definitely strange being on the other team,” said Bekar, a 28-year-old fifth-year pro skating for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. “A little different. I know all the guys. . . . Definitely strange and being back in the Verizon for the enemy is different.”
During the off season, Monarchs leading scorers Bekar and Eric Healey were cut loose by the Kings, making room for a slew of young draft pick gunners the Kings hope will soon play prime time in Hollywood. Bekar is the Sound Tigers’ second-leading scorer with 17 goals and four assists. In an earlier meeting against the Monarchs – a 2-1 Sound Tigers victory – Bekar scored and assisted on the game winner. Sound familiar?
“I was a little surprised,” he said of the Kings not re-signing him after he produced 38 points in 51 games in Manchester a year ago.
“I was kinda hoping to re-sign,” he said. “It’s a business. No matter what you do it’s a business and they make up their minds.”
So call him “Off-Broadway” Bekar now. He toils for the New York Islanders in Bridgeport, Conn., where they can’t sell out a row, let alone a building. But, instead of thrilling full houses, now Bekar is trying to spoil ‘em. Not only is he still doing damage in the AHL, Bekar was also up with the Islanders for two weeks (four games) right after Christmas.
“It turned out well. I got a contract with the Islanders and it’s been a fun year,” he said.
AROUND THE AHL: The Monarchs recalled rugged cornerman Leon Hayward from the Reading (Pa.) Royals of the ECHL. . . . Former UNH defenseman Garrett Stafford has been named to the AHL all-stars. Stafford, a rookie with the Cleveland Barons, is the second-leading scoring defenseman in the league with 8-21-29 in 40 games. Overall he is third in rookie scoring. Stafford started the season on an AHL tryout contract and has since signed a two-way deal between the San Jose Sharks and Barons. . . . Sanbornville native Freddie Meyer, a defensive product out of the Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan and Boston University, is making a name for himself by doing a solid job with the Philadelphia Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers). Throughout his career the 5-foot-10 (according to the media guide) Meyer has overcome the Doubting Thomases. Meyer, 23, plays big and is a offensive threat very reminiscent of a young Don Sweeney.
PICKING THEIR FIGHTS: As the Monarchs climb in the standings their penalty minutes are staying in check compared to the rest of the league. “The game is changing. You don’t see the line brawls,” said Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau. “Joe Rullier fights when he has to. Some people fight for the sake of fighting. I think both him, Ryan (Flinn) and George (Parros) have done a great job. They fight when the team needs a lift or somebody takes liberties with someone on our team.”
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? The Monarchs equaled their season best allowing only three shots in the first period by the Providence Bruins last Friday. A night later the Monarchs equaled their season’s worst when they got off only three first-period shots against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
MONARCHS ABOUT TOWN: Tuesday defenseman Randy Perry and forward Mike Cammalleri will be at a youth hockey practice at Manchester’s JFK Arena from 6-7 p.m. . . . Also Tuesday night at 6, T.R. Brennan’s restaurant at the corner of Hanover and Page streets will host dinner with goalie Chouinard, defensemen Tomas Zizka, Denis Grebeshkov and Doug Nolan . . . Goalie Adam Hauser and defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov will assist a youth hockey practice on Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. at the West Side Arena in Manchester.
BIRTHDAY TO THE MAX: Monarchs mascot “Max” celebrates his birthday on Sunday, Feb. 29 when the Monarchs host the Providence Bruins at 4:05 p.m. The first 3,000 kids 12 and under at the game receive Harry Potter glow-in-the-dark glasses. The game will also feature a laser light show.
MONARCHS MOVERS & SHAKERS: Account executive Jason Bergeron, who played his high school hockey at Manchester West, will be skating against the Boston Bruins alumni on Feb. 14 at St. Anselm College’s Sullivan Arena. The event benefits the Manchester Regional Youth Hockey Association and the St. Anselm women’s hockey club. Tickets for the 6 p.m. game are $10.
Monarchs players are getting involved in DARE graduations this year at schools around the state . . . On a fact finding mission in preparation for their hosting of the 2005 AHL all-star game, nine members of the Monarchs staff are traveling to this year’s all-star game in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Feb. 9 . . . Manchester’s 2004 all-stars Bryan Muir, Steve Kelly, Pavel Rosa and Noah Clarke will be presented their commemorative jerseys at tonight’s game . . . Incidentally, the Ryan Flinn bobblehead dolls (with stick) were scooped up like hotcakes on eBay.
01/30/04 Nashua's Giuliano sharp on the ice
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderTHE MANCHESTER Monarchs have found their diamond in the rough.
Nashua’s Jeff Giuliano, nicknamed “Jewels” by his Monarchs teammates, is now mixing it up in the AHL on Manchester’s first line.
Since moving to the left wing on the top line with all-stars Steve Kelly and Pavel Rosa, Giuliano has contributed four points in four games. It is Giuliano’s best points streak in two years of AHL play.
“I thought they did a good job. It was good for Jewels,” said Monarchs head coach Bruce Boudreau. “He brings energy to that line. He’s got so much speed, he creates opening for both of those guys.”
“No one was really scoring except Kelly and Rosa so (Boudreau’s) just trying to get everyone to get going . . . He switched everything up and every line is clicking now.”
Asked if he viewed his current first line status as a “promotion” Giuliano, the rather soft-spoken humble pro out of Boston College, said, “No, not really. I think they just wanted to mix everything up and get some new chemistry going. I’m just trying to go out there and work hard, go to the net and stuff . . . I’ve gotten a lot of chances and I’ve gotten a couple goals, so it’s been good.”
Giuliano, who last season played the most hockey games of anyone in the Kings organization, has appeared in 46 Monarchs games this season. Only Rosa, the second leading scorer in the league, has skated in as many.
“(Giuliano) earned his spot,” said Boudreau. “He’s come in and he works his tail to the bone every night. He’s like Chris Schmidt and Jerred Smithson (Giuliano’s linemates for most of the season). They might not put up big numbers, but you know when they come to the rink you’re going to get their paychecks worth.”
Giuliano will stay on the first line tonight at 7:35 when the Monarchs host East Division leader, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Yesterday there were approximately 300 seats remaining for the game.
Giuliano is on an AHL contract. Since he is not directly on a Kings’ NHL deal, one wonders if there’s any backlash on Boudreau within the organization.
“I think everybody in the dressing room is part of a team whether they’re on an NHL contract, an American League contract or a tryout agreement,” said Boudreau. “Nobody has any ill feelings for Jeff because he’s on an American League contract. Jeff is such a really nice person and a good guy. I think everybody is really happy when he has any kind of success.
“It’s not like he’s shy,” added Boudreau. “He goes into the corners and works his tail off. He’s in great shape.”
Which leads to the big money question. What chance does the 5-foot-9, 200-pound Giuliano have of advancing to the NHL?
“Never say, ‘never’ and you never say, ‘no,’” said Boudreau. “I just know he’s improved from last year when he didn’t have a shot. With the energy and the way he skates, he’s got a chance as long as he keeps the dream alive. As long as he keeps improving and works on his game. Jeff’s got more drive than a lot of guys who have made it.”
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Goalie Mathieu Chouinard extended his personal shut out streak to 149 minutes and 44 seconds with his 2-0 victory at Hartford last Saturday. He strained his knee the following day in warmups at Hartford. Chouinard practiced yesterday for the first time since the injury. He is listed as day-to-day. In Verizon Wireless Arena, Chouinard remains unbeaten in five since the start of the season.
SHOUT OUT ABOUT SHUT OUTS: The Monarchs have six shut outs this season, one better than their total for all of last season.
RULLIER RULES: Defenseman Joe Rullier‘s 169 regular-season games is the most ever by a Monarch. The 24-year-old, fourth-year pro from Montreal leads all Kings minor league defensemen in total games played (232) since 2000.
“He’s never stopped improving,” said Boudreau. “No disrespect to Joe, but his first year coming out of juniors in Quebec was a real culture shock for him. Being in the American League was a lot more than he thought it would be. I was extremely tough on him the first two years. He has survived that and become a better man and player for it.
“It was the third year where he really improved,” said Boudreau. “It was dramatic. He’s making himself into a hockey player. He plays the game very hard.”
As a pro, Rullier’s three goals and nine assists last season is a career best. Does it take numbers for a stay-at-home defenseman to make the NHL?
“I think now he realizes he’s a defensive physical defenseman,” Boudreau said. “I don’t think he goes home at night thinking, ‘Uh-oh, I didn’t score’ and worries about it to get in the game tomorrow.”
01/28/04 Forging ahead on the road
By BRUCE BOUDREAU
Special to The Union LeaderWE’RE MAKING progress on the road, as evidenced by our wins against the Providence Bruins and the Hartford Wolf Pack last weekend. By winning two out of three, we solidified our hold on third place in the Atlantic Division.
Friday’s first period against the Bruins represented one of our finest periods this season. Our guys were flying. If not for the outstanding play of rookie goaltender Hannu Toivonen, the game could’ve gotten out of hand. Still, the Baby B’s are in second place in our division because they never go away quietly. They fought their way back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game late in the third period.
Credit the Bruins for the comeback, and credit the Monarchs for finishing strong and winning in overtime. Center Michael Cammalleri’s game-winner on a breakaway gave us the 4-3 decision with less than six seconds remaining on the overtime clock.
We went into Saturday’s game against the Wolf Pack feeling like we had something to prove. We were winless in two previous games at the Hartford Civic Center this season, and we were beaten soundly by the Wolf Pack (5-0 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Jan. 11) in the last meeting between the teams.
Everyone contributed in our 2-0 win. All 19 guys were on the same page. They showed a lot of character and pride by playing a solid 60 minutes before a large and hostile crowd.
Goaltender Mathieu Chouinard was the No. 1 star in Saturday’s game. His 34-save performance was a good indication of what kind of a goaltender he can be. Unfortunately, just when he was getting into gear and starting to play like a first-round draft pick, he went down with an injury. He suffered a knee sprain while warming up for Sunday’s rematch with the Wolf Pack and is day-to-day with the injury. We’ll probably know a little bit more about his status later in the week.
Hartford was a desperate team on Sunday and it showed, as they raced out to a 4-0 lead. They had been held without a goal in two straight home games and the scoreless streak was approaching nearly 200 minutes when they broke through with four middle period goals in 8:28 of clock time.
Even though we didn’t deserve to win Sunday’s game, our guys closed strong with third period goals from right wing George Parros and Cammalleri. That display of character sent one final message to a team we could very easily see again in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Sunday’s game marked the eighth and final contest in the season series between the Monarchs and the Wolf Pack. We finished with a 4-4-0-0 overall record against the division leaders, with three of our four wins coming at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Two of our wins came by shutout.
Left wing Jeff Giuliano has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in four games since joining a line with center Steve Kelly and right wing Pavel Rosa. Giuliano has the speed to keep up with both, and the aggressive nature of his game compliments their play. Moving him to that line was an experiment that seems to be working. We have him skating with Kelly and Rosa again this week.
The Kings on Monday recalled defenseman Tomas Zizka. They are in the middle of a tough stretch with four games in six days, and they had only six healthy defensemen on their roster. Zizka is coming off two of his best games this season. He’ll be available for tonight’s game when the Kings play at “The Pond” against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
1/27/04
01/26/04 Wolf Pack deals out pay back to Monarchs
Union Leader SportsThe Hartford Wolf Pack snapped a home scoreless streak approaching 200 minutes with four second period goals, and went on the beat the Manchester Monarchs, 4-2, before a Hartford Civic Center crowd of 5,447 yesterday afternoon.
The Atlantic Division-leading Wolf Pack (25-14-7-1, 58 points) snapped its three-game winless streak with the win. The loss for the third place Monarchs (23-18-2-3, 51 points) was their first in four games. Yesterday’s game also marked the eighth and final regular season meeting between the teams, with each side finishing the season series with four wins.
Goaltender Adam Hauser, making a surprise start after scheduled starter Mathieu Chouinard was injured during the pregame skate, faced 17 shots in the scoreless first period. He was under pressure early as left wing Garth Murray fired a shot into his pads after stealing the puck at center ice in the opening three minutes. Hauser also got a piece of center Ken Gernander’s backhander at the six-minute mark, and had a little luck on his side as right wing Jason MacDonald’s blast from the slot kissed the crossbar 10 seconds later.
The Wolf Pack stopped its home scoreless streak at 190 minutes and 25 seconds with center Bobby Andrews’ goal at 11:02 of the second period. Andrews collected his eighth goal this season by scooping up a loose puck in the right corner and jamming it inside the right post. Defenseman Jayme Filipowicz earned the lone assist on the tally.
Right wing Paul Healey’s ninth goal this season made it 2-0 Hartford at 15:15 of the period. With Hauser on his stomach in the crease and unable to locate of the puck, Healey skated in from the left wing and slid it under Hauser’s right pad. Andrews and defenseman Lawrence Nycholat shared assists on the play.
Andrews and Healey also had a hand in the third Wolf Pack goal, scored by Dusablon at 17:13. Like Healey’s tally just minutes before, Dusablon took advantage of a sprawled out Hauser by lifting his shot over the Monarchs goaltender.
The Wolf Pack’s fourth goal in 8:28 of clock time was credited to Healey, who beat Hauser through the five-hole after taking Dusablon’s behind-the-net feed at 19:30. Andrews also assisted on Healey’s second goal of the period.
The Monarchs outshot the Wolf Pack 12-6 and scored the only two goals in the final frame. Right wing George Parros prevented Osaer’s shutout bid with his third goal, scored short-handed from the slot at 13:32. Left wing Jeff Giuliano and Gleason assisted with Giuliano’s blind backhanded pass through the slot setting up Parros. Right wing Sam Ftorek closed the scoring with his third goal, scored on a deflection at 16:53 after he got a piece of center Michael Cammalleri’s right circle shot. Giuliano earned his second point of the game with an assist on the play.
Hauser finished with 32 saves and his 10th loss. His season record is 10-10-2. Osaer earned his first win since Dec. 19 with 22 saves. His record improved to 8-9-2.
Saturday: Monarchs win
Goaltender Mathieu Chouinard finished with 34 saves and his second straight shutout win as the Manchester Monarchs edged the Atlantic Division-leading Hartford Wolf Pack, 2-0, before a crowd of 10,082 Saturday night at the Hartford Civic Center.
Center Yanick Lehoux jammed a bouncing puck by the stick side of goaltender Phil Osaer for the Monarchs’ first goal, collected at 10:56 of the first period.
The Monarchs followed a strong penalty kill with a late period power play goal from right wing Pavel Rosa at 19:17. Rosa put the Monarchs up 2-0 by hammering his right circle shot by Osaer with assistance from center Steve Kelly.
01/25/04 Monarchs’ Chouinard blanks Pack, 2-0
Special to the Sunday NewsHARTFORD, Conn. — Goaltender Mathieu Chouinard finished with 34 saves and his second straight shutout win as the Manchester Monarchs edged the Atlantic Division-leading Hartford Wolf Pack, 2-0, before a crowd of 10,082 at the Hartford Civic Center on Saturday night.
The win was the third straight for the Monarchs (23-17-2-3, 51 points), who strengthened their hold on third place in the division. The loss extended the Wolf Pack’s (24-14-7-1, 56 points) winless streak to three games. Hartford has been blanked in two of the three games.
Center Yanick Lehoux jammed a bouncing puck by the stick side of goaltender Phil Osaer for the Monarchs first goal, collected at 10:56 of the first period. Right wing Sam Ftorek created the scoring chance by banking his no-look backhander from the bottom of the right circle off the left pad of Osaer. Left wing Ryan Flinn also assisted on Lehoux’s seventh goal this season.
The Monarchs followed a strong penalty kill with a late period power play goal from right wing Pavel Rosa at 19:17. Rosa put the Monarchs up 2-0 by hammering his right circle shot by Osaer with assistance from center Steve Kelly, who moments before skillfully passed the puck through both bodies and sticks at the Hartford blue line. Left wing Noah Clarke was also credited with an assist as Rosa notched his 19th goal and 50th points (19-31—50) this season.
Chouinard protected the Monarchs lead with a strong first period that included 12 saves. He was tested early with right wing Jeff Heerema’s close range wrist shot just two minutes into the contest, but he closed down the five-hole just in time. He also had a little help as Heerema followed his own rebound with a shot that clanked off the bottom of the right post.
Chouinard added another six saves to his total in the scoreless middle period. The period included his kick save on left wing Garth Murray’s drive from the slot with 13:30 remaining in the period. He also had a sliding save on center Benoit Dusablon’s partial breakaway with four minutes remaining. Oaser also pieced together a strong period, stopping 14 Monarchs shots. He kept it a two-goal game by robbing Rosa, who had a pair of close range attempts in the final minute of the period.
The Wolf Pack opened the third period on the power play after defenseman Tomas Zizka was whistled for a major high sticking penalty at 19:49 of the second period. Zizka clipped left wing Chad Wiseman in the face with his stick, drawing blood. But the Wolf Pack failed to score on the extended power play, mustering just two shots during the advantage.
Feeling the urgency as the clock continued to work against them, the Wolf Pack outshot the Monarchs 16-3 in the final frame, but Chouinard secured his third straight win with several solid saves in the final minutes. His best came on a point-blank pad stop of defenseman Lawrence Nycholat’s chip from the slot with less than 60 seconds remaining and the Hartford net empty.
Chouinard improved his record to 7-3-0 with the win. The shutout was his third this season and his second against the Wolf Pack. The loss dropped Osaer’s record to 7-9-2. With one game remaining in the season series, the Monarchs hold a 4-3-0-0 advantage in seven head-to-head meetings with the Wolf Pack.
The Monarchs and the Wolf Pack will meet for the eighth and final time this season at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Hartford Civic Center. The Monarchs next home game is set for 7:35 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30 at the Verizon Wireless Arena against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
01/24/04 Monarchs outlast Baby B’s
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderPROVIDENCE, R.I. – While the Providence Bruins put “fight” into the street fight, the Manchester Monarchs pumped one more goal into the victory.
The Monarchs battled past the physical and feisty Bruins, 4-3 in overtime last night before 10,365 in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Monarch Mike Cammalleri scored with 5.6 seconds left in overtime to win it. He carried the puck along right wing, turned his body and threatened a feed into the slot as he entered the right wing circle in front of Bruins goalie Hannu Toivonen. Cammalleri went top shelf for his third game winner of the season.
Manchester, one of the league’s top-scoring teams, is on a two-game win streak and proved that the best offense is a tad better than one of the league’s best defenses. Scoring the other Monarchs goals were Noah Clarke, Steve Kelly and Nashua’s Jeff Giuliano, who was elevated to the Monarchs first line last weekend. Pavel Rosa, the second-leading scorer in the AHL, assisted on a pair for Manchester.
Providence (20-12-10-1, 51 pts) stays second in the Atlantic Division, but absorbed its first OT loss of the season and reluctantly ended its six-game unbeaten streak. The Monarchs (22-17-2-3, 49 pts.) remain third and could tighten the division further with games today (7:05 p.m.) and tomorrow (4:05 p.m.) in Hartford.
Making it interesting, the Bruins’ goals were unanswered. With 6:50 to go in regulation Andre Savage, on one knee in the slot, lifted in Ivan Huml’s rebound tying it 3-3. Just 6:47 into the third period Huml had put away Kris Vernarsky’s stuff attempt, making it a one-goal game.
Bruins bad boy Brendan Walsh drove a slapper over the near-side shoulder of Monarchs goalie Adam Hauser at 9:01 of the second period, cutting the Monarchs lead to 3-1.
Highlight-reel rookie Clarke pumped the lead to 3-0 only 44 seconds into the second. He wheeled backwards from behind the cage of Bruins rookie goalie Toivonen and roofed a wicked wrister. Clarke’s goal came at the end of one of five Monarchs power plays to that point. Looking for a beef but unable to find one Walsh was singlehandedly responsible for three of those short-handed situations.
Outshooting the Bruins 10-1 with 9:04 to go in the opening period, the Monarchs made it 2-0. In the left circle, Giuliano wristed Rosa’s draw through Toivonen’s pads on the short side. The Bruins were soundly booed. The Bruins were outshot 17-3 in the stanza and did not muster their first shot at Hauser until midway through the opening period on a power play. Kelly finished a chaotic opportunity in front after Doug Nolan’s blast from the point bounced off Rosa 5:18 into the game.
In the return engagement of NHL heavyweights-in-waiting, Manchester’s Ryan Flinn and the Bruins’ 6-foot-3, 222-pound 21-year-old slugger Colton Orr squared off in front of the B’s bench 6:16 into the game. Orr, who may have jumped the 6-foot-5 Flinn a bit, started out strong, landing three rights. But Flinn bounced back with three of his own. They finished landing a total six rights apiece, all to the head. Neither gained a takedown. But the fisticuff was a sound return for the unscathed third-year pro Flinn of AHL rookie penalty minutes leader Orr on his own turf. It was Orr who injured Flinn in their last meeting in Manchester on Jan. 2.
Providence, a deep AHL team to begin with, was undermanned since forwards Martin Samuelsson, Carl Corazzini, Rob Zamuner, Ted Donato and tough guy Doug Doull are all up with Boston as well as highly regarded defenseman Shaone Morrisonn. Baby Bruins captain Rich Brennan, a former Monarchs defenseman, was out with a groin injury and third-leading scorer Pat Leahy was out with an ankle injury.
Notes: Tonight’s Monarchs game at Hartford will be televised regionally on CN 8 cable . . . L.A. Kings rookie defenseman Tim Gleason rejoins the Monarchs today in Hartford . . . Veteran hockey announcer and New Hampshire native Bob Norton was the analyst last night for the Baby Bruins’ Cox 3 cable telecast.
01/23/04 Monarchs face tough weekend
By CRAIG N. LIADIS
Union Leader SportsThe Manchester Monarchs face one of their toughest tests of the season this weekend. On the schedule are the two teams Manchester looks up at in the Atlantic Division standings.
The Monarchs visit second-place Providence tonight at 7:05. They then travel to front-runner Hartford for back-to-back games with the Wolf Pack tomorrow and Sunday.
“It’s a big weekend for us,” said Monarchs head coach Bruce Boudreau. “We’re going to see where we’re at.”
Where they’re at is third in the division with 47 points, three behind the Bruins and eight behind the Wolf Pack. Both opponents are on hot streaks. Providence is unbeaten in six straight games, including a 1-0 victory against Hartford on Wednesday. That was the Wolf Pack’s first loss in their last 10 games. Hartford’s defense has allowed two goals in its last five games.
The Monarchs are coming off a 6-0 victory against Portland, which followed two straight shutout losses.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, where we’re good one game and not so good the next,” Boudreau said. “This (weekend) will be a great test. Both teams are above us in the standings, and both are real hot right now. The guys know how important this is.”
Manchester holds a 3-2-0 record against the Wolf Pack this season, including a 15-10 edge in goals. Against Providence, the Monarchs are 2-2-0, though they’ve outscored the Bruins 13-5.
The Monarchs have a chance to gain ground on their two opponents, as well as improve on a not-so-hot record on the road. Manchester is 5-11-1 away from the Big V.
But look at the box scores, Boudreau advises. A host of one-goal defeats dot the results page. Blowout losses are few and far between. Manchester has two one-goal losses against Providence and two two-goal defeats against Hartford.
“We’ve competed,” Boudreau said. “I think we’ve just got to get over that hump — get the result we’re looking for in the third period.”
That will be tough against Hartford goalie Jason LaBarbera (17-6-5), who had four shutouts during Hartford’s recent unbeaten streak. He leads the league with eight blankings, and is third in the league with a 1.46 goals-against average. LaBarbera saved 26 in a 5-0 victory against the Monarchs at the Verizon Jan. 11.
He’s one reason goals are harder to come by in the defense-oriented AHL. Get behind in this league, and the odds are a loss is in your future. Where once holding an opponent to three goals gave a team a good shot at winning, that number is down to two goals, said Boudreau.
“It’s just hard to score in this league,” Boudreau said. “It’s not like the old days where you could come in and have a 5-4 game and be happy about it. That’s the way the game is going, unfortunately. The goaltenders are getting so good now.
“It’s sort of a microcosm of the NHL,” Boudreau said. “(AHL teams) make more mistakes, obviously. But sometimes it’s more exciting because there are more mistakes.”
The Monarchs can’t make many mistakes this weekend. As usual, they’ll look to right wing Pavel Rosa and center Steve Kelly to capitalize on opponent mistakes. Rosa is second in the league in scoring with 18 goals and 29 assists in 43 games. Kelly is fifth at 12-31-43. The duo of Mathieu Chouinard and Adam Hauser should again split duties in net.
Last week the Monarchs set a team record they’d rather forget. The Monarchs went a franchise-long 148 minutes 21 seconds without scoring a goal. After successive shutout losses to Hartford and Portland, center Michael Cammalleri broke the streak with 1:05 left in the first period in a rematch against Portland last Saturday.
The levee broke in that game, as five other Monarchs scored in the 6-0 win. Rosa scored his 46th goal as a Monarch, tying him for second on the team’s all-time list. He needs one more assist to tie for second most in franchise history with 65.
01/21/04 Home ice advantage is for real
By BRUCE BOUDREAU
Special to The Union LeaderOUR BACK-TO-BACK games with the Portland Pirates last weekend were good examples of how a team’s fortunes can change from night to night. Friday at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland Pirates’ head coach Tim Army matched Jason Ulmer and Graham Mink with Pavel Rosa and Steve Kelly. The Kelly line had its chances, but was held off the scoreboard, mostly because Ulmer and Mink had strong defensive games. The Pirates won Friday’s game, 2-0.
At home on Saturday, we were able to get Rosa and Kelly away from the Pirates’ top defensive forwards because we had the last line change. The result was very different with Kelly and Rosa each collecting goals in our 6-0 win.
Some fans may have noticed our coaching staff in the stands watching the warm-up skate before our games at the Verizon Wireless Arena. We do this to see who on the other team is skating together. Once we determine the line combinations of our opponent, we can look for favorable match-ups that will help our team win.
Having the final line change is a big advantage, but it’s not the only reason why teams in our league play so much better when they are at home. Home teams know the nuances of their building better than the visitors. They know how to react to the bounce of the puck off the boards and so on. Home teams also have the advantage of sleeping in their own beds the night before a game. It’s also easier to relax and eat right when you’re at home. Finally, with our team in particular, it’s easy to get up for a game when you play before sellout crowds on a regular basis.
Coaching in the AHL can be a real challenge because from day to day your roster is constantly changing. As a coach, you get used to it. You play the same systems for the most part and make adjustments depending upon who is coming and who is going.
Sometimes the adjustments are minor, such as when we bring a player up from the ECHL and skate him as our extra forward. Other times, however, the adjustments can be major. If the Los Angeles Kings were to send John Tripp back to us today, his arrival would disrupt all three of our lines. We would want to put him with one of our top offensive units. By adding him, we would displace another good player. That’s why as coaches we try to identify players that skate well together and keep them on the same line as much as possible. Rosa and Kelly, Jerred Smithson and Chris Schmidt — both are good examples of this concept. Each pair is comfortable together and productive.
Speaking of Schmidt, it was good to see him and several of his teammates break out of recent scoring slumps on Saturday night. Jeff Giuliano, Randy Perry and Michael Cammalleri also ended recent scoring slumps in that game. For Cammalleri, it must have been a big relief to score his first goal in 18 games (11 in the NHL and seven with the Monarchs). He had never gone that long without a goal at any previous time in his career.
We’re heading into our most difficult weekend of the season so far. We play at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center against the Providence Bruins on Friday night, and then travel to the Hartford Civic Center for back-to-back games against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. We’ll know a lot more about where we belong in the Atlantic Division after these three games. Both teams are directly ahead of us in the standings.
01/21/04 Monarchs' Mullet Night II on at 'hair'izon
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderThey thought it might be a “hair-brained” idea from the beginning. Hair today. Gone tomorrow.
They were wrong.
The Manchester Monarchs, who boast the highest attendance of any minor-league hockey team in the country, will once again pay tribute to hockey hair when they host Mullet Night II in the city’s Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday, March 12.
The event is back by popular demand.
Last February, a capacity crowd of 9,916 in the Big V saluted former L.A. Kings coach and ESPN pro hockey analyst Barry Melrose for his long dedication to the mullet hairstyle. More than 5,000 mullet wigs in all colors were given to fans. Between periods of that Monarchs’ game, Melrose acted as judge. The night’s Grand Mullet belonged to 12-year-old Devin Tebo of Derry, who was hailed with a standing ovation.
“Short in the front and long in the back, the mullet hairstyle over the years has come to symbolize the rock-and-roll-will-never-die mentality that lives in every one of us,” said Dave Sholow, a Manchester resident and self-proclaimed executive director of the Mullet Hall of Fame — which does not yet have a home.
There’s no mistaking Sholow’s passion. He sports a shiny blonde, shoulder-length mullet.
Those already enshrined in the Mullet Hall of Fame include pro baseball pitcher Randy Johnson and actor Patrick Swazey, who played a hockey player in the movie “Youngblood.”
Eligibility?
“You have to have accomplished something in the sports world, probably not necessarily an athlete, although you could be a current or past athlete,” said Monarchs publicist Mike Kalinowski. “You also have been wearing the mullet while doing so.”
Asked who votes on hall of fame membership, Kalinowski said: “You’re splitting hairs . . . There’s no organized voting.”
Early favorites are Ron Duguay, the NHL’s hearthrob mullet poster boy while playing with the New York Rangers and L.A. Kings; Toronto’s Al Iafrate, a credit to chrome-domers with his bald top and mullet down his back; and Jaromir Jagr, whose flowing mullet scored in the 1980s for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pro-wrestler Hulk Hogan and country vocalist Billy Ray Cyrus should also be among the follicle front-runners.
The Monarchs’ mullet mullah is John Crabbe, the team’s promotions stylist, so to speak. He admits it was a hairy promotion last season that involved some expense for the team, with the purchase of 5,000-plus wigs directly from China. But the promotion made national news.
Team officials did not say if wigs would be given to fans this year. The Monarchs will be playing the Worcester Ice Cats.
Last year’s event certainly turned Monarchs President Jeff Eisenberg into a big hair backer.
“Hockey’s what we do, but we can have fun along the way,” he said.
01/20/04 Kids mix it up with Monarchs on heroes' ice
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderMANCHESTER – There’s a reason why the Manchester Monarchs lead the American Hockey League in attendance.
Last night, more than 2,000 fans, most under age 16, crowded into the Verizon Wireless Arena for the minor league team’s third annual Kids Club open house. The event follows the team’s ninth sellout on Saturday night, after which the team co-hosted a ’70s dance that saw 900 fans sell out that first-ever hockey party.
“The players are fantastic about this,” said Monarchs president Jeff Eisenberg. “They have fun with it. I think they enjoy the fact that people appreciate them. However, having said that, it is tough on their schedule. They play hockey. They practiced today. They have families. They have personal lives. I cannot say enough about these guys and how wonderful their attitude is.”
The kids had free rein to check out the Zambonis, visit the Monarchs’ locker room, try a few slap shots with a radar gun readout, shout a few words broadcast live onto the arena big screen scoreboard and, of course, receive autographs from every Monarchs player. Cake and soda were on the menu.
Monarchs captain Jerred Smithson said he loves meeting the kids, and the 24-year-old fourth-year pro said it wasn’t that long ago that he was attending these events in Canada and waiting in line for player autographs.
“These are fun,” said Smithson, signing a hockey card of himself in action. “I don’t mind at all. Never thought I would see myself on a hockey card, to tell the truth.”
Christian Filteau, 5, a preschooler at Goffstown’s Bartlett Elementary, said he’s been a Monarchs fan for 10 years. That might be a stretch, but it was no secret last night he’s a big little Monarchs fan proudly wearing his purple Monarchs jersey.
Tyler Leemon, 10, of Hooksett, is a player for the Concord Capitals and attends plenty of Monarchs games. All-Star Pavel Rosa is his favorite. Rosa and Monarchs defenseman Bryan Muir won starting roles in next month’s AHL All-Star Game because of the voting by Monarchs fans.
Shawn Santuccio, a 12-year-old from the Auburn Middle School, was armed with a bunch of authentic Monarchs broken hockey sticks and a digital camera. He had them all autographed and was stopping at every turn to take a snapshot record of his visit to Monarchs’ kingdom.
Santuccio’s little sister Christina followed in Shawn’s footsteps, beaming the whole way. The Santuccios brought along their friend Devon Leblanc, 12, of Manchester, a converted hockey fan from Southside Middle School.
Kevin Cassidy was with a pack of friends from St. Catherine’s School of Manchester including Nick and Alex Dusaitis. The Everetts from Merrimack were there, Steve from Mastricola Middle School and his brother Matthew from Mastricola Elementary. They may be a little tired in school today because they were absolutely pumped up by the event. There was no sleep in their eyes at 8 o’clock.
“You get to sit here and meet the fans and hear how great you are for two hours,” joked Monarchs center Yanick Lehoux. “It’s fun. You make people happy. It’s no big deal for us. We appreciate the fans and the support they give us. We have the best fans in the league.”
Meredith Padfield, a third-grader at St. Anthony’s School in Manchester, said it all loud and clear when asked why she was a hockey fan, “I love the action.”
“We’re just very fortunate that the players feel this is an important element to what they do,” added Eisenberg.
Children can join the Monarchs Kids Club — the largest in the AHL — at any home game for $7. The Monarchs donate a portion of the Kids Club proceeds to the Ronald McDonald House and the kids get all sorts of Monarchs souvenirs.
01/18/04 Monarchs exact 6-0 payback
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderMANCHESTER — What a difference a night makes!
Goaltender Mathieu Chouinard stayed undefeated at home and six different Monarchs scored, paying back the Portland Pirates with a 6-0 drubbing last night at the sold-out Verizon Wireless Arena.
The victory was the Monarchs’ third straight in the Big V over the Pirates and came a night after Manchester was shut out, 2-0, in Portland, Maine. Mike Cammalleri, Jeff Giuliano, Chris Schmidt, Randy Perry, Pavel Rosa and Steve Kelly had the Monarchs goals. Chouinard (6-3) made 20 saves in his fifth straight victory on home ice — his second shutout of the season.
“I think we were due,” said Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau. “We finally got some production out of names other than Kelly and Rosa ... It’s hard to win back-to-back in this league.”
Manchester (21-17-2-3, 47 points) stayed in second place in the Atlantic Division behind Hartford, exactly where it started the weekend. Not having lost three in a row this season, the Monarchs snapped a two-game losing streak where they failed to score in both games.
Portland (16-16-5-4, 41 points), playing its third game in four days, was unbeaten in two coming into the game. The stingy, defensive-minded Pirates absorbed just their second loss in regulation over their last 15 games.
Chouinard did not have to save a rebound all night.
“It was a good team shutout actually,” said Chouinard. “A lot of people look at the goalie when it’s a shutout, but this was a team shutout.”
Pirates goalie Matt Yeats, drafted in the ninth round (248th overall) by the L.A. Kings in 1998 but castaway by the Monarchs’ parent club, started his first AHL game of the season. The former University of Maine standout was doing fine until a three-goal barrage in a 1:44 span hurtled the game to the point of no return for the Pirates.
Who said lightning doesn’t strike twice? Ask Yeats. It struck three times on him midway through the second period for the Monarchs’ 4-0 lead, electrifying the crowd of 9,916.
First, former Boston College captain Giuliano finished a perfectly executed 3-on-2 pass from AHL all-star Kelly at 10:03. Thirty-two seconds later, Schmidt, moving fast into the slot, reached out to deflect Yanick Lehoux’ diagonal center after Lehoux faked the slapper on the right wing.
And at 11:47, sixth-year pro Perry scored his first-ever AHL goal on a bouncing shoveller from the right point that five-holed Yeats at 11:47.
“A good team effort,” said the veteran Schmidt. “That’s what we had been lacking ... We had some lucky bounces tonight. Normally this team’s not going to give up six goals. They’re a good solid team.”
Rosa added his 18th goal of the season only 1:53 into the third period on a wide-open slap shot at the top of the right circle to effectively put the contest out of reach. And Kelly added a carbon copy from the left circle with 4:04 to play.
“Much more hunger, much more determination to go to the net and score,” said Rosa. “Totally different game than (Friday).”
The first period had Pirates’ game plan written all over it. The Monarchs were limited to eight shots, but Cammalleri’s power-play goal with 1:05 left in the stanza halted the Monarchs’ scoreless streak at 148 minutes, 21 seconds. Cammalleri, moving out of the right wing corner, tossed the puck at Yeats (meant for Monarch Sam Ftorek in front) where it rattled off the goalie and in. The goal also stopped the Monarchs 0-for-15 frustration on the man advantage over the last five games.
01/17/04 Pirates shut out Monarchs, 2-0
Union Leader SportsPORTLAND, Maine — Goaltender Maxime Ouellet made 19 saves and former University of New Hampshire Wildcat Mike Souza collected his first game-winning goal of the season as the Portland Pirates edged the Manchester Monarchs, 2-0, in front of a crowd of 2,818 at the Cumberland County Civic Center last night.
The Monarchs (20-17-2-3, 45 points), who were shut out in consecutive games for the first time in franchise history, saw their season record against the Pirates drop to 3-1-0-1 with the road loss. The Pirates (16-15-5-4, 41 points) ended a three-game winless streak.
Souza gave the Pirates the only goal they needed 7:01 into the third period when his left circle slap shot cleanly beat Hauser. Souza raced into the Monarchs zone one step ahead of defenseman Joe Rullier, who was caught flat-footed on the play. Right wing Graham Mink and center Jason Ulmer assisted as Souza scored his fifth goal this season.
Ulmer also was credited with an empty net goal at 19:59 of the third. Forbes and Gordon assisted as the Pirates withstood a late charge from the Monarchs, who finished the period with 11 shots.Manchester goaltender Adam Hauser collected 14 saves in the first period as the Pirates came out of the gate strong. The Monarchs’ top line of center Steve Kelly, left wing Michael Cammalleri and right wing Pavel Rosa combined for all four of the Monarchs shots in the period. Cammalleri had the Monarchs best scoring chance in the period, but Ouellet rejected his close range bid from the bottom of the left wing circle at 1:15 into the contest.
Ouellet’s record improved to 8-16-2 with the win. Hauser’s record fell to 9-9-2 with the loss. Each team went 0-for-4 on the power play.
The Monarchs host the Pirates in a rematch at the Verizon Wireless Arena tonight at 7:35.
Defenseman/captain Richard Seeley missed yesterday’s game with a sprained wrist. The 6-foot-2, 208-pound native of Powell River, British Columbia, is expected to miss 2-3 weeks of action due to the injury. Seeley, 24, selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the sixth-round (137th overall) in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, was injured in the third period of the Monarchs game against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Jan. 11.
Center Yanick Lehoux returned to the lineup on Friday after missing 12 games with a broken finger. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Repentigny, Quebec, suffered his injury on Dec. 19 against the Utah Grizzles. Originally selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the third-round (86th overall) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, the 21-year-old Lehoux signed a multi-year contract with the Kings in April 2002.
01/16/04 Manchester adds NHL experience
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderTACTICAL CHANGES are on the horizon for the Manchester Monarchs, who remain hot on the heels of the first-place Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.
With the addition this week of NHL defensemen Maxim Kuznetsov and rookie Tim Gleason, the Monarchs now have a defensive unit packed with NHL experience. Gleason brings 29 NHL games to the Monarchs blue line. Kuznetsov adds 136 games. All-star Bryan Muir leads the way with 181, and Tomas Zizka has 12 under his belt.
But with the departure to Los Angeles of forwards Esa Pirnes and Scott Barney, the Monarchs lose nearly 20 percent of their goal scoring.
The Monarchs play a home-and-home series this weekend with the Portland Pirates. Depending on how the Wolf Pack fares, once again the second-place Monarchs (five points back) could be vying for the Atlantic Division lead by next weekend. The Monarchs and Pirates meet in the Cumberland County Civic Center tonight at 7:05 and in the Verizon Wireless Arena tomorrow night at 7:35.
In the wake of the team’s worst home-ice loss of the season, Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau will shuffle his lines from top to bottom in hopes of reigniting some fire.
“We didn’t play good. We had a stinker,” Boudreau said of the 5-0 loss to the Wolf Pack. “It was a case where we all came up flat and Hartford was absolutely ready to go. . . . They wanted to win the game badly, and we came off two very emotional wins. I don’t think we had as much motivation left as they did. . . . Teams have stinkers. I’ve seen the best teams have them. I don’t think it was too long ago where the New England Patriots lost 31-nothing to Buffalo.”
Second-year pro forward Yanick Lehoux is back after missing 12 games — the most so far in his career — with a broken finger. He replaces Pirnes in the Monarchs lineup. Kuznetsov and Gleason practiced with new Monarchs defensive pairings for the first time today.
“Two guys going up makes all the lines change,” said Boudreau. “It’s difficult to replace the fourth-leading scorer in the league (Barney). Maybe we dump it in more. Maybe we play a little more dump and chase. It’s hard, but we’ll replace him. Mike Cammalleri is due. He didn’t score last week.”
Boudreau also expects the power play to look different.
“As a team, we didn’t score a lot last week,” he said. “We just have to break out. When you’re not scoring, you get back to the simple things. Maybe not get the pretty goals.”
SCOUTING REPORT: The 26-year-old, 6-foot-5, 235-pound imposing Kuznetsov is no stranger to the AHL. The native of Pavlodar, Russia, has played 170 games in the league since breaking in late in 1997 with the old Adirondack Red Wings.
“Max has had a great attitude since he’s been here,” said Boudreau. “He knows he has to work as hard as he can and play well to get back up there. This is not a question of him coming to a league or place that he doesn’t know anything about.
“He’s a big, strong, stay-at-home defenseman with the ability for the good first pass. He sees the ice really well because he’s so big. He’s not overly physical. But forwards will tell you there’s nothing better than having a defenseman who can make that good first pass.”
As for Gleason being sent back to the Monarchs, Boudreau said, “Only assumption I can make is he was a healthy scratch the last three games and he’s a 21-year-old. (The Kings) want him to play.”
Also this week, the Monarchs released 22-year-old defenseman Jonathan Zion after eight games in Manchester. The ECHL all-star returned to the Kings’ affiliate in Reading, Pa.
AFTER PARTY PARTY: The party starts at 7:35 tomorrow night in the Verizon Wireless Arena, and after the game, the Center of New Hampshire-Holiday Inn ballroom hosts the state’s biggest ’70s rock party ever. The post-game party, presented by Rock 101 and the Monarchs, will feature the Monarchs players dancing all night long to the funk-a-delic sound of Motor Booty Affair. Best dressed ’70s-style can win a $500 gift certificate to Princess Jewelers and a Monarchs jersey and ticket vouchers. Tickets to the party are $10 with a game ticket in hand, or $15 at the door. Fans attending the game can buy a ticket to the ’70s party at the customer service table behind Section 106 in the arena. There were fewer than 100 tickets remaining yesterday for tomorrow night’s game.
DID YOU KNOW? Monarchs broadcaster Ken Cail and head equipment man Mike Holden are the only two people in the organization (including players) who have attended every Monarchs game since the team’s inception two seasons ago. The streak has topped 200 games and counting.
Scott Barney has resurrected his career after taking a three-year hiatus. Monarchs Barney back and delivering
By Pete Iorizzo Special to NHL.com
01/ 14 / 04
Three years into a hockey hiatus, Scott Barney took a job delivering snack foods for Hostess Frito-Lay. It lasted a week.
"I decided then," Barney said, "that I wanted to be a hockey player."
Fortunately for Barney, it might not be too late. After missing three full seasons (1999-2002) with a mysterious back injury, he has resuscitated his career, turning in his best season as a pro. Finally, the Manchester Monarchs 6-foot-4, 208-pound forward is delivering hits instead of potato chips.
Barney's problems began in 1999, when toward the end of his last junior season with the OHL's Peterborough Petes his back stiffened the mornings after games. When the junior season ended, Barney played five playoff games with the AHL's Springfield Falcons, and the problem worsened.
The Los Angeles Kings, who had drafted Barney two years earlier, flew him to California, beginning a three-year medical maze with turns in L.A., Toronto and Montreal. He also underwent two surgeries and received eight cortisone shots. Diagnoses have ranged from bulging discs to lower-body problems throwing his back out of line, but to date no one has pinpointed the precise cause of Barney's problems.
"It's really weird," he said.
Barney had never planned to take a full season off, let alone three. During the summer of 1999, even as the injury worsened and the procedures mounted, he expected steady improvement.
"The first month I thought, 'Oh, it's OK. It's going to get better soon,'" Barney said. "Then it turned into two months. Then a couple more. Then the whole year. Then three whole years."
Though he stayed optimistic throughout, Barney planned for the worst. He took some correspondence college courses in business administration and blueprinted alternative careers (No, delivery man was not one of them. He took that job in the summer of 2002 when his girlfriend's father needed help for a week).
After all, Barney needed something to occupy his time. For three years, he never lifted a weight or skated once. Even riding a stationary bike proved too much. Not until a Toronto doctor started him on strength and conditioning exercises could Barney physically exert himself at all.
"I couldn't even walk for 15 minutes," he said.
But by late summer 2002, Barney had started skating, and his back felt well enough to test it at Kings' training camp. It passed, and Los Angeles inked him to a one-year contract. Last August, following Barney's 18-point (13-goal, 5-assist) season with Manchester, they re-signed him.
Now, Barney, 24, is becoming the force the Kings hoped for when they picked him 29th overall at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Playing with Pavel Rosa and Steve Kelly, Barney's 31 points (19 goals, 12 assists) tie him for 15th in the AHL. For now, the stretches Barney must do every day are the only reminder of the injury.
"It's given me a lot more character," Barney said of his ordeal. "Hockey has been really good to me. There are a lot of kids, adults our age who have cancer, things like that that are much worse than what I went through. I look at things a little differently than I used to. Hockey isn't the end of the world."
01/14/04 Dog days are no time to whimper
By BRUCE BOUDREAU
Special to The Union LeaderTO BORROW A BASEBALL TERM, we’re entering into the dog days of our schedule.
Like most teams, we like to break up the season into four quarters of 20 games. Sunday’s game against the Hartford Wolf Pack marked the beginning of the third quarter, which is arguably the hardest on our players. At this time of the year, they really start to hurt from the constant wear and tear. After weeks of playing three games in three nights and four games in five nights, the physical and emotional strain has taken its toll on their bodies. As coaches, we’re aware of this, so we try to give them plenty of rest.
We believe the third quarter is also the most important of the four. With a strong third quarter, we can put ourselves in position to challenge for the Atlantic Division title in March and April.
If we are to challenge for the title, we must become a stronger road team. With the majority of our remaining games on the road (23 of our remaining 39 games will be played away from the Verizon Wireless Arena), it’s easy to see just how important winning on the road will be. Our overtime win against the Portland Pirates last Saturday was a real confidence builder. In that game, our players demonstrated the toughness and determination needed to be successful on the road in this league.
After grinding through 11 games in 17 days, the players had a well-deserved day off on Monday. They returned to work yesterday and gave us a good effort both on the ice and at their afternoon spinning class at Executive Health & Fitness. They’ll get back at it again this morning, and with just two games on the schedule this week (a home-and-home set with the Pirates), our coaching staff will use the rest of the week to go over systems as we try to sharpen up our forecheck, our trap and our power play.
The Los Angeles Kings (our parent club) learned this week that forward Martin Straka is expected to miss a considerable amount of time with a knee sprain. That news came just days after the Kings learned that leading scorer Ziggy Palffy will miss the rest of the season with a dislocated shoulder. With both players out of action for the foreseeable future, the Kings explored their options before recalling center Esa Pirnes and right wing Scott Barney on Monday.
Pirnes performed remarkably well in his four games with us. He was activated from the Kings’ injured reserve list and assigned to Manchester on Jan. 5. After an average first game on Jan. 7 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he was arguably our best player last weekend, scoring three goals, including the game tying and the game-winning goals against the Pirates. Barney, a high draft choice by the Kings in 1997, leads our team and ranks in the top five in the AHL with 19 goals. The Kings believe both Pirnes and Barney are the best fits for their needs at this time.
As we have in the past, we’ll adjust to the loss of both players and move on. That’s the way it is in the minor leagues. Center Yanick Lehoux, who has been out of the lineup since Dec. 19 with a broken finger, is ready to go this weekend. With him, we have 11 healthy forwards.
Our number one goal as an organization is to develop the players and get them ready for the NHL. Anytime one of our players goes up and performs well, we feel a sense of accomplishment.
01/12/04 Flat Monarchs sent packing by the Wolf Pack
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderMANCHESTER – The Hartford Wolf Pack proved there’s a big difference between first and second place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.
Last night Hartford’s Jason LaBarbera, who was surprisingly passed over in the AHL all-star selections, made 26 saves producing his league-leading sixth shutout of the season as the Wolf Pack handled the Monarchs from start to finish, 5-0 before 9,916 in the sold-out Verizon Wireless Arena.
“It was a game (Hartford) obviously wanted it more,” said Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau. “We got outworked and we got outhustled.”
The Monarchs (20-16-2-3, 45 pts.), who remain second in the division since the Providence Bruins were idle, saw their two-game win streak stop with a thud in their worst loss of the season on home ice.
The Atlantic Division-leading Wolf Pack (22-12-5-1, 50 pts.) is unbeaten in five after a franchise record five-game losing streak that included an embarrassing 4-0 loss in Manchester on Dec. 28.
“We wanted to come out here and send a message that we could play in this building,” said Hartford coach Ryan McGill. “We haven’t played well in this building. We wanted to play well in this building.”
Right wing Jason MacDonald, a 10th-year pro who made his NHL debut this season with the New York Rangers, was in on three of the four Wolf Pack goals. So far he has four goals against the Monarchs in five games. Defensively he also had the save of the game when he swept a Scott Barney rebound bid off the goal line in the third period, preserving LaBarbera’s shut out.
LaBarbera, the third-ranked netminder in the league with a 1.62 goals against, made 26 saves for his league-leading 15th victory. It was his first victory in two appearances against the Monarchs this season and it was Hartford’s first win in the Verizon Wireless Arena in four tries.
“I think we were due,” said LaBarbera. “We’ve come in here enough times and got our butts handed to us.”
For the Monarchs there was no comeback in sight. Monarchs goalie Mathieu Chouinard (11 saves) replaced Adam Hauser (seven saves) for the start of the second period trailing 3-0. Chouinard gave up a goal in each of the last two periods. The first was a weird short-side goal by Bobby Andrews off Monarchs defenseman Joe Rullier. The last with 13:55 to play was an untouchable power play one-timer from the left circle by the newly-acquired Jeff Heerema – his first Wolf Pack goal.
Home-ice advantage in the first period never showed up. Playing their third game in as many days, the Monarchs were outshot 10-5, outscored 3-0, then booed for the first time this season by their full house.
“For whatever reason we came out as flat as could be,” said Boudreau, “and (Hartford) wanted to make a statement. They’ve lost seven road games all year and three of them had been in our building.”
The rested Wolf Pack made it 3-0 on goals by Benoit Dusablon, Ken Gernander and MacDonald. Dusablon pulled back and roofed his own stuff attempt 6:37 into the game. Gernander, playing defense instead of forward, sneaked in from the left point on a power play and converted the perfectly threaded cross-ice pass of Craig Weller, a defenseman playing forward. With 8.3 seconds left in the opening period MacDonald smacked in a one-timer on Hauser’s back door.
01/12/04 Boudreau 'disappointed' in effort against Pack
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderIT WASN’T the Monarchs worst loss of the season on the scoreboard although it surely felt like it.
“We were soft,” said a dejected Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau after yesterday’s 5-0 beating at the hands of Atlantic Division leader, Hartford. “We were soft today from the goalie on out. I don’t think I’ve said it in three years.”
“I was disappointed in a lot of things today,” he said.
Boudreau said his between-periods talk when the Monarchs were trailing 3-0 in the first intermission was “more of a challenging our manhood type thing.” But, Hartford allowing the fewest shots of any team in the league, was not about to let the Monarchs back into it.
“You can tell when you’re not sharp,” he said. “You can tell when guys aren’t sharp.”
And Boudreau also shouldered some of the blame for the loss that happened to be Hartford’s largest margin of victory on the season.
“We got out-coached,” Boudreau said. “(Hartford) had a better game plan than I came up with and I didn’t do a good job of coaching. Our guys should have been more ready.”
Hartford was playing without its two top defensemen, John Jakopin (hip) and Fedor Tyutin (knee), and its leading scorer, Chad Wiseman, is up with the New York Rangers. Hartford coaches Ryan McGill and Nick Fotiu spent Saturday night in the Verizon Wireless Arena press box drawing hockey diagrams of the Monarchs’ beefed up power play and other intricacies. Hartford GM Jim Schoenfeld jokingly quipped after the game that maybe he’d increase McGill’s advance scouting budget. Line items such as that don’t exist in most AHL budgets.
“It wasn’t happening for us today and the best thing about it is we’ve got five days off and we start again,” said Boudreau. “Like I said this is a marathon. It’s not a sprint. It’s a really tough division and you just have to be prepared for it at all times.”
FLINN FESTIVITIES: Not to disappoint his legion of fans, enforcer Ryan Flinn throttled Hartford’s Jeff State in an altercation with under two minutes to go in the second period. It was Flinn’s first fight since he was injured in a heavyweight battle with the Providence Bruins’ Colton Orr. State, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound second-year pro defenseman out of Merrimack College, never got a punch off. Last night 5,000 fans received a Flinn bobblehead doll.
HOME SWEET HOME? Before yesterday, the Monarchs were 5-1 on Sundays at home with five straight Sunday victories. . . . Only three times in the last 19 homes games have the Monarchs failed to gain a point in the standings. And before yesterday the other two losses were to teams outside the Atlantic Division. . . . The eighth sellout of the season was a quiet one.
BREATHING ROOM: Having ended a stretch of 11 games in 17 days – their busiest of the season – the Monarchs play next Friday at Portland (7:05 p.m.) and then host Portland Saturday (7:35 p.m.). In those 11 games Manchester went a credible 6-4-0-1 and the Monarchs won two of three this weekend.
01/11/04 Monarchs stars punish Lock Monsters
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderMANCHESTER — The Lowell Lock Monsters were seeing stars last night in Verizon Wireless Arena. And we’re not talking Cher or Elton John. No, we’re talking all-stars.
The Monarchs’ all-star connection of Bryan Muir to Pavel Rosa to Steve Kelly to Noah Clarke scored the game winner 5:20 into the final period. Newcomer Ese Pirnes figured in on two goals as Manchester won 3-1 punishing their archrivals every way possible along the way.
Manchester (20-15-2-3, 45 pts.) has won two straight and lost just once in its last five. Since the new year, Lowell (14-17-3-3, 34 pts.) has one win in six outings.
Today at 4:05 p.m., the loaded up Monarchs get a supreme test hosting Atlantic Division leading Hartford Wolf Pack (21-12-5-1, 48 pts).
The ninth meeting of 12 between Lowell and Manchester this season was a pure Monarchs statement before 9,514 last night. Lowell’s Tomas Kurka was leveled at the Monarchs blue line by a ferocious open-ice blind-side check by AHL all-star blueliner Muir. Muir’s hit left the puck loose for Rosa, who sent Steve Kelly racing right wing to the other end with rookie all-star Clarke. Clarke finished for his 11th goal of the season.
“That wasn’t a hit, that was a kill,” said Clarke.
And midway through the final period, with the Lock Monsters blitzed with a 42-19 Monarchs’ shot advantage, Scott Barney added the insurance goal from Pirnes and Muir.
“Boy, (Monarchs) really turned it up for the last two periods,” said Lock Monsters coach Ron Smith, “. . . I thought for awhile we might have been able to escape with a point (tie).”
Monarchs goalie Mathieu Chouinard (18 saves), in his return after two weeks of backing-up in Los Angeles, improved to 3-0 at home. Adam “Brick” Hauser goes today in goal.
“That hit just completely set the tempo,” said Chouinard. “That was it.”
Pirnes tied it 1-1 with 1:53 to go in the second period. Pirnes, who did not score in 18 games with the Kings, potted his third goal in as many Monarchs games since his demotion last week. His short side wrist shot from the left circle cleanly beat screened Lock Monster goaltender Patrick DesRochers (39 saves).
Notre Dame-product David Inman made it 1-0 Lock Monsters midway through the second period on a power play with a perfectly placed five-hole slider in the slot. It was just the second Lock Monsters shot in the first 11:16 of the period. They were outsalvoed, 24-8 to that point.
The goaltending was brilliant in the scoreless opening period as the Monarchs outshot Lowell, 16-7. Chouinard opened the game with a snapped away glove save on Mike Zigomanis’ power play wrister from the right circle. And Chouinard finished the period with a sprawling body block save with no stick on Pavel Brendl’s short breakaway. Golden Monarchs’ chances included Sam Ftorek’s slot rip off the crossbar and Kelly’s left side wrist shot off the near post. Des Rochers’ best was a stacked-pad acrobatic gloving of Scott Barney’s 2-on-1 one-timer 8:24 into the game.
NOTES: Kelly extended his assist streak to six games . . . Barney leads the Monarchs in goals with 19 and he ended a four-game scoreless streak last night. . . The N.Y. Rangers claimed Jeff Heerema off waivers and the former Ice Cats and Lock Monsters forward will likely be skating with the Wolf Pack today. . . The Monarchs assigned 22-year-old rookie goaltender Terry Denike to the Reading Royals of the ECHL . . . The best year ever in the career of L.A. Kings scorer Ziggy Palffy has ended. He will have shoulder surgery so defenseman Maxim Kuznetosv, who just cleared waivers and was expected to play for Manchester, will remain with the Kings as a seventh defenseman. Brad Norton will shift from D to forward. The first 5,000 fans attending today’s game receive a Ryan Flinn bobblehead doll. Last night there were about 200 tickets left for today’s game.
01/10/04 Monarchs win in overtime
Union Leader SportsPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Esa Pirnes scored 1:37 into overtime to lift the Manchester Monarchs past the Portland Pirates, 2-1, last night in the American Hockey League.
Pirnes scored both goals for the Monarchs (19-15-2-3). His first came with 1:16 remaining in regulation and tied the game at one. Pavel Rosa had assists on both.
Jason Ulmer netted the first goal of the game at 12:34 of the first period, drilling a cross-crease pass from Graham Mink past Adam Hauser.
The loss snapped a nine-game unbeaten string for the Pirates, although Portland (15-14-4-4) has tallied at least one point in each of the last 10 games.
Hauser stopped 15 shots to earn the win. His best save came against Mink at 15:30 of the third period.
Maxime Ouellet suffered the loss despite recording 39 saves. His best moments came early in the third period when he stopped a rapid-fire succession of three shots
01/09/04 More stars appear
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderSTAR-STUDDED is now the only way to describe the Manchester Monarchs.
Yesterday, the AHL named Monarchs forwards Pavel Rosa and Noah Clarke to the Planet USA all-star squad that will battle the best AHL Canadians in the league’s all-star game in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Monday, Feb. 9.
The 26-year-old Rosa, who leads the league in scoring, was voted a starter for Planet USA, which is comprised of the best American-born and European players in the AHL. Two days ago, fans also voted Monarchs veteran defenseman Bryan Muir a starter for Canada and the league named Monarchs forward Steve Kelly to the Canadian star team. Kelly is the AHL assist leader.
Clarke is a 24-year-old rookie out of Colorado College who has been one of the top scoring newcomers in the league all season. Last month, he became the first native Californian to play for the Los Angeles Kings so the honors and recognition just keep on rolling in for Clarke.
Rosa, on the other hand, has toiled for seven years professionally. The native of the Czech Republic, who left his home at 17 to play in the Quebec League, has played all but one of his 100 AHL contests with the Manchester Monarchs. The selection is his first all-star nod of any kind as a pro. Leading the league with 17 goals and 26 assists, the all-star honor is another spark that may re-fire his NHL hopes.
“Points-wise it probably is my best season in my career. Certainly the most consistent,” said Rosa. “In 80 games it’s tough to get ready for every game, but every game I have given everything this season. My challenge will be the next 40 games.
“It’s been awhile playing in North America and I still haven’t gotten the chance to show what I can do on the NHL level,” he said. “In my case, this keeps my name out there.
“I haven’t gotten my dream, but hopefully the all-star game gets me closer,” Rosa said.
STAR GAZING: Manchester, Hamilton (Montreal Canadiens) and host Grand Rapids (Detroit Red Wings) led the way, each placing four players into the AHL all-star game. Of the three teams, however, Manchester was the only team not in first place. The Monarchs are in third behind Hartford and Providence heading into a three-game weekend.
TONIGHT, the Monarchs are at the Portland Pirates (Washington Capitals) at 7:05 p.m. Tomorrow, the Monarchs host the Lowell Lock Monsters (Calgary Flames/Carolina Hurricanes) at 7:35 p.m. and Sunday the Monarchs could be playing for first place hosting the Hartford Wolf Pack (N.Y. Rangers) at 4:05 p.m. Last night, there were 530 tickets available for tomorrow’s game and 200 left for Sunday’s contest. The first 5,000 fans attending Sunday’s Wolf Pack game will receive Ryan Flinn bobblehead dolls. First guy to make a joke about Flinn’s “doll status” will receive a Ryan Flinn black-and-blue tattoo.
MAYBE the Monarchs’ bolstered lineup of budding NHL stars was too good to be true leading to Wednesday’s edging, 2-1 by a very average group of young Penguins prospects in Verizon Wireless Arena. This week, the Monarchs added all-star defenseman Bryan Muir, and forwards Mike Cammalleri and Ese Pirnes to their power play.
“Might have been one of these things where you look and all these good players are here,” said Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau, “and you say, ‘let’s let them do the work’ and (Kings) come down and they think it’s going to be easy. So between the 19 of us we didn’t get it done.”
Boudreau used words such as “outmuscled” and “controlled” to describe the Penguins taking charge of the game in Verizon Wireless Arena, where the Monarchs had lost just once in regulation in the last 17 entering the game.
“It doesn’t matter who we have in the lineup, we have to work hard,” said Rosa. “With the effort we gave, we won’t win any games.
“We were very fortunate thanks to Adam (Hauser) in the net again that it was 1-0 in the second period because the first period (the Penguins) were always in our zone. Adam did a really good job so we were pretty lucky that they didn’t score more goals on us. Again we tied it but we just couldn’t hold onto the tie until the end.”
MAX TIMES TWO: Big 6-foot-5 Russian defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov is expected to join the Monarchs this weekend if he clears NHL waivers today. Kuznetsov was sent down by the Kings Wednesday for the second time this season. He played three games earlier this season in Manchester. Coincidentally the Monarchs’ lovable rowdy lion mascot is also “Max.”
01/08/04 No secrets to Monarchs success
By JIM FENNELL
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderJEFF BARRETT had never been inside the Verizon Wireless Arena before last night. He had never seen the enthusiasm and passion of the fans, never seen what makes the Manchester Monarchs the leading draw in the American Hockey League.
Until last night, Barrett had never seen what he had, in effect, helped create.
Monarchs president Jeff Eisenberg said it was Barrett, president of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, whom he turned to when he began building the new franchise from the ground up.
Two years before there were the Monarchs, you see, the Penguins were the AHL’s newest and hottest franchise and Barrett was the man who had started the team from scratch.
“Wilkes-Barre was my model before we started,” Eisenberg said. “I had tremendous respect for what Jeff had done.”
The Penguins, now in their fifth year, are still hot. They’ve sold out 117 straight homes and have a season ticket base of close to 7,000 in an arena that holds just over 8,000. They have two newspapers that regularly cover the team, a radio station that broadcasts all their games and a television station that carries 25 home games.
The Monarchs, with a season ticket base of 5,000, sold out 28 games over that past two years and lead the league with an average of attendance of 8,901. Wilkes-Barre is second at 8,293. They finished that way last year, as well.
Eisenberg said Wilkes-Barre, located in northeastern Pennsylvania, is almost a mirror market of Manchester. Both have population bases of about 700,000 people, strong NHL affiliations (the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers) and little competition.
They share qualities that have helped them draw more than 3,000 more fans a night that the league average. They share qualities that have somehow made the popular while teams nearby (i.e. Springfield and Lowell) struggle with attendance figures well below average.
“I always said Manchester is big enough for us to be successful in and not big enough to get lost in,” Eisenberg said.
The similarities of the franchises run deep.
They’ve both been successful on and off the ice, they are among a handful of teams in the AHL owned by their parent NHL team (The Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins) and each have savvy and experienced 40-something presidents that are prominent figures in the community. They even play in buildings run by the same management company, SMG.
The two teams met for the first time last night, and Barrett was impressed what he saw inside the Big V.
“You can tell it’s the same atmosphere,” Barrett said. “There’s a huge number of people wearing game jerseys and you don’t see that in a lot of buildings. That shows you pride of ownership.”
How do you foster that sort of pride? How do you become so ingrained in a community that the people feel that sense of ownership?
Eisenberg knew Barrett knew and he constantly picked his friend’s brain during the year or so he had to establish himself in Manchester before the team played its first game.
Now, understand Eisenberg was no neophyte, having already run a successful AHL franchise in Portland. But this was different, this was turning nothing into something, and that was new to him.
“I used to call Jeff all the time when I first got here,” Eisenberg said. “That’s how confident I was that what they experienced was what we we’re going to experience.”
Barrett was a willing guide through Eisenberg’s journey. He would talk with Eisenberg and his staff on conference calls that would last up to an hour; he even shared a journal he kept of his early experiences in Wilkes-Barre.
“I have a philosophy that you are only as strong as your weakest link,” Barrett said. “Off the ice, we’re partners, so it’s important that the league is strong as a whole.”
There was an announced attendance of 7,312 last night, with probably more than the normal number of no-shows because of the mid-week start and sub-freezing temperatures, but that probably didn’t put too much of a damper on what Eisnenberg had hoped to be a special night.
“I reminded everyone that, hey, we have the Penguins gang in the house,” Eisenberg said. “Let’s put on a good show.”
A good show is standard fare at the Big V when the Monarchs are in the house, and that’s something Barrett had a hand in even if he never stepped foot in the building before last night.
AHL On-The-Beat
01/07/04 Gritty style serves Giuliano well
Written by Mike Kalinowski
Jeff GiulianoIs it possible for an athlete to think that it's easier to play a sport as a professional rather than as an amateur?
In the case of Jeff Giuliano, the answer is yes.
Giuliano, a hard-working left wing for the Manchester Monarchs, has shown steady improvement as a hockey player in the American Hockey League since joining the team on a regular basis in January of 2003.
A native of nearby Nashua, N.H., Giuliano admits to putting pressure on himself to score goals while attending Boston College from 1998 to 2002. But, that pressure to score no longer exists as he continues to excel in his role as a third or fourth line "energy guy" with the Monarchs.
"The pro game is much different than the college game," said Giuliano, who collected 15 points (4-11=15) and only eight penalty minutes in 48 games with the Monarchs last season. "Some of the best players I faced in college aren't playing anymore because they weren't able to make the adjustment to the pro game."
"Don't get me wrong, I still like to score goals," said Giuliano, one of the Monarchs top penalty killers. "But scoring goals isn't as important to me as it was in college. These days, I get just as much satisfaction after successfully killing off a power play or holding a top scoring line from the opposition off the scoreboard."
Now in his second professional season, Giuliano has a better understanding of the pro game. That's not surprising when you consider that he appeared in 88 games last year while splitting time between the Monarchs and their ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals.
"Even though I appeared in all of those games, I really never did feel burned out," said Giuliano. "In a lot of ways, playing hockey last year was easier than in the past because I didn't have to worry about attending class or taking tests."
Giuliano signed on with the Monarchs for a second season in August of 2003.
"This is where I want to be," said Giuliano, who gets to perform before family and friends on a nightly basis. "I feel comfortable here and I know from the Los Angeles Kings to the Manchester Monarchs, the organization is strong and committed to being successful."
Giuliano hopes to continue his growth as a hockey player so he can achieve another goal...playing in the National Hockey League.
"Training camp in Los Angeles was a great experience," said Giuliano, who attended the Boston Bruins training camp the previous year. "I was a bit more relaxed the second time around, mainly because I felt like I could play at that level. Once I got past the idea of being nervous while sharing the ice with players like Ziggy Palffy, I was able to relax and just play the game."
Giuliano earned a regular spot on the Monarchs last season with both determination and hard work. Now into his second pro season, those two attributes continue to serve him well as he continues to climb the ladder with the hope of one day playing in the NHL.
01/07/04 Roster comings, goings
By BRUCE BOUDREAU
Special to The Union LeaderTHE LOS ANGELES KINGS activated Esa Pirnes from the injured reserve list and assigned him to our team on Monday. Pirnes, a 27-year-old native of Oulu, Finland, was on the injured reserve list since suffering a concussion against the Phoenix Coyotes on Nov. 27.
Now that he’s healthy again, Pirnes will try to get back into playing shape and win back his spot with the Kings. He earned that spot after having a super training camp last fall. It was quite an accomplishment for Pirnes, the Kings’ sixth-round pick (174th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, to make the team when you consider this is his first season of pro hockey in North America after several highly successful seasons in the Finnish National League.
Pirnes is a highly skilled player and a goal scorer. He’s also a joy to talk to. The speedy center skated with Michael Cammalleri and Noah Clarke at yesterday’s practice. We think they can develop chemistry and become a productive line. All three were recently together with the Kings in Los Angeles, and all three have bright futures in the organization.
We assigned Brad Church and Leon Hayward to the Reading Royals on Monday. Both have been excellent depth players for us over the last month. Church, in particular, was really catching on and playing well.
It’s tough to say goodbye to a guy like Church, who was having some success at this level, but sometimes it boils down to a numbers game. We couldn’t guarantee him a permanent spot on the team. Because of this, he put his family first and agreed to go back to the Royals, where he serves as their captain.
Scott Barney is back on a line with Steve Kelly and Pavel Rosa. Barney was the obvious choice to replace Church. He’s a big, grinding forward with some touch around the net. He’s also one of our most versatile players. He’s more than willing to play center, left wing or right wing. He’s a productive player at all three positions.
The Kings sent Cammalleri and defenseman Bryan Muir our way on Saturday, and both helped our team beat the Lowell Lock Monsters on Sunday. They each deserve a lot of credit for bringing a competitive edge to the game even though they took the red eye on a full flight from Los Angeles, waited three hours in Washington D.C., for a connecting flight, and arrived in Manchester at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning. Both were probably sleep-deprived and a little undernourished during the game, but you wouldn’t know it by the way they played.
Rosa’s first period natural hat trick was the highlight of Sunday’s game. It’s hard to believe a player that talented had never had a hat trick as a professional before. We actually talked about that at Saturday’s practice. I even promised to play him the entire third period in Sunday’s game if he had two goals entering the final period. After his second goal on Sunday, we both looked at each other on the bench. I must admit I was a little nervous as I remembered the conversation we had the day before. You can imagine how relieved I was to see Rosa go out and score his third goal on the very next shift.
Sunday’s game was the seventh in 10 days for our team, and we finished with a 4-2-0-1 record in the seven games. Four wins and one overtime loss during that tough stretch was pretty good. We feel like our team is ready to make a run toward the top of the division in January.
01/04/04 Naturally, Rosa leads Monarchs to victory
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports WriterMANCHESTER — Hats off to Pavel Rosa for a monstrous night.
Celebratory caps littered the ice in the sold-out Verizon Wireless Arena as Rosa scored the first natural hat trick (three goals in a row) in Monarchs history and the weary Lowell Lock Monsters watched helplessly in a 4-1 loss at the hands of their arch-rival.
Manchester (18-14-2-3, 41 points) took sole possession of third in the Atlantic Division behind Hartford and Providence, only two wins out of first place. Idle Worcester was bumped to fourth.
It was over in a flash. Rosa and linemate Steve Kelly were in on every goal. The hat trick was the first for right wing Rosa in seven years of pro hockey and it came in an 8:07 span midway through the first period.
“One of those days when everything goes well,” said Rosa, also crediting the play of linemates Kelly and newcomer Brad Church.
In his second straight victory, Monarchs goalie Adam Hauser missed the shutout when Lowell leading scorer Pavel Brendl fired a 20-foot wrister over his glove shoulder on a power play with 9:49 to play.
“I don’t want to say it was easier with the three goals, but it was one of those games that you could tell if we did our job defensively things would take care of themselves,” said Hauser.
Lowell (13-16-3-2, 31 points) was playing its seventh game in nine days. Before yesterday, Lowell had lost just once in regulation in six games, including a pair of victories over the Monarchs.
“Ridiculous,” said Lowell defenseman Mike Commodore who has played 63 NHL games over parts of his four pro seasons between the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames. “Tired. Fatigue set in.”
“The last thing you want to do is get behind by a goal, let alone three when you’re playing your seventh in nine days,” said Lock Monster coach Ron Smith. “Brutal schedule.”
Kelly manufactured each of Rosa’s hat trick opportunities as the Monarchs led, 3-0, after the first period outburst. Starting 9:51 into the game, Rosa put away a Kelly center. On the power play with 2:05 to go in the opening period, Rosa had a backside stuff-in after wheeling behind Monsters goalie Patrick DesRochers with Richard Seeley’s rebound. Rosa finished the hat trick 1:03 later. Alone at the backdoor, Rosa ripped a one-timer off Tomas Zizka’s center.
“I thought we had six great scoring chances and they had three. Unfortunately their three were by Rosa in the back of the net,” said Smith.
The Monarchs had three goals on 10 shots and Smith replaced DesRochers with Calgary Flames 21-year-old rookie Brent Krahn (1st round, 9th overall in 2000). Krahn made his third AHL appearance, but it was DesRochers who was tagged with the loss, his third straight loss in his fifth consecutive start. Krahn allowed only a single goal over the last two periods. Church put the “toe” in a Kelly-to-Rosa-to-Church tic-tac-toe perfect passing pyramid with 5:02 left in the game.
Manchester was playing its seventh game in 10 days, but welcomed back from Los Angeles veteran defenseman Bryan Muir and second-year pro center Mike Cammalleri.
01/04/04 Kelly shows his brand of firepower
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports WriterSIMPLY PUT, Steve Kelly was the best player on the ice in the Monarchs’ 4-1 victory over the Lowell Lock Monsters yesterday. What isn’t as simple is uncovering what keeps him out of the NHL.
Kelly had four assists yesterday, one shy of the Monarchs record. Kelly’s 26 assists ties him for the league assist lead with linemate Pavel Rosa. A first round draft pick (sixth overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in 1995, Kelly is the fifth-leading scorer in the AHL.
“He was a stud tonight,” said Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau. “You can ask scouts and stuff. I see him like this and I say, ‘wow what a good player.’”
With trade winds blowing in Los Angeles, Kelly may be perfect trade bait.
Kelly seems surprised when asked if he has asked Kings’ brass to “play me or trade me.”
“I’m not asking about it,” Kelly said. “It’s not really bothering me. I like playing here for Bruce. These guys treat me well and are giving me a good opportunity.”
Kelly is playing an unselfish team game. He is a relentless threatening presence on the ice and every opposing coach knows his name and number. That means the scouts do too.
Asked why Kelly is not in the NHL, Boudreau said, “Ask Steve. He knows what I think of him as a player.
“Two years ago in the playoffs when we lost to Hartford in five games. (Kelly) and Adam Mair (now with the Buffalo Sabres) were so good. I mean Teddy Donato didn’t look like a player. And Scotty Thomas looked slow and (Eric) Healey looked slow. But, Steve Kelly got 11 points in five playoff games. He was so dominant you wondered how the hell can he be in this league?
“But he’s 27,” Boudreau continued. “He’s been up and down five times. He plays like this he’s fabulous. But sometimes he’ll take five penalties in the game.”
“You can’t sit here and worry about not being in the NHL,” Kelly said. “We’re looked upon to contribute to this team and that’s what we have to do. The only thing you can do is keep trying to contribute, plug away and maybe some night someone’s up there and watches it and you get another chance.”
And Boudreau added, “He’s big. He’s strong. He hurts you sometimes, but when he’s focused he’s as good as any player in this league."
01/03/04 Monarchs defend the home front
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports WriterMANCHESTER – With the gifts all returned because they didn’t fit, the Manchester Monarchs put on their stingy game face last night in the sold-out Verizon Wireless Arena.
Sam Ftorek’s first career AHL game-winner gave the Monarchs a hard-earned 2-1 victory over the Providence Bruins before 9,916. Pavel Rosa also scored Manchester.
“Really huge,” said Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau. “We didn’t want to let the players know game 36 (of 80) how big it is. But, I thought that was a huge game.”
The Monarchs have lost just once at home in regulation in their last 10. That loss was at the hands of the Bruins. In fact, the Monarchs snapped a two-game winless bout with the Bruins.
“Very important,” said Rosa. “We just want to get on a roll here . . . I hope we finally realize that if we work this hard every game there’s no way somebody’s going to beat us. We played as a team and everybody pulled on the same rope.”
Manchester (17-14-2-3, 39 pts.), which stays tied with Worcester for third in the Atlantic Division, hosts the Lowell Lock Monsters Sunday at 4:05 p.m. The Lock Monsters beat the Monarchs twice earlier this week.
Providence (16-12-8-0, 40 pts.), winless in four, lost an opportunity to overtake Hartford for first place in the division as the Wolf Pack absorbed their fifth straight loss last night, handled 4-2 by the Hershey Bears. The Bruins remain in second with the Monarchs and Worcester Ice Cats breathing down their necks.
“It just comes down to us doing the same old boring things,” said Monarchs goalie Adam Hauser (30 saves), who earned his first victory in six starts. “Picking up sticks. Picking up guys. Getting the pucks in and out. Waiting everybody out. We’ll get the goals and once we do we just have to keep them . . . We got the win and that’s all that matters.”
Meanwhile, Ftorek’s well-placed 6-foot-2 frame in front brought the Monarchs their 2-1 lead with 1:43 to go in the second period. The St. Anselm product and son of former Boston Bruins coach Rob Ftorek, Sam deflected the left point wrister of Jonathan Zion. The goal came 34 seconds after the Bruins’ Carl Corazzini, a former Boston University standout, tied it. Corazzini’s little shovel center on the fly at the bottom of the left circle was kicked in by Monarchs defenseman Doug Nolan, who was in a feet-first slide into the net.
Rosa’s 14th goal of the season midway through the second period put the Monarchs on the scoreboard first. From the right circle Rosa fired a bullet after Steve Kelly’s no-look drop pass.
The victory came despite the Monarchs’ power play coming up empty for the third game. The Monarchs were 0-for-7 on the man advantage last night extending their scoreless streak to 0-for-14 overall. The Bruins were 1-for-5 on the power play. They failed to score on a nailbiter of a power play with 1:26 to go in the contest.
“Great game,” said Bruins coach Scott Gordon, “We just ran out of time.”
In the scoreless first period the Monarchs were frustrated by Vermont-product Tim Thomas (33 saves), who had not lost in three outings. The Monarchs failed to score on a 5-on-3 that spilled over into the start of the second period.
Notes: Monarchs forward Jeff Giuliano was hit in the face with a puck in the first period and did not return. He left for x-rays on what is probably a broken nose. . . The Monarchs released 26-year-old defenseman Mat Snesrud. He played one game with Manchester and will likely return to the Reading (Pa.) Royals of the ECHL.
01/02/04 For Manchester, every game counts
By KEVIN PROVENCHER
Staff Sports Writer Union LeaderWITH ONLY one loss in their last four outings during their toughest stretch of schedule this season, the Manchester Monarchs realize the Atlantic Division will be very tough to win.
They may have only one loss in this stretch of seven games in nine days, but a tie and a loss in their last two battles with the charging Lowell Lock Monsters have put a ferocious face on the Monarchs.
Tonight, the Monarchs will face the second-place Providence Bruins (7:35 p.m.), and Sunday, the third-place Monarchs will meet the Lock Monsters (4:05 p.m.) for the eighth time in their 12-game series this season.
Wednesday, last-place Springfield stopped Hartford in its tracks, 4-1, handing the Wolf Pack players their fourth straight loss and allowing the Monarchs and everyone else to keep first place in sight. Hartford has 41 points, Providence 40, Manchester and Worcester 37 apiece, Portland 34, and Lowell 30.
Now, every game will have a playoff feel, according to Monarchs coach Bruce Boudreau.
“It’s going to be a complete logjam, and you’ve got to win when you get the opportunity,” said Boudreau.
“You’ve got to do what it takes to gain wins and big points now,” said Monarchs captain Richard Seeley.
“We’ve battled hard. Yeah, we showed some character, but then we throw it away in overtime,” Seeley said of Wednesday’s frustrating loss. “We lost, 5-1, the night before; you’ve got to win the next night. It’s a divisional game. It’s a four-point game.”
The Monarchs’ lopsided defeat Tuesday at Lowell was their seventh in their last eight road games.
“I think everybody on our team has a lot of pride, and they don’t like seeing that we have four wins on the road at this time of the year,” said Boudreau.
Home is certainly where the heart is for the Monarchs this season. They have lost just once in Verizon Wireless Arena in their last nine games. They will probably sell out both games this weekend, so the point is, it’s time to make some points.
MONARCHS MINUTES: Brad Church is making a strong case not to go back to the ECHL. The rugged winger was the Reading Royals’ captain before joining the Monarchs two weeks ago. He now has eight points in nine games . . . No Monarchs goalie has won three in a row this season or has started four games in a row . . . Pavel Rosa’s six-game points streak is second-best in the AHL. Rosa’s goal Tuesday night in a loss at Lowell gave him 100 career points as a Monarch. He is only the third player to reach the mark. The others are Steve Kelly and Eric Healey (Chicago Wolves). Rosa leads the league in assists with 25 . . . Wednesday, Jerred Smithson played in his 200th game as a pro and Scott Barney played in his 100th pro game.
SIGN OF THE TIMES: “Schmidt happens.” A homemade sign in the upper deck of the Big V saluting the hard-hitting play of veteran forward Chris Schmidt.
INJURY REPORT: Ryan Flinn is wearing a clear visor to protect his injured eye . . . Seeley returned from injury Wednesday night . . . Dan Welch is out with a shoulder injury and will most likely need surgery to repair it . . . Center Yanick Lehoux will be out an additional two to three weeks with a broken finger. Lehoux said he finally has movement and feeling in the digit.
PROMOTIONS: Limited seating remains for games tonight and Sunday. The Monarchs’ box office will open today at 10 a.m. Tonight is captain Seeley photo night; fans will receive an 8-by-10 commemorative card of Seeley. One fan will receive an autographed version of that card and will meet Seeley after the game.
Between Sunday and the Jan. 11 game against the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Monarchs student achiever program will honor some 1,200 top students from 80 New Hampshire schools. The youngsters will receive free tickets.
Sunday, Jan. 11, is Ryan Flinn bobblehead doll night. The first 5,000 fans in Verizon Wireless Arena will receive the only bobblehead doll that fights back. Just single seats available for the game.
Rock 101’s Big 70s party after the Saturday, Jan. 17, game against the Portland Pirates will be held at the Center of New Hampshire-Holiday Inn. Tickets for Monarchs game ticket holders that night are $10. For others who do not attend the hockey game, tickets are $15. Call the Monarchs at 626-7825 for advance tickets.
Monday, Jan. 19, is Monarchs Kids Club party night from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Youngsters will get to meet their favorite players and tour the arena and locker room. Youngsters can join the Monarchs club by calling the Monarchs during business hours, downloading an application at www.monarchshockey.com or visiting the Kids Club table on the concourse at any home game.
The Monarchs will hold an open practice in Concord’s Everett Arena Tuesday, Jan. 27, from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Players will sign autographs after practice.
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