Press Release Details
TONIGHT'S GAME PREVIEW: ICECAPS at BEARS
01/25/2013 -
TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES
ST. JOHN'S ICECAPS at HERSHEY BEARS
Friday, January 25, 2013 - 7:00 PM
GIANT Center
REFEREES: Keith Kaval (#40) & T.J. Luxmore (#49)
LINESMEN: Scott Adams (#20) & Leo Boylan (#97)
BEARS vs. ICECAPS: Welcome to GIANT Center for tonight’s matchup between the HERSHEY BEARS and the St. John’s IceCaps, proudly presented by Western Pest Services. Tonight is the first of two meetings between the two teams. St. John’s is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets.
ALL-TIME: The teams will play their ninth all-time meeting tonight, with the series even at 3-3-1-1. Remarkably, the BEARS also tallied an even record of 17-17-2 against the former St. John’s Maple Leafs between 1991 and 2005.
THE LAST TIMES: After falling in a close 2-1 game at GIANT Center on November 10, the regular-season series shifted to St. John’s. The trip worked out well for HERSHEY, as the club took all four points from the IceCaps while allowing just one goal in the two-game set. Braden Holtby was the star of the show, as the netminder stopped 62 of 63 total shots. In the first of the two games on December 11, all scoring came on the power play. The BEARS finished with a 2-for-6 effort, getting goals from Jon DiSalvatore and Tomas Kundratek in a 2-1 win. Zach Redmond tallied the lone goal of the doubleheader for St. John’s. In the December 12 rematch, the BEARS again scored twice on five power play chances, getting the opening goal from Zach Hamill to stand up as the game-winner in a 4-0 victory. Alex Berry, Mathieu Beaudoin and DiSalvatore chipped in with the BEARS’ other goals. Ryan Potulny and Jeff Taffe each chipped in two assists.
2012-13 SEASON SERIES:
|
Sat. November 10, 2012 |
ST. JOHN’S |
GIANTCenter |
L 1-2 |
|
Tue. December 11, 2012 |
@St. John’s |
Mile One Centre |
W 2-1 |
|
Wed. December 12, 2012 |
@St. John’s |
Mile One Centre |
W 4-0 |
|
Fri. January 25, 2013 |
ST. JOHN’S |
GIANTCenter |
|
RECENT RECAPS: The pomp and circumstance surrounding the BEARS’ last game is now in the history books. The BEARS suffered a 2-1 overtime setback to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the Capital BlueCross AHL Outdoor Classic on Sunday at HERSHEYPARK Stadium. In front of a near-capacity crowd of 17,311, the two teams played a gritty opening period with the BEARS outshooting the Penguins by a 9-7 count, but both goaltenders Dany Sabourin and Jeff Zatkoff were on their games. With time flying by in the second period and after a spirited scrap between HERSHEY’s Steve Oleksy and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Dominik Uher, the BEARS finally got on the board. Jeff Taffe took a pass from Jon DiSalvatore and had plenty of time and space in the right corner. His pass found a cutting Tomas Kundratek for a one-timer that sailed past Zatkoff’s glove at the 15:40 mark. The BEARS held the lead until 7:47 into the third, when Paul Thompson fed former IceCaps forward Riley Holzapfel to finish off a two-on-one rush. Thompson then became the hero, walking in alone from the blue line to beat Sabourin 1:19 into the extra session.
The IceCaps also suffered their last defeat at the hands of the Penguins, a 3-0 blanking on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. All of the Penguins’ scoring came in the first 17:41 of the game, as Alex Grant, Philip Samuelsson and Holzapfel all scored past IceCaps netminder Eddie Pasquale. Backup goaltender Chris Carozzi would come on at the start of the second period, and got help from a defense that only allowed six shots on goal over the final 40 minutes of play. His counterpart Brad Thiessen turned aside all 26 shots he faced, keeping the IceCaps’ offense from finding the same success.
EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of January 25):
|
POS |
TEAM |
GP |
W |
L |
OTL |
SOL |
PTS |
WIN% |
GF |
GA |
|
1. |
Binghamton |
39 |
25 |
10 |
1 |
3 |
54 |
.692 |
126 |
96 |
|
2. |
Syracuse |
39 |
24 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
53 |
.679 |
134 |
108 |
|
3. |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton |
40 |
20 |
17 |
2 |
1 |
43 |
.537 |
96 |
97 |
|
4. |
HERSHEY |
41 |
20 |
18 |
2 |
1 |
43 |
.524 |
106 |
99 |
|
5. |
Norfolk |
40 |
16 |
21 |
2 |
1 |
35 |
.438 |
96 |
121 |
HEAD-TO-HEAD: RW Jon DiSalvatore (2-2-4) and C Jeff Taffe (0-4-4) pace the head-to-head scoring between the BEARS and IceCaps. St. John’s defenseman Derek Meech (1-1-2) and RW Ray Sawada (0-2-2) lead the visitors’ scoring.
PROVIDENCE-BOUND: C Jeff Taffe, who played in the original NHL Winter Classic in Buffalo, NY in 2008, registered his team-leading 28
th assist in the Capital BlueCross AHL Outdoor Classic on Sunday. Taffe ranks tied for second in the league in assists, and his point total ranks tied for sixth. The native of Hastings, MN is also headed to the AHL All-Star Classic in Providence this weekend, replacing the recalled Tomas Kundratek.
KUNDRATEK GETS THE CALL: D Tomas Kundratek was recalled by the Washington Capitals on Monday. He netted his team-leading 13
th goal of the season in the Capital BlueCross AHL Outdoor Classic on Sunday, to set a new AHL career high in goals. His 26 points are also an AHL career best. Kundratek was named to the AHL’s Eastern Conference All-Star squad last week.
STOPPED BY SABOURIN: Goaltender Dany Sabourin has allowed two goals or less in four of his last five starts. He has a record of 2-2-0 in those games.
TOUGH TANDEM TO TOUCH: Dany Sabourin and Philipp Grubauer, along with the recalled Braden Holtby, have all combined to push the BEARS into third place in the AHL in goals against per game (2.41).
GRUBAUER SHINES: Goaltender Philipp Grubauer has returned from Colorado after starting for the ECHL All-Star squad against the host Colorado All-Stars. The native of Rosenheim, Germany stopped 14 of 16 shots and helped the ECHL to a 7-3 victory. Grubauer is 2-2-0 with HERSHEY, and holds a goals-against average of 2.05 and save percentage of .926. In 26 games with the Reading Royals, Grubauer was 19-5-1 at the time of his recall, and his 19 wins still lead the ECHL.
KANE JOINS 900 CLUB: Captain Boyd Kane, who played in the 1,000
th game of all the top professional leagues on January 8 at Bridgeport (ECHL-71, AHL-898, NHL-31), became the 13
th player in history to appear in 900 AHL games on January 12 against Connecticut. Ironically, Kane played his first AHL game on November 20, 1998 as a member of the Hartford Wolf Pack, the team that became the Whale after the 2009-2010 season. In BEARS history, Kane ranks 37
th in all-time games played, two games behind Brian Willsie. Former BEARS left winger Les Duff ranks 12
th in all-time games played.
All-Time Leaders, AHL Games Played
|
Rank |
Player |
Played From-To |
Seasons |
GP |
|
9. |
Ken Gernander |
1991-2005 |
14 |
973 |
|
10. |
Jim Bartlett |
1955-1973 |
16 |
955 |
|
11. |
Jimmy Anderson |
1954-1970 |
16 |
943 |
|
12. |
Les Duff |
1955-1970 |
15 |
927 |
|
13. |
BOYD KANE |
1998-Present |
15 |
904 |
|
14. |
Larry Wilson |
1951-1968 |
15 |
899 |
McNEILL NEAR MILESTONE: D Patrick McNeill silently has worked his way toward a significant HERSHEY milestone as well. The Strathroy, Ontario native has played 298 AHL games, all with HERSHEY, over the past 5 ½ seasons. He is poised to become the 42
nd player in BEARS history with 300 games played wearing the Chocolate and White.
BEARS vs. ICECAPS – TEAM LEADERS:
|
|
HERSHEY |
St. John’s |
|
Games Played |
Tomas Kundratek, Garrett Mitchell (41) |
Ben Maxwell (42) |
|
Goals |
Tomas Kundratek (13) |
Eric O’Dell, Spencer Machacek (9) |
|
Assists |
Jeff Taffe (28) |
Jason Jaffray (17) |
|
Points |
Jeff Taffe (37) |
Jason Jaffray (23) |
|
PIMs |
Steve Oleksy (118) |
Dean Arsene (62) |
|
Plus/Minus |
Z. Hamill, K. Marshall, G. Mitchell (+9) |
Carl Klingberg (+8) |
|
Power-Play Goals |
Tomas Kundratek (6) |
Spencer Machacek (4) |
|
Shorthanded Goals |
Garrett Mitchell (2) |
Patrice Cormier, Spencer Machacek (1) |
|
Game-Winning Goals |
Zach Hamill (3) |
Derek Meech (3) |
|
Wins |
Dany Sabourin (6) |
Eddie Pasquale (11) |
|
Goals-Against Average |
Philipp Grubauer (2.05) |
Eddie Pasquale (2.61) |
|
Save Percentage |
Philipp Grubauer (.926) |
Eddie Pasquale (.915) |
BEARS vs. ICECAPS – SPECIAL TEAMS:
|
|
HERSHEY |
St. John’s |
|
Power Play |
30-for-187 (16.0%) – 16th in AHL |
31-for-202 (15.3%) – 22nd in AHL |
|
Penalty Kill |
151-for-180 (83.9%) – 14th in AHL |
151-for-188 (80.3%) – 26th in AHL |
BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
|
1/25/13 |
DEL |
G |
Brandon Anderson |
Reassigned by Washington (NHL) to Reading (ECHL) |
|
1/22/13 |
ADD |
G |
Brandon Anderson |
Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Reading (ECHL) |
|
1/22/13 |
ADD |
D |
Brett Flemming |
Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Reading (ECHL) |
|
1/21/13 |
DEL |
D |
Tomas Kundratek |
Recalled from loan by Washington (NHL) |
|
1/19/13 |
DEL |
RW |
Alex Berry |
Returned on loan to Reading (ECHL) |
|
1/18/13 |
ADD |
RW |
Alex Berry |
Recalled from loan to Reading (ECHL) |
ICECAPS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
|
1/18/13 |
ADD |
D |
Derek Meech |
Returned on loan from Winnipeg (NHL) |
|
1/18/13 |
ADD |
C |
Maxime Macenauer |
Returned on loan from Winnipeg (NHL) |
|
1/18/13 |
ADD |
RW |
Spencer Machacek |
Returned on loan from Winnipeg (NHL) |
BEARS AMONG THE AHL:
C Jeff Taffe: T,2nd – assists (28);
T,6th – scoring (9-28-37).
D Tomas Kundratek: 2nd (D) – shooting percentage (13/78=16.7%);
3rd (D) – PP goals (6);
3rd (D) – goals (13);
T,6th (D) – scoring (13-13-26).
D Steve Oleksy: 3rd (D) – PIM (118).
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