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THIS WEEK’S GAME PREVIEWS

Written by Falcon's Staff
Thursday, 23 November 2006
--WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2006 VS Portland Pirates-- Springfield faces off against the Portland Pirates for the third time this month and it will be the second time the play at the MassMutual Center. Home ice has not been a factor in this series so far as Portland won in Springfield and two nights later Springfield beat the Pirates in Portland. Portland is coming off of a win against Manchester after taking two of three games this past weekend. Aaron Rome led the Pirates offensively against the Monarchs with a goal and an assist. Portland is currently tied with Providence for the lead in the Atlantic Division. Springfield is coming off of two dramatic shootout wins at home and a disappointing 8-0 loss to Rochester. Portland is led offensively by Zenon Konopka with 21 points. He is their set up man as he has 16 assists in 17 games, which is good for 5th in the league. Pierre Parenteau leads the team in goals with seven. Michael Leighton is the man in the net for the Pirates as he has posted a 2.51 goals against average in net. --FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2006 AT Worcester Sharks— For only the second time this season, the Falcons will be going on the road for a Friday night game. They will travel to the DCU Center in Worcester to play the Sharks. This will be the second meeting of the season for these two clubs as they met back on November 4th at the MassMutual Center, where the Falcons came away with a 3-2 victory. Mathieu Darche not only leads the Sharks in goals with 16, but he also leads the league. The Falcons and Sharks are separated by only one point in the standings for 5th place in the division. Darche’s linemate, Joe Pavelski is fourth in the league with 18 assists. Pavelski also leads all AHL rookies in scoring entering this weekend. Defenseman Mathieu Biron continues to lead all AHL defensemen in scoring with three goals and 13 assists for 16 points in 16 games. These two teams will meet again on Falcons ice the next night as part of a home and home series. --SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2006 VS Worcester Sharks-- Springfield travels back home to face the Worcester Sharks for the 2nd time in two days. These two teams will not meet again until December 9th so they will be fighting hard to gain position in the Atlantic Division standings. Springfield will look to get ahead early on the Sharks as they are 3-0 when leading after the first period. Before these two teams meet for a home and home series they will be in action on Wednesday. The Falcons will be playing Portland at the MassMutual Center and the Sharks will be on the road to play a tough Wolf Pack team. LAST WEEK’S GAME RECAPS --SPRINGFIELD vs HERSHEY, NOVEMBER 15 – W 3-2—SO The Springfield Falcons beat the Hershey Bears 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday night at the MassMutual Center. Justin Keller scored his fifth goal of the year at 16:52 of the opening period, but Hershey's Matt Hendricks tied the score at 9:14 of the second period. Hershey's Alexandre Giroux scored the go-ahead goal at 13:43 of the third period only to see Andy Delmore tie the score at 2-2. In the shootout, Falcons goaltender Karri Ramo stopped four of the five shooters, while David Spina and Daniel Corso converted for Springfield. Ramo was the game's first star making 37 saves on the night. --SPRINGFIELD vs TORONTO, NOVEMBER 17 – W 3-2--SO The Springfield Falcons beat the Toronto Marlies 3-2 in a shootout Friday night at the MassMutual Center in front of 5,672. Andy Delmore scored a power play goal at 19:48 of the opening period giving the Falcons a 1-0 advantage. In the second period, Stanislav Lascek scored his first AHL goal at 2:59 of the middle period, but Toronto's John Mitchell cut the Marlies' deficit to 2-1 at 16:16 of the second period. After Toronto's Ben Ondrus tied the score at 2-2, Falcons forwards Zdenek Blatny and Eric Healey converted in the shootout for the win. Goaltender Karri Ramo was the game's first star making 33 saves, including stopping five of six shooters in the shootout. Springfield has now won three straight games improving their record to 8-8 on the season. --SPRINGFIELD at ROCHESTER, NOVEMBER 18 - L 8-0— The Springfield Falcons lost to the Rochester Americans 8-0 Saturday night at the Blue Cross Arena with Rochester sweeping the season series. Rochester forwards Michael Ryan and Greg Jacina scored just 48-seconds apart midway through the first period giving the Amerks a two-goal cushion. Kamil Kreps added a fluke goal for Rochester late in the opening period giving the Amerks a 3-0 advantage. Jonathan Boutin started in goal for Springfield, with Karri Ramo starting the second period, only to see Boutin return for the third period. Jacina added his second goal of the game at 1:06 of the second period giving Rochester a 4-0 lead. The Amerks expanded their advantage to 5-0 when Mark Mancari converted at 6:07 of the middle period. PLAYER/TEAM NOTES: The Springfield Falcons recorded a season high three-game winning streak with wins over the defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears on Wednesday, November 15 and the Toronto Marlies on Friday, November 17. The Falcons had inched their way back to the .500 mark at 8-8 before falling to the Rochester Americans on Saturday, 8-0. Falcons rookie goaltender Karri Ramo was the game’s first star in back-to-back wins over the Hershey Bears on Wednesday, followed by another triumph on Friday against Toronto. Ramo stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced against Hershey, including four of five shooters in the shootout. Ramo followed that performance up with 33 saves and stopping five of six shooters in the shootout on Friday night against the Marlies. For the week, Ramo posted a perfect record of 2-0-0 with a 2.80 goals against average and .924 save percentage. Falcons veteran defenseman Andy Delmore extended his scoring streak to four games with his fifth goal of the season on Friday against Toronto. Delmore’s streak was snapped on Saturday against Rochester. Delmore now leads all Springfield blueliners in points this year with five goals and three assists for eight points in 16 games played. Rookie Stanislav Lascek scored his first AHL goal on Friday, November 17 against Toronto. Lascek was recalled from Springfield’s ECHL affiliate the Johnstown Chiefs on November 14 and was leading the Chiefs in scoring at the time of his recall. INJURIES Defensemen Doug O’Brien, Jay Rosehill and Andy Rogers all missed games due to injury. Center Dan Cavanaugh missed two games due to injury. Recently acquired center Daniel Corso missed the last game played due to injury. TRANSACTIONS 11-14-06 – Springfield Falcons recall David Spina, Stanislav Lascek and John Adams from the Johnstown Chiefs. 11-14-06-Springfield Falcons reassign center Andre Deveaux and Brady Greco to the Johnstown Chiefs. 11-14-06- Springfield Falcons release Jared Aulin from his Professional Tryout Agreement. ON THE FARM - JOHNSTOWN CHIEFS The Chiefs lost to the Trenton Titans this past Wednesday in a heartbreaker 4-3, although they rebounded on the weekend beating the Wheeling Nailers 4-2 and the Dayton Bombers 3-1. They will look to ride their recent winning streak to Reading to play the Royals this Friday, before they come home to face off against Trenton. OUT AND ABOUT IN THE COMMUNITY Falcons Canned Food Drive: The Falcons are proud to announce their collection dates for their Annual Canned Food Drive for the holidays. Fans who donate canned goods to the Falcons games on November 10, 11, 15 & 17 will receive a discount coupon for the Wednesday, November 22 game vs Portland. Family Fun Nights at Friendly’s Return: Friendly Ice Cream is proud to announce “Family Fun Nights at Friendly’s” to benefit Springfield Falcons Charities, Inc. Falcons players and Screech meet and greet fans at area Friendly’s Restaurants throughout the Pioneer Valley. November 27 @ 19 Springfield St., Agawam December 11 @ 95 Elm St., Enfield, CT February 13 @ 65 Sumner Ave., Springfield March 19 @ Southampton Rd., Westfield (at Mass Pike entrance) Holiday Shopping with the Falcons @ Toys ‘R’ Us: The Falcons will be hosting their fans for a great night of shopping at Toys ‘R’ Us, 1686 Boston Rd., Springfield on Sunday, December 10 from 6-8 p.m. Fans will have the opportunity to shop with their favorite Falcons player by purchasing a $1 raffle ticket at games from November 10 through December 2 at the Community Relations table located behind section 31. Raffles will be held throughout the event with proceeds to benefit Springfield Falcons Charities, Inc. Icing and Blue Line Candle - Pilgrim Candle: The Falcons are proud to partner with Pilgrim Candle to introduce the Falcons Icing and Blue Line Candle. The candle features the Falcons’ blue colors and the scents of Butter Cream Cookie together with Blackberry Bramble. These delightful and charitable decorations will be sold at scheduled Falcons games throughout the season and Pilgrim Candle stores in Westfield and South Hadley. Great for home, the office or anywhere to show your Falcons spirit and enjoy an engaging scent, the candles cost $18.25 with proceeds benefiting Springfield Falcons Charities, Inc. The program has thus far donated over $375,000 to children related organizations over the last nine seasons. Special thanks to Pilgrim Candle, Dion Label and Aucella & Associates for making this project happen. FALCONS FAMILY brought to you by Buxton Company: The Falcons are very excited to about their NEW program, “Falcons Family” brought to you by Buxton Company. The concept behind the program is that if each individual pledges to make a small difference in their community, collectively as a group, their impact is greater. To be part of the family, fans will purchase a SPRINGFIELD FALCONS wristband from the Community Relations table at Falcons’ home games or at any Falcons’ appearance throughout the season. Family members will register their e-mail and receive a weekly message from your Falcons team. Each Falcons home game, the Falcons Family will assist a charity with their generosity. FOR EXAMPLE: If an after school program needs crayons, the Falcons Family members