03/01/2004 3:30 PM -
Albany hosts Springfield prior to road meetings in Norfolk and Philadelphia

What’s Ahead:
The Albany River Rats host the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday night in a 7:00pm face-off at Pepsi Arena. The Falcons (20-29-8-2, 7th Atlantic) had their seven-game unbeaten streak snapped in a 5-2 road loss to Hartford on Sunday. RW Peter Ferraro tops the club with 32 (13-19-32) points, while C Erik Westrum, just back from the parent Phoenix Coyotes, leads the way with 14 goals. Former River Rat D Bryan Helmer was recalled to Phoenix last week, but the team received speedy RW Ivan Novoseltsev on loan. Albany holds a 21-20-9-3 record in the all-time series against Springfield, which includes a 12-8-6 mark at Pepsi Arena. The River Rats are 1-3-1 against the Falcons this season, being outscored 17-15 in the five previous games.

The River Rats return to the road and begin a three-game trip against the Norfolk Admirals at 7:00pm on Friday night from Scope Arena. The Admirals (28-26-4-5, 4th East) have won three-in-a-row following a 3-1 home win over the Binghamton Senators on Saturday, and host Philadelphia this Wednesday night. Captain Ajay Baines leads the top affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks with 34 (13-21-34) points, while D Marty Wilford tops AHL defensemen with 31 assists during the 2003-04 season. C Jason Morgan posted two (1-1-2) points in his Admirals debut last week and RW Shawn Thornton moved into sixth place in league history with 1,928 career penalty minutes. The River Rats are 2-8-2-1 in the all-time series against the Admirals, including a winless 0-4-1-1 road record. Albany holds a 0-3-1-1 mark against Norfolk during the season series, having been outscored 17-11 in the five games.

Albany completes the road trip with a pair of games against the Philadelphia Phantoms on Sunday at 6:05pm and then on Monday night at 7:05pm. The Phantoms (34-19-6-1, 1st East) defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-3 on the road yesterday and will visit Norfolk on Wednesday as well as Wilkes-Barre on Saturday night. D John Slaney, who recently set a new AHL record for career goals scored by a defenseman (125), tops league defenders with 13 goals during the 2003-04 season. RW Kirby Law stands sixth on the circuit with 55 (21-34-55) points in 54 games for the top affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. Albany shows a 13-11-4-1 record in the all-time regular season series against the Phantoms, including a 5-6-2-1 record at the Wachovia Spectrum. The River Rats are 1-2 versus Philadelphia this year, being outscored 12-6 in the three contests. The teams meet for the final time on April 9th in a 7:00pm match-up at Pepsi Arena.

Rat Bites:
* LW Ahren Nittel became the sixth member of the River Rats to score his first AHL goal on Tuesday in Manitoba. He joins Alex Brooks, Matt DeMarchi, Tuomas Pihlman, Ilkka Pikkarainen and Aleksander Suglobov.
* C Craig Darby is tied for fifth in the AHL with 35 assists and ranks seventh overall with 52 points during the 2003-04 season.
* The River Rats completed their four-game road trip with 1-0-2-1 record to earn five out-of-a-possible eight points against Rochester, Hamilton and Manitoba.
* LW Steve Kariya recorded five (1-4-5) points in four games last week, while playing in his 200th American Hockey League contest on Wednesday night at Manitoba. He ranks second on the River Rats with 21 assists and 32 points this season.

Community Calendar:
Mon., March 1st @ 11:00am – “Rowdy” The Rat will be at Albany City Hall for the “Freedom Bicycle Ride” as Dan Forant kicks off his 2,500-mile fundraising bike ride from New York to California for our troops in Iraq.
Mon., March 1st @ 2:00pm – LW Ryan Murphy and RW Chris Hartsburg will be spending time at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center visiting United States Veterans. The Veterans Affairs Medical Center is located at 113 Holland Avenue in Albany.
Tues., March 2nd @ 6:00pm – D Ray Giroux & Mike Matteucci will be assisting a Bethlehem Pee-Wee Hockey practice at the B.I.G. Arena, located at 900 Delaware Avenue in Delmar.
Thurs., March 4th @ 5:30pm – “Rowdy” The Rat will be signing autographs for fans at the Jewish Community Center Carnival. The Jewish Community Center is located at 340 White Hall Road, Albany.


River Rats Rewind: Week 21 – February 23, 2004 (0-2-1-1, 2pts)
February 24th – ALB 2 @ MTB 2 F/OT– LW Ahren Nittel opened the scoring in the second period with his first AHL goal and LW Ilkka Pikkarainen forced overtime as the River Rats extended their unbeaten streak to four (1-0-3) games. LW Steve Kariya picked up an assist and G Ari Ahonen stopped 27 of 29 shots for his sixth tie of the year.
February 25th – ALB 2 @ MTB 3 F/OT – LW Steve Kariya dished out two assists against his former club and G Ari Ahonen earned first star of the game honors by stopping 39 shots on goal. D Alex Brooks and LW Maxim Balmochnykh scored the Albany goals in the first period as the club earned at least a point for the fifth straight contest.
February 27th – BRI 3 @ ALB 1 – LW Ryan Murphy notched his seventh goal with under a minute to play in the first period but the Sound Tigers would score three unanswered goals for the victory. RW’s Chris Hartsburg & Jiri Bicek earned the assists, while G Ari Ahonen stopped 25 shots in his fifth consecutive start.
February 28th – ALB 3 @ HER 6 – LW Steve Kariya capped off a five-point week with a goal and an assist but the Bears scored three times in the second period en route to victory. D Raymond Giroux posted his 11th goal and LW Greg Crozier added his ninth tally in front of G Matus Kostur, who stopped 37 shots for his fourth loss of the 2003-04 season.

Upcoming Promotions:

Wed., March 3rd vs. Springfield Falcons @ 7:00pm
$10 Wednesday – The Best Deal in Town!
ALL SEATS JUST $10 FOR THIS HARD-HITTING HOCKEY RIVALRY!

Wed., March 10th vs. Syracuse Crunch @ 7:00pm
$10 Wednesday – The Best Deal in Town!
ALL SEATS JUST $10 FOR THIS NEW YORK HOCKEY BATTLE!

Sat. March 13th vs. Providence Bruins @ 4:00pm
Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Day!
THE FIRST 1,000 KIDS 15 & UNDER RECEIVE A FREE YU-GI-OH TRADING CARD!
(TRADE ALL YOUR FAVORITES IN OUR YU-GI-OH TRADING ZONE!)

MEET & GREET THE WB45’S ROAD CREW & MICHIGAN J. FROG!
FANS WILL WIN YU-GI-OH T-SHIRTS & STICKERS!

RADIO DISNEY AT THE GAME WITH FUN, GAMES & PRIZES!

**ONE (1) LUCKY KID WINS A FREE YU-GI-OH ROOM MAKEOVER! **