Player of the Week (Mar. 7): The last time Shawn Bates won the POTW, he was promptly recalled to Boston. While it remains to be seen if Bates goes back to the NHL this time, he gets the award anyway. Bates had six points for the Bruins during the week, including four goals and two of the goals were game-winners. Bates is second in the AHL in short-handed goals and has taken over the Providence franchise record in that category.

Player of the Week (Mar. 14): In a week wherein the magic words were 'hat trick', the award went to a goaltender. Albany's Mike Buzak was named the POTW after winning three of his four games with a GAA of 1.90 and .939 save percentage. Buzak won all three games, including two against division leading teams, by allowing only one goal in each game. Buzak took last season off from the AHL to play in the WPHL after a few seasons with Worcester.

A Different Note: Hockey teams do quite a lot of things to raise money for charity throughout the year, but this one is fairly new (I say fairly because the Washington Capitals did something along these lines a couple years ago.). New Haven's Ashlin Halfknight recorded a CD of his original songs, primarily for the heck of it, and the Beast are selling the CD to raise money for a local children's charity. Contact the team if you'd like to buy one.

On a Clear Day...: 'Clear Day' is Thursday, March 25. For those who are unfamiliar with it, all AHL teams must submit a roster of 20 regulars and three injury alternates to the AHL on that date. The roster is made up primarily of those players who have been on the team all year, but can also include players presently in the NHL. In theory, only these players may play for the team during the AHL playoffs. That's in theory, because players completing their junior or college seasons may be freely added to a team's playoff roster. The assumption is those players aren't as good - and they definitely aren't as experienced - as the players who've been in the AHL all season, thus no restriction on their appearance in the lineup.

At Long Last...: March 19 was an important day for Providence defenseman Elias Abrahamsson - after two seasons and 96 games, he finally scored his first professional goal. But while Abrahamsson breathes a sigh of relief, another AHLer is doing some serious squirming. Cincinnati's Byron Briske is in his third professional season, all in the AHL, and he still hasn't scored a goal. As of March 22, that was 171 games, and he hasn't scored yet. Even worse for Briske, the AHL record for games played without a goal is 174, a record held by Kevin Kemp. But it looks like Briske is about to acquire the dubious distinction for himself.

Brad Chartrand by Meredith Martini

The Rest...:Hershey went to the Rock for the first time in over three years Mar. 9 but coach Mike Foligno didn't get much of a homecoming. Brad Chartrand had three points as the Leafs won, 4-2...

Good thing Rochester was on the road in early March, because they couldn't go home due to the several feet of snow that closed the highways in upstate New York...

The Amerks made good use of the time in Philadelphia with a 4-1 win over the Phantoms Mar. 9. Tom Draper stopped a penalty shot from...Francis Belanger. Not exactly one's first choice to take a penalty shot...

The Amerks need just three more road wins to set an AHL record in that category...

Rochester remains on pace for another AHL record - fewest goals allowed in a season. The Amerks average 2.13 goals allowed a game, which would give them 170 for the season. The record is 201...

Mike Minard has yet to lose a game since becoming a Bulldog, and he was helped by three points from Chris Ferraro on Mar. 9 as Hamilton defeated Albany 6-2...

Jeff Reese stopped 46 of 47 shots from the Bears Mar. 10 for his second win over them in two nights. The Leafs won it 5-1...

Cincinnati led 1-0 in the third, but then the River Rats scored three goals in 63 seconds and Jeff Williams iced it with his second goal a few minutes later for a 4-1 Albany win Mar. 10...

John Grahame's 19 game winning streak ended when Kentucky's Jarrod Skalde scored with less than six seconds remaining in overtime for a 5-4 T-Blade victory Mar. 10. The game went to overtime when Providence's Joel Prpic scored with 22 seconds left in regulation...

It took Portland's Trevor Halvorson less than 12 minutes to put up a hat trick against Fredericton on Mar. 11. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the Habs still managed a point with a 4-4 tie...

The Saint John Times Globe got to wondering what AHLers are being paid. The result? Not counting players on one-way contracts (maybe 20 or so across the league), the average salary is $53,500 (U.S.) / $81,245 (Cdn.)...

Shawn Bates registered assists on all of the Bruins' goals as Providence beat Lowell 3-2 Mar. 12. Brandon Smith scored two of the goals...

Hamilton won their seventh straight game, this time 5-3 over Cincinnati on Mar. 12 as Chris Ferraro had a hat trick...

Also getting a hat trick that night was Syracuse's Matt Cooke, and Robb Gordon scored the game-winner with 39 seconds remaining in OT as the Crunch took out Kentucky 6-5. Mark Wotton and Larry Courville had three points for the Crunch, while Matt Bradley and Joe Blaznek did same for the T-Blades...

Adirondack had a 2-0 lead on Philadelphia Mar. 12 but the Phantoms came back with five goals in the third period to win anyway...

Springfield held on for a 6-4 win over Saint John Mar. 12, as Eric Belanger was the big star with a three point night for the Falcons...

Chris Winnes by Meredith Martini

It took overtime but New Haven still managed to not win for the tenth straight game, this time losing when Chris Winnes scored in OT to give the WolfPack a 2-1 win...

Hershey's Marc Denis had work to do, with 47 IceCats shots coming his way, but he still got a shutout as the Bears won 5-0 Mar. 12...

During that game, the Bears didn't register a single shot on goal during the third period. It was the first time in the history of the Hershey franchise the team went a full period without a shot. That's 63 years folks...

Portland's Trevor Halverson continued his hot streak with two goals and Dwight Parrish scored the game-winner as the Pirates took out St. John's 3-2 Mar. 12...

Cincinnati lost four straight before running into Adirondack and picking up a 3-1 win Mar. 13...

More hat tricks - Springfield's J.F. Jomphe got one Mar. 13 as the Falcons gave New Haven an 11 game losing streak with a 4-1 win...

And if one twin does it, so will the other. Peter Ferraro picked up a hat trick the day after brother Chris did it, carrying Providence to a 4-3 win over Portland and taking the Bruins to the 100 points mark...

On the same night the Calgary Flames came back against Washington in the final 90 seconds, the baby Flames did likewise in Hartford. Saint John was down 5-2 with less than five minutes left in regulation, but won the game 7-5 as Martin St. Louis had a four point evening...

Aaron Asham by Meredith Martini

Terry Ryan had four points and linemates Aaron Asham and Scott King had three each as Fredericton trounced St. John's 8-2 Mar. 13...

The Phantoms' Jim Montgomery joined the hat trick parade Mar. 14 against Hamilton, but the Bulldogs won the game 4-3 in overtime on Jeff Daw's goal...

John Madden picked up a pair of goals and a pair of assists for Albany in a 5-1 victory over Kentucky Mar. 14...

Providence's Eric Nickulas had three points and the Bruins scored four in the first period on their way to a 6-3 over Springfield Mar. 14...

Cincinnati completed a 6-0 run against Syracuse this season with a 2-0 shutout of the Crunch Mar. 14. Jamie Ram had 34 saves for the shutout...

New Haven got within two minutes of finally winning a game - and then let Ray Giroux and Mike Kennedy score 29 seconds apart in the final 1:26 for a 3-3 tie with Lowell...

ECHL callup Jamie Thompson had two goals and an assist for the IceCats in a 6-2 win over Saint John Mar. 14. Shayne Toporowski also had three points...

The IceCats auctioned off their game jerseys after the game, raising over $7,000 for a program called Learn to Swim and Save the Pools Foundation...

Hershey scored two goals early and then sat back and let Rochester catch up for a 2-2 tie. Less than half the people who bought tickets for the game showed up due to a bad storm (and yes, I was one of the ones who didn't make it there)...

Christian Matte scored a goal to extend his scoring streak to 12 games, but likely won't have an opportunity to extend the streak as he has gone to Colorado...

Mark McArthur by Meredith Martini

Lowell's Mark McArthur stopped 25 Saint John shots for a 3-0 shutout on Mar. 16...

With Martin Biron and Steve Passmore in the NHL, Hartford's J.F. Labbe has moved up to second in the AHL in minutes played and has taken over first place in saves made...

The Providence Bruins have seven different players who have scored 20+ goals this season...

We're not saying Trevor Letowski is everything for the Springfield Falcons, but he does lead the team in goals, points, power-play goals, short-handed goals, shots and plus-minus...

The Lowell Lock Monsters scored the first goal of the game in 12 straight games...

St. John's signed the CIAU's top scorer for 98-99 to a three game contract. David Gilmore scored his first pro goal for the Leafs in Fredericton, home of his college team...

Rochester's Martin Biron leads the AHL in GAA, and his backup Tom Draper now leads the AHL in GAA for an actively playing goaltender...

Albany's John Madden had a five point night Mar. 17 against Hartford with two goals and three assists. He was involved in all of the Rats' goals as they won, 5-2...

The Beast of New Haven were winless in 12 games until they met the current cure for a losing streak, Saint John, on Mar. 17. Ryan Johnson scored two goals in two minutes and the Beast won 6-2...

Worcester dropped Portland 4-3 in overtime Mar. 17 on the second goal of the game by Andrei Podkonicky...

Hamilton's Mike Minard is still perfect for Bulldogs and finally picked up a perfect game with a 36 save shutout against Syracuse Mar. 17. It was Hamilton's ninth straight win...

The Mar. 28 game in Hartford between the WolfPack and the Hershey Bears was rescheduled to Mar. 30 so the Hartford Civic Center could host the Rolling Stones. All tickets will be honored...

The heretofore hapless Beast of New Haven won for the second time in a row, against Providence no less. The Beast won Mar. 19, 4-2...

Springfield knocked off Adirondack 5-2 Mar. 19 with a pair of goals coming from Sean McCann...

Syracuse picked up a rare win courtesy of Corey Hirsch as they beat Albany 4-2 Mar. 19. The Crunch scored all four goals in the first period and held on from there...

Herbert Vasiljevs scored in the final minute of regulation to give the T-Blades a 2-1 win over Philadelphia Mar. 19. The other Kentucky goal came from enforcer Eric Boulton, of all people...

The other game in that division that night ended in the same score, as Cincinnati beat Hershey. Anders Bjork was in on both Ducks' goals, as Jeremy Stevenson scored the winner...

Hartford seems to be a cure for whatever ails Saint John. The Flames knocked off the WolfPack 5-2 Mar. 19 for their second win against Hartford in a week - also their only wins on their current road trip...

Andrei Podkonicky by Meredith Martini

Worcester came back to tie the score late in the third and then Andrei Podkonicky's goal with 28 seconds left gave the IceCats a 4-3 win over Lowell...

Then the next night, Lowell ran into a brick wall named Aren Miller. The Adirondack rookie backstopper picked up his first pro shutout against the Monsters - who also got a shutout from Mark McArthur. The ever rare 0-0 tie...

Albany took Hamilton to overtime but Fredrik Lindquist picked up the game-winner for a 4-3 win Mar. 20. Chris Ferraro had a three point night for the 'dogs...

Ville Nieminen scored the game-winner with 33 seconds left in regulation as Hershey squeaked out a 4-2 win over Kentucky Mar. 20...

Springfield pretty much finished Portland's season with a 4-1 win Mar. 20. Josh Green had a three point night for the Falcons...

The Beast got a rare win in Hartford Mar. 20 on Byron Ritchie's goal with 43 seconds left in OT. The 4-3 win was only their second in Hartford in franchise history...

Mark Greig and Peter White both had three point nights as the Phantoms romped over Cincinnati 6-2 on Mar. 20...

Rochester toyed with Syracuse Mar. 20 as the Amerks won 8-2. Craig Fisher and Domenic Pittis both went double up on goals and assists...

Peter Allen had three assists for the T-Blades as they beat Hershey for the first time in their last six matchups, 5-2 on Mar. 21...

Providence gave ECHL callup David Brumby a tryout in net and he missed a shutout by 20 seconds. The Bruins defeated Saint John 2-1 Mar. 21 after Brumby's near perfect game...

Eric Bertrand's second goal came in overtime to give Albany a 4-3 against Adirondack. Sasha Lakovic played in the game despite his six game suspension...

Rochester took out Syracuse again Mar. 21, this time 2-1. Dean Sylvester scored the game-winner for the Amerks, his ninth game-winning goal this season. That ties the franchise record...

Peter Ratchuk by Meredith Martini

Domenic Pittis has 19 points in nine games against Syracuse. Pittis played for Syracuse last season but was unceremoniously dropped by the Penguins during the summer. Now, he's enjoying sweet revenge...

Somewhat surprisingly given his offensive exploits, Philadelphia's Richard Park picked up his first hat trick this season on Mar. 21, against Cincinnati. His third goal with seconds remaining in regulation gave the Phantoms a 4-3 win...

New Haven busted out with a four goal third period to defeat Hamilton 5-4 on Mar. 21. Shane Willis had a three point night, while Peter Ratchuk notched the game-winner...

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