Player of the Week (October 6): Five-point games will get you some attention, as the Kentucky Thoroughblades' Steve Guolla can attest. Guolla had a goal and an assist in the season-opener against Cincinnati, then took the Mighty Ducks to the mat with another goal and four assists the next night. It's only been one weekend but Guolla already leads the league in points, assists and plus/minus (+5). Seems somebody wants back in the NHL sooner rather than later.

Player of the Week (October 13) Five points in two games works well too, since that's what Springfield's Chad Kilger did to pick up the award. Kilger had a pair of goals in each of the Falcons' two games that week, both victories keeping Springfield undefeated and atop the New England Division. Kilger lost his job in Phoenix to Brad Isbister, but obviously has some other plans.

Pierre Sevigny Photo by Kevin Fischer

Lots of Firsts: With three new teams in the league, a lot of clubs did things over the weekend they'd never done before. For Cincinnati, the first goal came from Craig Reichert, although they needed two games to get the first goal. Longtime Canadien Pierre Sevigny notched the first ever goal for the Hartford Wolf Pack as well as the franchise's first hat trick (in different games, no less) and the first goal for New Haven was also the first professional goal scored by Ian MacNeil.

Turnin' 'em Out: The AHL keeps on producing NHL players, as some 60.7% of the players on the NHL's opening day rosters spent some time in the 'A'. And NHL teams may want to strongly consider stocking up on AHL alumni, as the team with the largest number of graduates on their roster, 18, is the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. New Jersey and St. Louis have also cornered the marked on AHL grads, with over three-quarters of their rosters having AHL experience. Add to that the eleven NHL coaches who formerly headed up AHL teams, and that doesn't count Barry Trotz, head coach of next season's Nashville team.

Forgot Something: Like say, goaltenders? The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks replaced Baltimore goaltenders Mike Bales and Tom Askey with rookies Chris Mason and Blaine Russell. Bad move, as the two kids allowed a total of 16 goals in Cincinnati's first two games, both against the Kentucky Thoroughblades. A four-goal second period was the Ducks' undoing in the first game as Kentucky shut them out in the first game of their existence, 5-0, with all of the goals allowed by Mason. That game, in Lexington, set a record for an AHL opening night crowd as 17,812 people showed up. While it was also an attendance record for the Thoroughlades, many of the attendees weren't happy campers. Seems that Kentucky is a little behind the curve on figuring out that lung cancer is a bad thing and banning smoking in the building. They also failed to announce that fact in advance and had a few thousand unhappy smokers - along with several thousand happy non-smokers.

Peter Leboutillier Photo by Tricia McMillan

But it was the second game of the teams' home-and-home series that was the real show. Kentucky set a club record as they scored 11 goals, seven of them on the power play, and outshot Cincinnati 49 to 29 in the Ducks' home debut. The 'Blades saw two players notch hat tricks, as ex-Islander Niklas Andersson turned the trick in just 12 minutes and former PEI stalwart Chad Penney picked up his own threesome. Steve Guolla had one goal and four assists for a five-point night; Andersson, Penney and the Ducks' Peter Leboutillier all had four-point nights. The first seven goals for Kentucky all came on the power play and sent starting goalie Blaine Russell packing shortly into the third period, after he'd given up nine goals and started his pro career with a 12.60 GAA. Oddly enough, the Ducks led the game shortly after the second period began, but had nine penalties called on them after they took the lead and the 'Blades scored on every chance they had. Leboutillier had two goals for Cincinnati, but didn't score the franchise's first goal (he was the Baltimore Bandits' first ever goal scorer) as Craig Reichert had the honors this time. Lastly, four players (two from each team) received game misconducts, with the Ducks' Lloyd Shaw picking up 29 penalty minutes and the gate along with his first professional point. By the way, Anaheim sent Askey to Cincinnati to stop the bleeding.

More Power Surges: The Springfield Falcons weren't having any trouble with their power play the same night Kentucky's hit high gear: the Falcons had four of their own in a 7-6 power struggle with division rivals the Worcester IceCats. Then again, the IceCats also had three goals on the PP, so perhaps the league as a whole really ought to practice penalty killing. Springfield came from behind twice before former Bandit Mike Pomichter put them ahead for good. Worcester had two goals from another former Bandit, Mike Maneluk, but it wasn't enough.

Peter Sidorkiewicz Photo by Kevin Fischer

Goalie Tricks: Albany's Peter Sidorkiewicz, 34, is the oldest goaltender in the AHL by a large margin and is close to being the oldest player in the league as a whole, but it didn't slow him down on opening night as he pitched a 3-0 shutout for the River Rats. Much of the scoring he received in support came in the form of a two-point night from fellow old-timer Peter Zezel, temporarily relegated to the AHL until a trade can be arranged.

Certainly Sidorkiewicz conducted himself better on opening night than some of his younger counterparts, particularly Fredericton's Jose Theodore. Theodore received a game misconduct and lost the opportunity for a win when he intervened in a crease scrap between Canadien Jimmy Drolet and Portland Pirate Benoit Gratton; Theodore slugged Gratton to earn himself a third-man-in penalty. Portland got even a couple nights later by launching 42 shots at Theodore while shutting out his teammates, 4-0.

Fanning the Flames: Nobody managed to do it until Adirondack finally set the Flames down in their fifth game of the season October 11th. The Flames broke out of the gate to a 4-0-0 start, the best in their history, largely on the back of former Adirondack Red Wing Tyler Moss, who exacted a measure of revenge against his former team. Moss, who was traded to Calgary late last season and has since been playing for Saint John, stood on his head to preserve a 3-2 win for the Flames against his former creasemate, Norm Maracle, in the Flames' second game of the season.

And ironically enough, the best game for the Flames this season came before the smallest paid attendance in franchise history as Saint John slammed St. John's 5-1 in a game that lasted three hours and 45 minutes, without overtime. In addition to Moss, whose GAA to start the season was a measly 1.50, the Flames have also gotten strong performances from Hnat Domenichelli (five goals in four games) and rookie Travis Brigley to take over the Canadian Division.

Go East, Young Man: For all the hockey purists who complain about Europeans coming to North America, the flow of players is not exactly one way. Dan Laperriere, who was featured in LCS last year, is now with the 'Schwenninger Wild Wings' of the German Elite League (and you thought weird names were confined to North America!). He's not alone either, as other players from last season's AHL rosters can also be found in the German Leagues, including: Gary Leeman (Worcester), Darren McAusland and Stefan Ustorf (Portland), Guy Lehoux and Paul DiPietro (St. John's), Darren Rumble (Philadelphia), Neil Eisenhut (Binghamton), Craig Fisher (Carolina), Alan Letang (Fredericton), Rick Girard and Brent Tully (Syracuse), John Lilley (Providence) and Jeff Bloemberg (Adirondack). Hopefully they'll bring back some wienerschnitzel.

Jason Mansoff Photo by Tricia McMillan

Go Everywhere, Young Man: Jason Mansoff is an AHL rookie who has already managed to play for three different AHL teams in the space of one weekend. Really. Mansoff went to camp with the Washington Capitals and was assigned to the Portland Pirates. The Pirates didn't have an immediate need for him, so Washington and Vancouver arranged for Mansoff to join the Syracuse Crunch, on whose opening day roster he appeared. But then Portland wound up needing him more than Syracuse, so the Caps recalled him to Portland and he also turned up on their opening roster. Meanwhile, Mansoff also briefly and erroneously appeared on Rochester's opening day roster, probably an office mixup but just enough to really confuse things. Busy guy.

Also well travelled at an early point in the season is former Hershey Bear Kurt Miller. Miller left the Bears and signed with the IHL's San Antonio Dragons over the summer, but was cut by the Dragons. Miller then re-signed with the Bears, who almost immediately loaned him to Binghamton of the United Hockey League. Binghamton promptly released him, and Miller then signed with the UHL's Utica team. That's four teams in about ten days or so. Another former Bear, Mark Pivetz, signed with Dallas and was assigned to Michigan, but the K-Wings cut him and he landed with Cincinnati - of the AHL. Everybody follow this?

Why Can't We Be Friends?: With all apologies to Smashmouth, Hershey and Kentucky locked up in their first meeting of the season last weekend as all wondered whether the bad feelings from last season still remained. As noted in our last issue, Hershey's roster is almost entirely different, and as New York Islander Ken Belanger said with a grin, "I'm not there anymore", so the hope was the two teams wouldn't repeat their 236 penalty minute performance from last year. Well...they tried.

The Bears and Thoroughblades had a mere 163 minutes this time around, and very nearly didn't have a decision either. With the T-blades struggling to keep their perfect start and unbeaten streak, Hershey's Eric Veilleux potted the Bears' fourth power-play goal of the night with only 3.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Bears a 4-3 victory. Interestingly, it was not only Kentucky's first loss of the season, but it was also their first loss ever in overtime and their first loss at home on a Saturday night in the franchise's history. And all of Hershey's goals came on the power play.

As for the penalty minutes, mostly they came in dribs and drabs of minors and matching infractions, the notable exception being the third period all out brawl which totalled 80 minutes in penalties and sent Kentucky's Fredrik Oduya home early. Touted big guy Zdeno Chara got an early pass as well in a separate incident.

Notes: The Philadelphia Phantoms' inability to beat the Syracuse Crunch continues. Last season the Phantoms set a home unbeaten streak record, bookended by losses to the Crunch. This season the Phantoms dropped their season opener to the Crunch, 8-6...

The AHL set a new per game attendance record for an opening weekend, as the league averaged 7,496 fans in the 16 games that opened the season, a 20% increase. In addition to Kentucky's record setting matchup, the Hartford Wolf Pack opened to just under 13,000 and Philadelphia had the usual high numbers...

One of the biggest problems with the Baltimore Bandits was the fact that Anaheim has a lousy farm system and few decent prospects to place in the AHL, equalling a poor team. Cincinnati can't use that excuse though, as the Mighty Ducks sent in reinforcements after their Japan swing in the form of (experienced) goalie Tom Askey, plus Ruslan Salei, Richard Park, Frank Banham and Matt Cullen to join an already improved lineup...

Phantoms' defenseman Andy Delmore made quite an offensive splash for a rookie blueliner, with four points in his first two games. Syracuse's Peter Schaefer also started hot with his own four points, but he's a winger. Delmore and Schaefer scored their points against each other in a Philly/Syracuse home and home. Nor were they alone, as last season's points champion Peter White had a six-point weekend and newcomer Brian Bonin had five points, including two short-handed goals, in the same series...

While it seems the Rochester War Memorial Auditorium just underwent renovations (the Amerks spent the beginning of last season on the road to accomodate the construction) they're doing it again already. This time the Amerks have both a lot of road games and are also playing in Buffalo's Marine Midland Arena until the Auditorium reopens in November...

Brandon Convery was really cheesed about being sent back to the St. John's Maple Leafs last season, so we can imagine what he thought about being sent through waivers and back to St. John's again this year. Convery's handling it a little more maturely this time - he's already scored six goals, the best way to get a flight to Toronto...

The Amerks have also been more damaging to themselves than to other teams so far this season. Patrice Tardif suffered a groin injury when he collided with teammate Martin Menard, and Vaclav Varada was struck on the hand by a teammate's slap shot. Andrei Trefilov is also out injured...

Alexei Yegorov Photo by Kevin Fischer

Alexei Yegorov may or may not have been in the crease but he did score in overtime against the Albany River Rats, giving the Thoroughblades a 3-0-0 start to the season. Yegorov scored in each of Kentucky's first four games...

Syracuse already has...or had...a goaltender controversy. The team started the season with two rookies who needed help, but by the time the Canucks demoted Corey Hirsch, youngster Tim Keyes had gotten hot. Since the deal with Pittsburgh is supposed to be one goalie from each team, that would have made Keyes the odd man out. Then again, Keyes would have been out assuming Hirsch reported to the Crunch, which he refused to do and now Hirsch has been suspended...

Bryan Trottier has found coaching to be somewhat tougher sledding than he thought, as the Pirates needed three games and an NHL veteran to pick up their first win of the season and 16 tries to score a power-play goal. Recently demoted Todd Krygier scored on his first AHL shift and Steve Poapst knocked in the OT game-winner against Worcester. D-man David Harlock notched the power-play goal, his first AHL goal in 148 games (the last was with St. John's in 1995). Once they won a game, however, the Pirates followed up with a shutout of Fredericton...

Fredericton and Providence matched up October 12 for a 4-4 tie. The game was more notable for 119 penalty minutes, including three fights involving the Canadiens' 6'8" meanie Steve McKenna...

The Hartford Wolfpack are presently averaging 15 penalties and 50.8 penalty minutes per game. Fortunately they're also tops in killing those same penalties, ranking second in the league with an 89% kill percentage and nearly as many short-handed goals (three) as power-play goals allowed (four)...

The Albany River Rats lead the league in penalty killing, with a 92.3% kill rate and no power-play goals allowed at home...

Conversely, the Worcester IceCats are best at converting on the man-advantage, going 10 for 29 to get started...

The Amerks' Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre received a one-game suspension for high-sticking Syracuse's Domenic Pittis. Catch is, the AHL later determined the match penalty against Grand-Pierre was an incorrect call and rescinded the suspension, but Grand-Pierre had already served it...

When rookie Zac Bierk won his first professional game on October 6, it marked the first time in two years a home goaltender other than Norm Maracle was credited for a Red Wing victory...

The Philadelphia Phantoms already have four of the league's top ten scorers, with Peter White gunning for another scoring title already and backed up by Shawn McCosh, Craig Darby and Bruce Coles...

Another rookie hot to start the season is the Providence Bruins' Cameron Mann, who has three goals in two games...

The St. John's Maple Leafs are unbeaten in home-openers for the last eight years. In fact, they've only had one tie in those eight games...

Fredericton's Alexei Lojkin had four assists against the Beast of New Haven, for four different goal scorers...

Albany captain Geordie Kinnear was suspended for one game by the league after he cut Cincinnati's Bob Wren in a fight. Kinnear had tape on his thumb for medical reasons, but tape on the hands is still against the rules...

It didn't take the AHL long to acquire its first 1997 first-round draft pick. The Penguins farmed out first pick Robert Dome to Syracuse.

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