Marlies Hit the Road for Three Straight Games, Starting Tonight in the Steel City
Toronto Looks to Build Off Thrilling Overtime Victory

Opponents This Week:

(March 9): The Marlies travel to Hamilton this evening to begin their three-game road trip to take on the Bulldogs, AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 p.m. at Copps Coliseum. The game will mark the ninth of 12 meetings between the two clubs. The Bulldogs have defeated the Marlies in their past three matchups. In their most recent matchup, Toronto dropped a 5-1 decision against the Bulldogs in Hamilton on February 28. After Tim Brent scored the game’s opening goal in the first period, the Bulldogs scored five straight to close out the victory. The Marlies hold an all-time record of 28-14-3 against their QEW rivals. Hamilton currently leads the North Division and the Western Conference with a 42-14-3-5 record for 92 points. Hamilton’s 92 points are currently four more than any other team in the conference and 16 more than any team in their division. The Bulldogs enter the week on a season-high eight-game winning streak. Bulldogs forward Brock Trotter is currently sixth in the AHL in scoring with 28 goals and 34 assists for 62 points. Left winger J.T. Wyman scored four goals and added one assist for five points in last week’s three-game week. Wyman scored his first career hat-trick in the Bulldogs’ 4-1 win over Adirondack on Wednesday. He currently has 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points. Defenceman P.K. Subban set a Hamilton franchise record last week for points by a defenceman in a single season. Subban’s assist in their win over Adirondack on March 3 was his 45th point of the season, setting the record. He now has 13 goals and 32 assists to go along with a plus-38 rating, which ranks second in the AHL. The tandem of Cedrick Desjardins and Curtis Sanford has been impressive this season, combining for a league-best 2.19 goal-against average. Desjardins’ 1.90 goals-against average ranks first in the league; while Sanford’s mark of 2.05 is third.

(March 12): The Marlies continue their road trip on Friday night in the Windy City when they take on the Chicago Wolves, AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, at 8:30 p.m. (ET) at Allstate Arena. The matchup will be the fourth and final meeting between the two clubs. Toronto has earned a record of 1-1-1-0 against the Wolves through the first three games. Toronto holds a 7-4-2 all-time advantage over Chicago. The Marlies were shutout by Chicago last Wednesday at Ricoh Coliseum. Drew MacIntyre made 19 saves in Chicago’s 3-0 victory. The Wolves are currently one of the hottest teams in the AHL, winners of seven of their past 10 games (7-1-1-1) and rank first in the West Division with a record of 41-18-1-5 for 88 points. Chicago holds a record of 24-6-0-2 at home this season. They have earned a point in 16 consecutive games on home ice (15-0-0-1), which is the second longest streak in the AHL. Their 24 home victories is the second most in the American Hockey League. Former Marlies forward, Tim Stapleton, ranks third on the Wolves in points with 53 (25 goals, 28 assists). Stapleton set the Marlies single season points record last year, finishing the season with 79 points (28 goals, 51 assists), good for seventh in the AHL. He made his NHL debut last season with the Maple Leafs on February 26 against the New York Islanders. Wolves’ sniper, Brett Sterling paces the AHL in scoring with 34 goals. Jason Krog currently leads all Chicago scorers, and ranks fifth in the league with 66 points (13 goals, 53 assists). Former Toronto Maple Leaf, Johnny Pohl, has notched 14 goals and 29 assists for the Wolves this season. Pohl played for the Maple Leafs for three seasons from 2005-08, registering 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points in 114 games. Forward Spencer Machacek posted six points (one goal, five assists) in four games last week, which included three assists on Sunday. He’s currently on a six-game point streak and ranks fourth on the team in goals with 17. Defenceman Paul Postma has recorded six goals and 12 points in his last nine outings after recording 11 points in his previous 39 contests. The Wolves have 12 players that have registered at least 10 goals this season.

(March 13): The Marlies end their three-game road swing on Saturday night with a tilt against the Milwaukee Admirals, AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators, at 8:30 p.m. (ET) at the Bradley Center. The game marks the fourth and final match-up between the two clubs. Milwaukee enters the game with a record of 34-23-1-6 for 75 points, ranking them fourth in the West Division. The Admirals sit eight points ahead of Peoria and San Antonio for the final playoff spot in the division. Milwaukee has gone winless over their past three games (0-2-0-1). The last time these two teams met was on January 9 in Milwaukee, with the Admirals taking the 3-1 decision. Kyle Rogers scored the lone Marlie goal in the loss. Goaltender Mark Dekanich made 18 saves and was the game’s first star. The Marlies are 1-1-1-0 against the Admirals this season through three games. The first two games this season were been decided in extra time. Last season the Marlies went 1-1-0-0 against the Admirals, with their win coming on January 9 at the Bradley Center. The Marlies have an all-time record of 4-8-1 against the Admirals. Forward Mike Santorelli paces the club in points with 40 (19 goals, 21 assists). Robert Dietrich ranks third in the league amongst defencemen with 18 power play assists. Dietrich was drafted by Nashville in the sixth round, 174th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and has posted 34 points (five goals, 29 assists).

MARLIES HEADLINES:

What Happened Last Week: The Marlies finished their three-game week with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory, snapping a three-game losing skid. Toronto dropped their first contest of the week on Wednesday by a 3-0 score to the Chicago Wolves. James Reimer made 32 saves but couldn’t hold off the Wolves as they won their 11th game over their past 13 contests. On Saturday afternoon, Toronto couldn’t solve Americans starting goalie Tyler Plante, despite firing 40 shots on goal. Mike York’s first period tally was all Rochester needed as the Amerks won 1-0. Brendan Mikkelson’s overtime goal with two seconds remaining gave the Marlies the 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon over the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Marlies are currently in sixth place in the North Division with a 25-30-5-5 record for 60 points.

Home Sweet Home: The Marlies have played their best hockey on home ice this season, holding an 18-10-3-2 advantage at Ricoh Coliseum. With their 3-2 overtime win on Sunday afternoon, the Marlies have earned at least a point in 11 of their past 16 home contests and have won five of their past seven contests at Ricoh Coliseum. Their home game on Wednesday against Chicago was the third and final school day game and drew a season-high 7,726 fans. The Marlies have scored a power play goal in seven of their past nine home games, going 8-for-40 during that span (20.0%). Toronto returns home on March 20 with a matchup against the Hamilton Bulldogs at 4:00 p.m.

Another Brick in the Wall: James Reimer has guided the Marlies to at least a point in 10 of his past 13 starts (8-3-1). Over his past 13 starts, he’s recorded a 0.936 save percentage and 2.02 goals-against average. Reimer recorded his first career AHL shutout on February 20, making 31 saves and earning first star honours in the club’s 2-0 win over Manitoba. Reimer’s shutout was the team’s first shutout since October 30 when Joey MacDonald didn’t allow a goal against Adirondack. In 15 games this season, Reimer has a record of 9-4-1 with a 2.23 goals-against average and 0.928 save percentage.

We’re Going Streaking: Kyle Calder had his Marlies season-high seven-game point streak snapped on February 24 in Hamilton. The following night against Hershey, Calder scored two goals and was the game’s first star. During his streak, which started on February 9 at Abbotsford, Calder recorded four goals and four assists. The Mannville, Alberta native tallied his fifth multi-point game on Sunday with two assists. Calder has tallied a point in 14 of his past 21 contests (seven goals, 11 assists).

Keeping It Close: The Marlies have a very impressive record this season when the game is decided by one goal, marking a record of 17-2-5-5. 17 of their 25 victories this season have come in one-goal contests. Christian Hanson and Troy Bodie share the club lead with three game-winning tallies. The Marlies own a 17-0-2-2 record when taking the lead into the third period. Toronto holds a 16-7-5 record when scoring the game’s opening goal and are 20-6-6 when they score three or more goals in a game.

Multi-Point Games: The Marlies had three players notch multi-point games last week. Kyle Calder, Ryan Hamilton and Brendan Mikkelson each collected two-point games on Sunday afternoon against Hartford. Christian Hanson paces the club with nine multi-point games this season.

Multi-Point Games

1. Hanson 9
2. Stalberg 8
3. Deveaux 5
Calder 5

In the Community: The Marlies participated in their fifth of six community practices last Thursday night when they traveled to the Centennial Arena in Scarborough, Ontario. The team hit the ice at 7:00 p.m. for an hour long practice and then had a full team autograph signing afterwards.

Reading Report: The Toronto Maple Leafs ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals currently rank second in the East Division with a 30-25-1-3 record for 60 points. The Royals knocked off the Kalamazoo Wings on Sunday 6-5 in overtime for their second straight win. The Royals have won five of their past seven games. Stefano Giliati has notched eight points (four goals, four assists) over his past two games. Robert Slaney has collected an assist in each of his past two contests. Slaney has registered one goal and eight assists in 16 games with Reading to go along with 10 penalty minutes. In 34 games this season with the Royals, Giliati has recorded 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists). Andrew Engelage has been in goal for both of the Royals’ past two victories.

MARLIES QUICK HITS:

- Tyler Bozak notched his fourth goal of the season for the Maple Leafs last Thursday night in Toronto’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins. Bozak currently ranks first on the Leafs in face-off percentage (55.4%).

- The Marlies recalled Greg Scott, Alex Berry and Joey Ryan from the Reading Royals on Friday afternoon. They all skated in the Royals’ 6-3 loss to Kalamazoo last Thursday night and all collected one assist each. For Berry it was his first career ECHL game.

- Andre Deveaux currently leads the team in goals (14), power play goals (five) and penalty minutes (180) and is tied for first with 33 points.

- Defencemen Brendan Mikkelson’s overtime winner on Sunday was his first game-winning goal of the season.

- Ryan Hamilton’s two-point output on Sunday (one goal, one assist) was his first multi-point game of the season.

- Toronto has won seven of their past nine games when they’ve out-shot their opponent.

- Brennan Evans’ 168 penalty minutes currently ranks second in the AHL for defencemen and 11th overall.

Reebok/AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

For the week ending March 7, 2010, the Toronto Marlies nominated defenceman Brendan Mikkelson for consideration as the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week. Mikkelson scored the game winning goal on Sunday afternoon in overtime against the Hartford Wolf Pack. After the Marlies started their three-game week with two shutout losses, they bounced back with 3-2 win over Hartford. Mikkelson was the game’s first star, recording a goal and an assist to go along with a plus-two rating.

MARLIES ON THE WEB

Follow the Marlies all season long for the latest, most up-to-date information on their official web site, torontomarlies.com

MARLIES UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Saturday, March 20 vs. Hamilton Bulldogs – Jonas Gustavsson Bobblehead Day
Sunday, March 21 vs. Abbotsford Heat – Game broadcast live on CBC & Salute to the Troops

MARLIES RECAP:

Wednesday, March 3 vs. Chicago Wolves

Wolves Blank Marlies in Final School Day Game
Marlies Goals: None
Wolves Goals: Doell (10), Kulda (5), Kozek (8)
Three Stars: 1. MacIntyre (CHI), 2. Kulda (CHI), 3. Doell (CHI)

Recap: The Marlies had their four-game home winning streak snapped on Wednesday morning in their final school day game of the season by the Wolves. After a scoreless first period, the Wolves got goals from Kevin Doell, Artus Kulda and Andrew Kozek in the middle frame. The Marlies weren’t able to beat Chicago’s starting goalie Drew MacIntyre, firing 19 shots at him. Kyle Calder, Alex Berry and Greg Scott each tied with a team-high three shots on goal. The Marlies power play went 0-for-2; while their penalty killing unit was a perfect 1-for-1. James Reimer made 32 saves on 35 shots in the loss.

Saturday, March 6 vs. Rochester Americans

Plante Makes 40 Saves to Hand Marlies Second Straight Shutout Loss
Marlies Goals: None
Americans Goal: York (9)
Three Stars: 1. Plante (RCH), 2. Johnson (RCH), 3. MacDonald (TOR)

Recap: Tyler Plante made 40 saves to shutout the Marlies 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. It was the second time in a row that Plante earned a shutout victory when facing off against Toronto. Despite the Marlies outshooting the Amerks 16-7 in the opening period, it was Mike York that put Rochester on the board with a power play goal. Jamie Johnson fired a cross-crease pass to an open York who scored his ninth of the season past Marlies starting goaltender Joey MacDonald. Toronto continued to pour it on in the second and third, but couldn’t solve Plante who made 24 saves over the final 40 minutes. Ben Simon had a game-high six shots on goal.

Sunday, March 7 vs. Hartford Wolf Pack

Mikkelson’s Overtime Winner Snaps Marlies Three-Game Skid
Marlies Goals: Hamilton (9), Hodgman (6), Mikkelson (6)
Wolf Pack Goals: Newbury (12), Brashear (1)
Three Stars: 1. Mikkelson (TOR), 2. Brashear (HFD), 3. Hamilton (TOR)

Recap: Brendan Mikkelson’s goal with two seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Marlies past the Wolf Pack 3-2 on Sunday afternoon. The Marlies jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Ryan Hamilton deflected a Mikkelson point shot late in the opening period. Justin Hodgman scored his sixth of the season in the second period on a Marlies power play to put Toronto in front 2-0. Late in the second frame the Wolf Pack cut the lead with a goal from former Marlie Kris Newbury. Hartford tied the game at 2-2 when Donald Brashear fired a slap shot that beat James Reimer. With two seconds remaining in overtime, Mikkelson broke in down the wing and wired a snap shot that beat Chad Johnson for the win. Reimer made 22 saves in the win.

COMING THIS WEEK BOX OFFICE REPORT

Tue., Mar. 9 Toronto Marlies at Hamilton Bulldogs 7:30 pm Copps Coliseum TICKETS 905-529-8500
Fri., Mar. 12 Toronto Marlies at Chicago Wolves 8:30 pm Allstate Arena TICKETS 800-843-965837
Sat., Mar. 13 Toronto Marlies at Milwaukee Admirals 8:30 pm Bradley Center TICKETS 414-227-0550

All start times are listed in Eastern Time
Marlies home & away games broadcast on THE FAN 590, fan590.com or torontomarlies.com
Watch Marlies home games this season LIVE on Rogers TV Cable 10 in Toronto and 63 in Scarborough.

The Toronto Marlies celebrated South Asian culture as part of South Asian Cultural Day on Saturday March 6^th as the Marlies battled the Rochester Americans at Ricoh Coliseum.

 

The afternoon game featured performances by South Asian singer Prita Chhabra and the percussion ensemble Dhol Circle as well as an appearance by CBC’s Parminder Singh.

 

The purpose of the event was increase the exposure of hockey within the large South Asian community that exists in the Greater Toronto Area as well as showcase South Asian entertainment throughout the game.

 

Many South Asians were in attendance for the event but the biggest presence was from the Islamic School Foundation who nearly had an entire section to themselves. The school kids were very enthusiastic and certainly the loudest section in the arena as they regularly started chants of “Let’s Go Marlies!”.

 

 

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment reached out last fall to many different ethnic communities in the GTA to generate interest and increase awareness of hockey programs within the city as well as promote the affordability and accessibility of the Marlies hockey. As many hockey fans are aware, it isn’t exactly easy to get tickets to see the Toronto Maple Leafs in action and the tickets aren’t exactly cheap either.

 

But the Marlies are the Leafs of tomorrow and provide an inexpensive option for families in ethnic communities to attend professional hockey games and see players who have already played or will one day play for the Leafs.

 

“Toronto Marlies hockey is affordable and accessible,” says Jennifer Millard who is the Director, Business Operations for the Toronto Marlies Hockey Club.

 

“Tickets start at $10 and its professional hockey in a great atmosphere so we wanted to make sure that people in the South Asian community knew that.”

 

 

Singh took part in a ceremonial faceoff prior to the game and was interviewed live during a first period break where he was able to get the crowd all pumped up. Singh is well known and respected within the South Asian community for his work as a host of a Punjabi program on Omni called Chardi Kalaa. Recently Singh has become somewhat of a celebrity since he became a commentator for CBC’s broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada and Toronto Raptors games in Punjabi.

 

Montreal-born Chhabra gave solid renditions of both national anthems and performed one of her songs during the first intermission. Meanwhile, Dhol Circle delighted the crowd with their infectious drum beats as they jammed in the second intermission as well as during a break in the third period.

 

Unfortunately, aside from the entertainment, fans had very little to cheer about as the Marlies were shutout 1-0 in a tight defensive game.

 

Despite the outcome, Millard was very positive about the turnout and thought the event was a certainly a success.

 

“I think it’s been a huge success. People seemed to be blown away that Prita was here because she is such a well known performer in the South Asian community, so it’s been really positive, just from walking around I get the sense that people are really happy and we’re happy with the attendance numbers, so that’s great.”

 

Click HERE to view pictures from the Marlies South Asian Cultural Day.

Contact Aman Dhanoa at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Photos courtesy of Annandi Merhai of Devi Designs

Playing with a short bench, the Toronto Marlies thwarted a comeback by the visiting Hartford Wolf Pack on a last second goal from Brendan Mikkelson in overtime for a 3-2 victory in front of 3,730 fans at Ricoh Coliseum.

 

Forwards Jay Rosehill and Tim Brent were called up by the Toronto Maple Leafs who suffered two injuries the night before against the Ottawa Senators. This left the Marlies with only 5 defencemen and 10 forwards in the second half of back-to-back games this weekend.

 

Being short-handed didn’t phase the Marlies at all early in the game as they dictated the play and had the majority of scoring chances in the opening frame.

 

Toronto opened the scoring in the last minute of the first period with Ryan Hamilton tipping in a Mikkelson shot from the top of the circle past Wolf Pack goalie Chad Johnson. Forward Alex Foster collected the other assist on the play. After 20 minutes, the Marlies were up 1-0 and had outshot their opponents 10-3.

 

The Marlies continued their strong play in the first half of the second period and went ahead 2-0 within the first 5 minutes when the Marlies created sustained pressure in the Hartford zone while on the power-play. Kyle Calder fired a shot from the slot which was stopped by Johnson but Justin Hodgman was right there on the doorstep to backhand the rebound into the net. Kyle Calder and Greg Scott drew assists on the play.

 

Hartford pulled within one goal late in the second period with a power-play goal when former Marlie Kris Newbury directed a hard pass from teammate Anders Eriksson towards the net and the puck just squeezed past goalie James Reimer.

 

The Wolf Pack played better as the game wore on and fatigue was no doubt starting to creep in for the Marlies as they found themselves in another tight defensive game, the second in as many nights.

 

At the 7:38 mark of the third, Wolf Pack forward Donald Brashear fired a bullet shot from the left faceoff circle to the short-side past a surprised Reimer to tie the game at 2-2. The goal was probably one that Reimer would like to have back and probably should have stopped as it changed the complexion of the game.

 

Hartford played a strong third period outshooting the home team 15-9 and came close to getting the go-ahead goal but the third period ended with both teams tied at 2.

 

The Wolf Pack continued their strong play in overtime and maintained the majority of the puck possession but were unable to get any solid scoring chances.

 

With only seconds to play Hamilton and Calder battled hard along the half boards in the opposing zone. Hamilton managed to get the puck free into the slot area where Mikkelson picked up the loose puck and fired a wrist shot past Johnson’s glove with only 1.1 seconds left on the clock. The entire Marlies team jumped off the bench to celebrate the goal and hard earned victory.

 

Mikkelson finished the game with a goal and an assist and after the game commented on his game winning goal.

 

“Just good forechecking, our two forwards hounded the puck really well and caused that puck to just pop out there and luckily I stayed up on the play and probably out of position but I jumped on it and looked for a spot to shoot and fired away.”

 

The short bench seemed to fatigue the Marlies towards the end of the game but the team battled hard for the victory.

 

“You start getting fatigued but I think we did a really good job of playing in our system and playing smart hockey,” said Hamilton, who also finished the game with a goal and an assist. “Once the third period kicks in and overtime you’re kind of on adrenaline so no excuses for being tired.”

 

Despite blowing a 2-0 lead, coach Dallas Eakins was pleased with his team’s performance.

 

“Our guys were just hanging on; we had such a short bench starting the game. Before the game if you had asked me ‘If you wanted to go to a shootout?’ I would have said ‘Absolutely, let’s get a point and see what we can do.’ But that was a great way to end the game and good for our players because they stuck together.”

The Marlies will now hit the road for three games beginning in Hamilton on Tuesday night against divisional rivals, the Bulldogs, at 7:30pm at Copps Coliseum.

 

1)      Marlies defenceman Brendan Mikkelson

 

2)      Wolf Pack forward Donald Brashear

 

3)      Marlies forward Ryan Hamilton

Contact Aman Dhanoa at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Photos courtesy of Annandi Merhai of Devi Designs

The Toronto Marlies outplayed and outshot the Rochester Americans 40-17, but once again were stymied by goalie Tyler Plante, losing 1-0 in front of 4,048 fans at Ricoh Coliseum on South Asian Cultural Day.

Plante has certainly had the Marlies number this season - the victory gave Plante his third win of the season against Toronto with two of them being shutouts. The Marlies threw more than enough rubber at the Americans netminder but Plante had little trouble stopping all 40 shots he faced.

 

Rochester opened the scoring mid-way through the first period while on the power-play. Jamie Johnson slid a cross-crease pass to an open Mike York who had an easy tap-in on the open side of the net past Marlies goaltender Joey MacDonald.

 

 

The Marlies had several great scoring chances throughout the game were unable to get the equalizer, losing only their second one-goal game this season. The majority of the opportunities were either shots along the ice or directly at the goaltender. Toronto didn’t shoot the puck high enough nor did they get enough bodies in front of the Americans net and as a result were unable to get Plante off his game. Rochester did a good job blocking shots and keeping the Marlies players to the outside, allowing Plante to see pucks and make easy saves.

 

Forward Jay Rosehill thought his team played well but were simply bested by a great performance by Plante.

 

“We were getting the shots to them and I think we played good in all ends of the rink,” said Rosehill.

 

“It’s one of those games where their goalie came up a little bit hot and things weren’t bouncing our way but overall I think we played a pretty good game. We just weren’t able to solve him tonight with anything we tried.”

 

MacDonald wasn’t very busy but made key saves when called upon. He thinks his team simply needs to find a way to score goals and win low scoring games.

 

“I thought we played well defensively, we didn’t give up a lot of shots but we got to find a way,” said MacDonald.

 

“This is the time of year - this was a playoff game like that. You got to win playoff games 1-0, 2-0 or whatever it is, we just got to find a way to score and guys got to pay the price in front of the net a little more. Their goalie was seeing a lot of shots and if he sees it, he’s going to stop it.”

Toronto has now lost two straight, both being shutouts, and have only scored one goal in their last three games. Toronto now finds themselves 12 points behind Manitoba for the last playoff spot and have a tough task ahead of them if they hope to make the playoffs.

 

Coach Dallas Eakins thought his team played as well as they could and gave his players positive reinforcement for tonight’s game against the Hartford.

 

“I was worried about their mindset going into tomorrow (tonight). When you lose a game there’s a lot of negative feelings and negative thoughts and I didn’t want that coming into their heads. If we play like that each and every game down thru the stretch here we will challenge somebody for a playoff spot and they needed to know that. That’s about as good as we can play.”

 

Saturday afternoon’s game was also South Asian Cultural Day and featured performances by singer Prita Chhabra and Dhol Circle. Chhabra sang both national anthems and performed one of her songs in the first intermission. Dhol Circle delighted the crowd with their infectious drum beats in the second intermission and in the third period.

 

CBC’s Parminder Singh was also on hand and took part in a ceremonial faceoff prior to the game. Singh is a commentator for Hockey Night in Canada and Toronto Raptors broadcasts in Punjabi.

 

The Marlies will have little time to dwell on their loss as they get back in action tonight when they host the Hartford Wolf Pack at 4pm at Ricoh Coliseum.

 

1)      Americans goalie Tyler Plante

 

2)      Americans forward Jamie Johnson

 

3)      Marlies goalie Joey MacDonald

Contact Aman Dhanoa at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Photos courtesy of Annandi Merhai of Devi Designs