Marlies week of Dec 21

Marlies End Four-Game Road Trip on Boxing Day with Game in Cleveland
Toronto Plays the Lake Erie Monsters in Home-And-Home Series this Weekend

Opponents This Week:

(Dec. 26 & 27): The Marlies take on the Lake Erie Monsters, AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, in a home-and-home series on Saturday and Sunday. Toronto travels to Cleveland to take on their division-rivals on Saturday and then host them on Sunday. The two games will mark the fifth and sixth times these two clubs have met this season. The Marlies have defeated the Monsters in all four matchups so far this season (4-0-0-0). The last time Toronto visited Quicken Loans Arena they left with a 7-1 win on November 20. Christian Hanson had his biggest game as a pro, scoring a hat-trick and finishing with four points (three goals, one assist). The Marlies hold an all-time regular season record of 13-6-0-1 against the Monsters. Lake Erie currently sits seventh in the North Division with a 10-17-0-3 record for 23 points. Their 23 points ranks them last in the AHL. The Monsters snapped a franchise-high eight game road losing streak on Saturday at Manitoba with a 3-2 win. Lake Erie holds an 8-0-0-2 record when leading after two periods of play. Their home penalty kill ranks 28th in the AHL this season at 78.6%. Right-Winger Darren Haydar, born in Milton, Ontario leads the Monsters in scoring with 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists). He’s notched 11 power play points (five goals, six assists) this season. Haydar won the AHL’s Most Valuable Player award for the 2006-07 campaign, leading the league with 122 points (41 goals, 81 assists) in 73 games. Chris Durno, recently recalled by Colorado, holds the second longest goal-scoring streak in the AHL this season at five games. During those five games, Durno notched six goals and three assists for nine points. Monsters goaltender Tyler Weiman has posted a 7-10-2 record with a 2.54 goals-against average and 0.906 save percentage in 19 games.

MARLIES HEADLINES:

A Look Back at Last Week: The Marlies finished their four-game week with a 1-2-1-0 record last week. Toronto opened the week with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Admirals at Ricoh Coliseum. They began their four-game road trip on Friday night with a 6-1 loss in Hartford against the Wolf Pack. On Saturday the Marlies snapped their three-game losing skid with a 4-3 win over the W-B/Scranton Penguins. Troy Bodie netted his first hat-trick of the season in Toronto’s victory. Adam Munro was named the game’s third star, kicking aside 33 saves. The Marlies closed out the week in Hershey with a 5-1 loss. Darryl Boyce scored the lone Toronto goal. The Marlies currently rank sixth in the North Division with a 13-12-3-2 record for 31 points.

Home Sweet Home: The Marlies have been impressive on home ice so far this season, holding a 9-4-3-0 advantage at Ricoh Coliseum. Despite dropping their past two games at home, Toronto has won seven of their last 12 games and has earned at least a point in 10 of their previous 13 contests on home ice. They have killed off 58-of-69 penalties (84.1%) at Ricoh Coliseum. Toronto returns home on Sunday afternoon for a tilt against the Lake Erie Monsters.

Killing Time: The Marlies penalty killing unit has only allowed nine goals over their past 12 games and they’ve given up 15 power play goals over their last 22 contests. During that span they’ve successfully killed off 99-of-114 penalties against (86.8%). The penalty killing unit ranks ninth on the road with an 86.4% success rate and 11th overall (85.3%). The Marlies have only allowed 11 power play goals in 14 games away from Ricoh Coliseum.

Christian Keeping the Faith: Christian Hanson is currently on a two-game point streak for the Marlies. Since being reassigned from the Maple Leafs on December 6, Hanson has registered a goal and two assists in four games with the Marlies. He appeared in six games with the Maple Leafs, recording one assist and four penalty minutes with the big club. Hanson ranks first (tie) on the Marlies in points with 21 (nine goals, 12 assists). On November 20 in Lake Erie, he had the biggest night of his professional career, registering his first career AHL hat-trick and added an assist for four points. He currently ranks sixth (tie) in the American Hockey League in rookie scoring with 21 points. The Venetia, PA native ranks first (active) on the Marlies forwards with a plus-five rating. He also ranks first (tie) on the Marlies in multi-point games with six.

Keeping It Close: The Marlies have a very impressive record this season when the game is decided by one goal, marking a record of 8-0-3-2. Eight of their 13 victories this season have come in one-goal contests. Troy Bodie leads the club with three game-winning tallies and Christian Hanson and Ryan Hamilton are tied for second with two each. The Marlies own a 7-0-1-1 record when taking the lead into the third period.

Foster The Statistics: On November 23, the American Hockey League announced that Alex Foster was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending November 22. In three games, Foster recorded six points (five goals, one assist) and a plus-two rating. He’s currently on a three-game goal streak which started on November 20 with a two-goal game against Lake Erie. Foster had missed the previous 10 games due to injury. In eight games this season, the Marlies assistant captain has registered six goals and two assists.

Multi-Point Games: Troy Bodie and Tyler Bozak were the only two Marlies to record a multi-point game this past week. Christian Hanson and Viktor Stalberg share the team lead with six multi-point games this season.

Multi-Point Games
Hanson 6
Stalberg 6
Foster 3
Hamilton 3
Deveaux 3
Bozak 3
Bodie 2
Slaney 1
Berry 1
Boyce 1
Ondrus 1
Scott 1
Mikus 1

Reading Report: The Toronto Maple Leafs ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals currently rank first in the East Division with a 17-9-1-2 record for 31 points. The Royals are currently on a four-game winning streak. Reading has compiled a record of 7-1-0-1 over their past nine games. On Friday, the Marlies re-assigned goaltender Andrew Engelage to the Royals. In four games this season with Reading, Engelage has a 3-1-0 record. The Royals continue a three-game series with the Elmira Jackals this Saturday night.

MARLIES QUICK HITS:

– Viktor Stalberg scored his first career NHL goal on Friday night against the Buffalo Sabres (Ryan Miller). Stalberg ranked second (tie) on the Marlies before his recall earlier in the week. On Monday night against Buffalo, Stalberg netted his second goal of the season in the Maple Leafs 3-2 overtime loss. In his past three games with the Leafs, Stalberg has two goals and a plus-three rating.

– Brennan Evans’ 111 penalty minutes currently ranks first in the AHL for defencemen.

– Stefano Giliati and Joey Ryan were both recalled from Reading on Saturday. Giliati registered his first assist of the season on Saturday in the Marlies 4-3 win at W-B/Scranton.

– Tyler Bozak has recorded six points in his past six games (one goal, five assists). On November 20 he added a career-high three assists, with two of them coming on the power play. In 23 games this season, he has tallied 16 points (three goals, 13 assists). Bozak ranks tied for first on the Marlies in power play assists with six.

– Andre Deveaux has registered six points over his past seven games (four goals, two assists). He ranks third on the club in points with 20 (seven goals, 13 assists) and is tied for first in assists.

– Brendan Mikkelson has scored two goals over his past three games. In 10 games this season, Mikkelson has tallied six points (three goals, three assists).

– Toronto owns a 3-0 record in the shootout on home ice, but has lost both shootouts (0-2) on the road this season.

Reebok/AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

For the week ending December 20, 2009, the Toronto Marlies nominated forward Troy Bodie for consideration as the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week. Bodie began the week with an assist on Monday night in the team’s 4-3 overtime loss against Milwaukee. Bodie netted his first hat-trick of the season on Saturday and was named the game’s first star in the Marlies 4-3 win over W-B/Scranton. The 6’4, 219-pound forward chipped in with an assist on Toronto’s lone goal on Sunday evening against the Hershey Bears. In four games last week Bodie finished with three goals and two assists and 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:

Sunday, December 27 vs. Lake Erie Monsters – Hockey Canada Night
Saturday, January 2 vs. Milwaukee Admirals – Mike Palmateer Bobblehead Day

MARLIES RECAP:

Friday, December 18 vs. Hartford Wolf Pack

Marlies Attacked by Wolf Pack in Hartford
Marlies Goal: Mikkelson (2)
Wolf Pack Goals: Byers 2 (8), Hoffman (1), Potter (3), Owens (5), Couture (4)
Three Stars: 1. Locke (HFD), 2. Byers (HFD), 3. Parenteau (HFD)

Recap: The Marlies began their three-game road trip with a 6-1 loss to the Wolf Pack in Hartford on Friday night. After falling behind 2-0, defenceman Brendan Mikkelson scored his second goal of the season. Tyler Bozak and Christian Hanson both collected assists on Mikkelson’s first period tally. Hartford closed out the game with four unanswered goals to beat Toronto 6-1. Joey MacDonald made the start for the Marlies, his first since being re-assigned from the Maple Leafs, and made 38 saves. Brennan Evans had a game-high 19 penalty minutes.

Saturday, December 19 vs. W-B/Scranton Penguins

Marlies End the March with 4-3 Win Over Penguins
Marlies Goals: Bodie 3 (8), Mikkelson (3)
Penguins Goals: Lovejoy (4), Jeffrey (8), Wallace (9)
Three Stars: 1. Bodie (TOR), 2. Lovejoy (W-B/S), 3. Munro (TOR)

Recap: Troy Bodie’s three-goal game was enough to snap the Marlies three game losing skid on Saturday night in Scranton, PA. After falling behind 2-1 early in the second period, Toronto tied the game with Brendan Mikkelson’s third goal of the season. Bodie padded the Marlies lead with his third goal of the game early in the final stanza. Tyler Bozak finished the game with two assists and Stefano Giliati notched his first point in his season debut. Giliati and Joey Ryan were both recalled earlier in the day and skated in the Marlies win. Adam Munro made 33 saves for his third win of the season. The Marlies penalty killing unit didn’t allow a goal, going 5-for-5.

Sunday, December 20 vs. Hershey Bears

Marlies Mauled by Bears, 5-1
Marlies Goal: Boyce (2)
Bears Goals: Miskovic (2), Beagle (6), Aucoin (14), Bouchard (8), Kane (12)
Three Stars: 1. Beagle (HER), 2. Carlson (HER), 3. Holtby (HER)

Recap: The Marlies dropped their final contest of a four-game week on Sunday evening to the East Division leaders, the Hershey Bears. After falling behind 5-0, Darryl Boyce notched his second goal of the season on the power play. Troy Bodie and Alex Berry each added helpers on Boyce’s goal. Joey MacDonald suffered the loss, make 22 saves on 27 shots. The Marlies had a season-low, one shot on goal in the first period and finished the game with only 16 total.

COMING THIS WEEK BOX OFFICE REPORT

Sat., Dec. 26 Toronto Marlies at Lake Erie Monsters 7:30 pm Quicken Loans Arena TICKETS 216-420-0000
Sun., Dec. 27 Lake Erie Monsters at Toronto Marlies 4:00 pm Ricoh Coliseum TICKETS 416-597-7825

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.