Cornell alumni in the pros: April 2004

Not a good start to the month:

Sam Paolini has been released by the Rochester Americans of the AHL. He signed a player tryout contract with them on 3/16, and since then, played in 4 of the team's 8 games, scoring 1 goal. He hasn't shown up on the Atlantic City roster, so I'm wondering where he'll end up now. LOTS of NCAA players, by the way, floating around the transactions pages of the ECHL and AHL.

Two goals on two shots for Joe and a 14-4 face-off edge in a 6-0 win for the Leafs at Ottawa.

Lots to talk about (NHL, AHL, ECHL, CHL).

Nieuwendyk had 2 goals tonight as Toronto secured home ice for the NHL playoffs. That's been talked about in another thread though, so I'll move on....

Just 2 weeks left in the AHL regular season. Friday night, Jean-Marc Pelletier had 45 saves, but let in 3 goals, as Providence beat Springfield 3-0. Tonight, things went much better for the Falcons as they won 5-3, with Pelletier making 34 saves on 37 shots.

Last night, Stephen Bâby had a fighting major, and tonight, scored the first goal of the game. Chicago is currently leading Grand Rapids 2-1 in the 3rd period.

In the ECHL, Sam Paolini made his return to Atlantic City this weekend after being released by the playoff-bound Rochester Americans of the AHL. He had an assist in a 7-0 win over Toledo on Friday night, and tonight (THIS IS GREAT), he scored his 18th goal of the season, and also had an assist, in a 4-3 win over Wheeling. The goaltender for Wheeling? Nick Boucher! And he was pulled in favor of...Joe Exter.

Also, the Florence Pride, for whom Mark McRae and Matt Underhill play, have changed their name back to the Pee Dee Pride. I don't know why. Anyway, both McRae and Underhill had good games in a 5-1 Pee Dee win over Greensboro Friday night. McRae had 2 assists, and Underhill had 37 saves on 38 shots to earn the win.

And in the CHL, the Conference Finals are underway. Travis Bell had an assist and was +2 in Game 1 of the Northern Conference Finals last night as Bossier-Shreveport beat Wichita 5-3. Game 2 of the best of 7 playoff series is currently in overtime, after Bell scored with just a minute and a half remaining in the third period to tie the game at 1. I'll post the result of that game later.

Avash,

Where do you find all of this stuff out? League webpages? E-Magazines? Someplace else?

Great stuff, I really appreciate your reports!

-Mike

So Chicago ended up winning their game against Grand Rapids 2-1, with Bâby getting a goal.

And the CHL game turned into quite a classic. Bell's goal late in the third period to send it to OT was the only goal for a while, until Bossier-Shreveport's Jim Sprott finally scored a power play goal 3:43 into the THIRD overtime to win the game 2-1 and take a 2-0 series lead. Bell, who had 19 points in 61 games during the regular season, has 3 points in his first 7 postseason games as a pro.


Mike - Good to know someone actually enjoys these frequent, often lengthy reports . As far as where I get the information, yeah I basically just use the league webpages:

For the AHL: [www.theahl.com]
The menu of Scores, Schedules, Statistics, Standings, and Transactions gives all the pertinent information.

For the ECHL: [echl.com]
Not the greatest website in the world, but every weekend I just check the Scores and Transactions from the menu on the left.

For the CHL: [centralhockeyleague.com]


One day hopefully we can use the NHL webpages to look stuff up on some of these guys . Which reminds me, here's a cool stat: Nieuwendyk's points-per-game ratio this regular season (.76 points per game) is his highest since the 1998-1999 season when he of course won the Conn Smythe as a Dallas Star (.82 points per game that season and almost 1 point per game in the playoffs).

[Q]Avash '05 Wrote:

Lots to talk about (NHL, AHL, ECHL, CHL). Nieuwendyk had 2 goals tonight as Toronto secured home ice for the NHL playoffs. That's been talked about in another thread though, so I'll move on....
Just 2 weeks left in the AHL regular season. Friday night, Jean-Marc Pelletier had 45 saves, but let in 3 goals, as Providence beat Springfield 3-0. Tonight, things went much better for the Falcons as they won 5-3, with Pelletier making 34 saves on 37 shots.
Last night, Stephen Bâby had a fighting major, and tonight, scored the first goal of the game. Chicago is currently leading Grand Rapids 2-1 in the 3rd period.
In the ECHL, Sam Paolini made his return to Atlantic City this weekend after being released by the playoff-bound Rochester Americans of the AHL. He had an assist in a 7-0 win over Toledo on Friday night, and tonight (THIS IS GREAT), he scored his 18th goal of the season, and also had an assist, in a 4-3 win over Wheeling. The goaltender for Wheeling? Nick Boucher! And he was pulled in favor of...Joe Exter.
Also, the Florence Pride, for whom Mark McRae and Matt Underhill play, have changed their name back to the Pee Dee Pride. I don't know why. Anyway, both McRae and Underhill had good games in a 5-1 Pee Dee win over Greensboro Friday night. McRae had 2 assists, and Underhill had 37 saves on 38 shots to earn the win.
And in the CHL, the Conference Finals are underway. Travis Bell had an assist and was +2 in Game 1 of the Northern Conference Finals last night as Bossier-Shreveport beat Wichita 5-3. Game 2 of the best of 7 playoff series is currently in overtime, after Bell scored with just a minute and a half remaining in the third period to tie the game at 1. I'll post the result of that game later.[/q]

If the screen name is correct and you're an undergrad, a) thanks for the trove of information and b) are you getting out a lot, like on dates or going to class? Us older alums would recommend trying at least one of the two. <g>

[Q]billhoward Wrote:


If the screen name is correct and you're an undergrad, a) thanks for the trove of information and b) are you getting out a lot, like on dates or going to class? Us older alums would recommend trying at least one of the two. [/Q]


Yeah I'm an undergrad, and if I AM going on lots of dates, let's not tell my girlfriend about it . And class.....yeah I guess I go there sometimes

Isn't there that saying about Cornell - friends, classes, extracurriculars - choose two - or something like that.

Luckily Cornell solves the aforementioned dilemna of classes, dating and hockey by mandating you get physical education while on the hill

To bring your minds back out of the gutter and contribute to this thread, thanks for these pro updates. It wasn't until after graduation and Nieuwy's 98-99 season with Dallas that I started to appreciate pro hockey and the contributions of former Cornell players. The info may all be out there but I like one condensed source.

[Q]Avash '05 Wrote:

In the ECHL, Sam Paolini made his return to Atlantic City this weekend after being released by the playoff-bound Rochester Americans of the AHL. He had an assist in a 7-0 win over Toledo on Friday night, and tonight (THIS IS GREAT), he scored his 18th goal of the season, and also had an assist, in a 4-3 win over Wheeling. The goaltender for Wheeling? Nick Boucher! And he was pulled in favor of...Joe Exter.[/q]This is somewhat off-topic, but if I'm not mistaken, that is Exter's 15th game this season, and if so, that would trigger an automatic contract extension for next year. Just another step in an incredible comeback for X.

Doug Murray with a goal in a 4-2 loss to Syracuse tonight. The assists on his goal went to Grant Stevenson and Shane Joseph, both of whom you'll recall played for Mankato when we beat them in the NCAA first round last year. It was his 10th goal of the season.

ECHL regular season is over, and the playoffs are underway. Atlantic City is among the teams in the playoffs, so Sam Paolini's season is continuing (as is Ryan Moynihan's, who is apparently on the Atlantic City roster, but I don't think he plays much). Shane Palahicky is also experiencing some playoff action at the pro level, as the Alaska Aces are in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Underhill's and Mark McRae's seasons are over, as Pee Dee failed to make the playoffs. More on the postseason in both the ECHL and the CHL in a few days .

ECHL playoffs underway; Sam Paolini with an assist as Atlantic City beat Peoria 3-2 in Game 1 of the best-of-5 ECHL Division Semifinals.

Rough night for LeNeveu; 37 saves on 43 shots as Manchester beats Springfield 6-1 in AHL action.

Not a great night for Travis Bell and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs either. In a 5-2 loss to the Wichita Thunder, Bell was -3. The Mudbugs best-of-7 series lead is now 2-1.

Friday night, J-M Pelletier had 36 saves in a 3-0 loss to Providence. Former (Vermont, I think?) goalie Tim Thomas was in net for the Providence Bruins. This is the final weekend of the regular season in the AHL, but Bâby's and Murray's seasons will continue, as both Chicago and Cleveland have clinched playoff berths.

Speaking of the playoffs, the Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL are underway. The Alaska Aces, for whom Shane Palahicky plays, swept the #1 overall team 3-0 in their best of 5 first round matchup. Sam Paolini had a PP goal last night, but Atlantic City lost 6-3, and their series with Peoria is tied 1-1. Here's the bracket: [www.echl.com]

Also, in the CHL, Travis Bell had an assist and was +1 last night in a 4-1 Bossier-Shreveport win over Wichita. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs now lead the best-of-7 series 3-1, and are one win away from the Northern Conference Championship and advancing to the Presidents Cup Finals. Game 5 is tonight.

Pelletier rebounded from last night's loss by making 31 saves in a 2-1 victory tonight. The Falcons finish up their season tomorrow at Portland.

Travis Bell and the Mudbugs wrapped up the Northern Championship for themselves, with a 4-0 shutout of Wichita, winning the series 4-1. They advance to the CHL best-of-7 finals, and will play either Laredo or Amarillo (Laredo leads the series with Amarillo 3-2, I believe). The Laredo Bucks were the #1 overall team in the regular season, with an amazing 48-8-8 record.

So, during the next week, there will be 7 Cornell alums playing playoff hockey, at various levels (Nieuwendyk - NHL; Murray, Bâby - AHL; Paolini, Moynihan?, Palahicky - ECHL, Bell - CHL).

Obviously the 2002-2003 class has been quite successful this year, as a group. Hopefully they continue it next season and don't start to disappear from their team rosters, even though that tends to happen frequently at the minor league level.

Moynihan is no longer with the Bullies -- he was only signed for a weekend and then dropped. Don't know why they haven't updated the page roster though.

The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies were upset in the first round of the ECHL playoffs, beaten 3-1 in a best of 5 series by Peoria, who won games 3 and 4 both 2-1 in overtime. Paolini had an assist in game 3 on a goal late in the 3rd period to send that game to OT. Looks like the Peoria goaltender is the main reason they won the series (41 saves in game 3, 50 in game 4). Similar to what Vokoun is doing to the Red Wings these days

AHL playoffs start today; Cleveland and Chicago play their first games tomorrow (the 15th). The AHL has a really bizarre playoff bracket (that involves what could be called best of 3 play-in series to get to the division semifinals). Rather than explaining it, here it is: [www.theahl.com]

Chicago plays Grand Rapids in the first round, while Cleveland hosts Toronto in a best of 3 play-in series, the winner of which moves on to play Hamilton in the first round.

Murray and the Barons won game 2 of their best-of-3 qualifying series last night 2-1 in the second OT to avoid elimination. Murray scored on the powerplay in the second period. Game 3 is at 4pm this afternoon.

After losing game 1, Doug Murray and the Cleveland Barons came back to win the qualifying series against Toronto 2 games to 1. They begin a best of 7 series against #1 seed Hamilton on Tuesday night.

Bâby has 9 shots (and is +1) through the first two games, but hasn't scored. Chicago leads Grand Rapids 2 games to 0 in the best of 7 series after winning game one 4-3 in OT and game two 1-0.

Here's the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs schedule

[www.theahl.com]



Also, the Central Hockey League finals start tonight as Travis Bell and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs play at Laredo in game 1.

In game 1 of the CHL finals tonight, Travis Bell opened up the scoring late in the first period. Laredo answered back a couple minutes later, and the game was tied 1-1 until late in the third period, when Laredo scored twice (including an ENG) to beat Bossier-Shreveport 3-1 and take a 1-0 series lead.

Rough night for Murray and Cleveland last night as they were outshot 46-17 and lost to Hamilton by a score of 4-0. It was 1-0 until Hamilton scored 3 goals in a span of 5 minutes in the third period. Murray finished at 0 in the +/- department, with 1 shot on goal and 16 penalty minutes (one roughing call in the second, and then it appears he lost his cool in the third period: a double minor for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct for abuse of officials).

Chicago gave Grand Rapids an old fashion whoopin' tonight, up by a score of 8-0 early in the third before Grand Rapids scored a pair of PP goals to end it at 8-2. Bâby had 1 goal and 2 assists, finishing +3 on the night. With the win the Wolves swept the series 4-0 and move on to the Western Division finals.

No more Cornell alums involved in the ECHL playoffs; Shane Palahicky and the Alaska Aces lost their series against Idaho 3 games to 1.

Exciting news about Travis Bell in the Central Hockey League finals. Last I updated, Bossier-Shreveport lost game one 3-1. They rebounded to win game two 4-2 and game three 1-0, to set up game four earlier tonight. The game was tied 1-1 going into overtime. Just 58 seconds in, Bell assisted on the game winner, and the Mudbugs, who lead the series 3-1, are a win away from their fourth championship. It was Bell's 6th point of the playoffs (in 14 games).

Notice who's one of the "power players" on the right hand side of the screen : [www.centralhockeyleague.com]

The accompanying blurb says....

Travis Bell
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs

Bossier-Shreveport defenseman Travis Bell assisted on the game winning goal in Saturday's 2-1 overtime win over Laredo in Game Four of the 2003-2004 Ray Miron President's Cup Finals. Bell received the puck on the faceoff and wired a hard low shot that was saved by Marco Emond, but rebounded to Forbes MacPherson who slammed home the game winner.

What's with the five days in between games 1 and 2 of the Cleveland/Hamilton series!?

Hopefully it'll squash any momentum Hamilton had. Let's go Barons!!

Cleveland won game 2 in overtime 4-3. Murray scored a PP goal early in the third period to give Cleveland a 3-2 lead at the time. He finished at +2 on the night.

Chris Higgins scored 2 goals for Hamilton...but finished -3 in the game.

how is that possible? even if he was on the ice for every cleveland goal, with his two goals he'd only be -2 for the evening.

[Q]pfibiger Wrote:

how is that possible? even if he was on the ice for every cleveland goal, with his two goals he'd only be -2 for the evening.[/q]
It is possible if either or both of his goals were on a power play. Power play goals don't count toward +/-.

Al has it. Both of Higgins' goals were on the PP.

Rough night for Murray and Cleveland as they lost 5-3 to Hamilton. Murray finished at -2 on the night with 0 points. Hamilton now leads the best of seven series 2 games to 1.

After Travis Bell assisted on the game winner in overtime on Saturday night to help Bossier-Shreveport take a 3-1 lead in the best of 7 CHL Finals, I thought that, by the time I checked today, the series would be over. Unfortunately, Laredo rallied to win games 5 (4-2) and 6 (5-1) to set the stage for a huge game 7 tonight for the Cup (the Presidents' Cup, that is ). Bell was +1 in game 5 and -1 in game 6.

BTW, since the winner of the Hamilton/Cleveland AHL series (HAM leads 2-1) will face the winner of Syracuse/Rochester (SYR leads 3-2), there is a chance that, if CLE and SYR win, some of us might get to see Murray play on TV in the North Division Finals, since Time Warner Sports in Ithaca shows a lot of the Syracuse Crunch games.

Bossier-Shreveport lost game 7 of the CHL finals tonight after leading the series 3-1. The score was 3-2 in OT. Travis Bell was unfortunately a -2 and even took a slashing penalty in OT. The Mudbugs had a 2-1 lead in the third period, but couldn't hold on.

This leaves Murray, Bâby and Nieuwendyk as the only Cornell alums still playing hockey this season.

Another rought night for Cleveland and Murray, as they gave up 3 third period goals (two within 30 seconds of each other... ) and lost to Hamilton 4-3. Murray finished with no points and was even in the +/- department. He received a 10 minute misconduct at the end of the game for what I assume was a little extracurricular activity...

WILD game between Cleveland and Hamilton tonight, the refs completely lost control. Brawls, brawls, and more brawls. Cleveland won 4-1, Murray scored a PPG in the 2nd period. About 9 minutes into the 1st period, Hamilton's Alexander Perezhogin took a minor slashing penalty. 10 minutes later, Garrett Stafford fell on top of Perezhogin in front of the net. Perezhogin got up took a two-handed swing at Stafford as he was getting up from the ice (sending Stafford to the hospital with possibly a broken cheekbone, concussion, fewer teeth, and who knows what else). Murray had seen enough at this point and decided to lay the smack down on Perezhogin. Perezhogin got a 5 minute slashing major and 2 minutes for roughing (and was tossed from the game), Murray got 2 for roughing. A really, really, really nasty incident.

Second period was rather calm....only one fight.

All hell broke loose in the third period. Clowe and Beauchim got into it at 14:04. Then Murray and Benoit Gratton threw down the gloves at 15:27 (Both got 5 for fighting, Doug got 2 for elbowing, Gratton got the 10 minute misconduct and 2 min for instigating). Gratton apparently invited Murray to fight, and Dougie graciously accepted, flattening Gratton. When they were separated and he got up, Gratton proceeded to challenge the entire Cleveland bench. At 17:17 Hamilton's Benjamin Carter got called for slashing...and 5 for fighting along with Nick Bootland. Another big brawl at 17:27 (I believe Cleveland's radio guy used the word donnybrook..), with the goalies skating out to meet each other, but not actually exchanging punches. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 86 penalty minutes were given out in the third period alone...(for a game total of 131)

All in all an ugly game. Cleveland now trails 3-2 in the series...game 6 is sunday afternoon.

They showed a clip of the two handed slash to Stafford's head on ESPN Sportcenter. You can also see Murray standing right next to Stafford as he watched the incident take place in front of him.

I went looking on ESPN.com for the video of that incident. All I found was an article on it.

[sports.espn.go.com]

I don't think it's been posted here, but the Utah Grizzlies are the new AHL affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes. Guess Lenny and JMP will be out in Utah next year.

[www.canoe.ca]

They also showed the clip on ABC at the end of the broadcast of the Detroit/Calgary game.

Hey, it's May guys.

Hamilton finished off Cleveland this afternoon, 3-1. Only 19 penalty minutes in this one. Cleveland jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but Chris Higgins scored midway through the 2nd to tie it up. Benoit Gratton scored midway through the third to give Hamilton a 2-1 lead, and Duncan Milroy added an empty netter to seal the deal. Not Murray's best game, he finished at -3 with 0 points.

Update on the suspensions of the stick swinging incident:

[www.canoe.ca]

This should probably go in a "Cornell alumni in the pros: May 2004" thread. But it'll go here.

Chicago and Bâby's season was ended on Friday night the 14th of May in double OT 4-3 by Milwaukee. Bâby was -1 with no shots and 2 PIM. He finished the playoffs at +4 with 1G and 5A and 6PIM.

Milwaukee heads onto the conference finals against Rochester. I think this wraps up anymore former Cornell hockey players' seasons.

In San Jose paper today saw this on Sharks season summary: [Q]emerging minor league defenseman Doug Murray (shoulder) are also scheduled for surgery.[/Q]

Rochester is still in the race for the Calder Cup (as is Hartford)... who knows, maybe Paolini will be called up again.