The Week That Was

After failing to overtake the Abbotsford Heat for third place in the North Division, the Manitoba Moose travelled to Hamilton, Ontario to take on the Montréal Canadiens AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs finished the 2009-10 season with the best record in the Western Conference, and second-best record in the entire AHL (52-17-3-8, 115 points). The Moose, meanwhile, finished 20 points and three places below where they did last season in the North Division, picking up a 40-33-5-2 record for 87 points. On paper, the series looked like a huge mismatch, though the Moose and Bulldogs did finish with similar 4-3-1-0 records against each other during the regular season.

The first game between the two teams took place on Thursday, with Hamilton opening up an early 1-0 lead on the Moose on a Mike Glumac slap shot just above the right faceoff circle. The Moose had a few chances to tie the game up at one, including a Yan Stastny breakaway shot that went off the post partway through the game. Early in the third period, Ryan Russell took a pass from Ryan White and fired a Howitzer past Cory Schneider to put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0. The Moose couldn’t muster any offence the rest of the way, and Cedric Desjardins made 21 saves for the shutout.

While the Manitoba Moose put in a decent effort against the Bulldogs on Thursday, they did anything but that against Hamilton on Saturday afternoon. David Desharnais and Mario Bliznak traded goals in the first period of the weekend game, then the floodgates opened in the second. In total, the Bulldogs scored five unanswered goals in the middle frame, including two on the power play. The fourth of those five goals, scored by Brandon, Manitoba native Brock Trotter, forced Moose head coach Scott Arniel to pull Cory Schneider from net. Manitoba was able to score a goal in the first minute of the third, with Dan Sexton picking up his first goal of the playoffs to make it 6-2 Hamilton. There was no stopping the bleeding though, as J.T. Wyman (on a penalty shot while his team was shorthanded) and Alex Henry (on the power play) added markers to throttle the Moose 8-2, and go ahead 2-0 in the North Division Semifinal. Hamilton went 4-for-8 (50%) on the power play on Saturday, after failing to convert on their seven chances on Thursday.

If history is any indication as to how the Moose will do after losing their first two games of a series, then things don’t look good as the Moose and Bulldogs travel to Winnipeg. Only once in five opportunities have the Moose came back from being down 2-0 in a series, defeating the Syracuse Crunch 4-2 in the 2005-06 North Division Semifinal. Interestingly enough, the Moose lost to the Bulldogs 4-2 in a similar scenario in 2006-07.

The Lines

The Manitoba Moose opened up their playoff run with the following lineup on Thursday.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -           Dan Sexton
Peter Olvecky        -   Jordan Schroeder   -   Guillaume Desbiens
Aaron Volpatti       -     Yan Stastny      -           Mike Keane
Dusty Collins        -    Mario Bliznak     -        Tommy Maxwell

           Lawrence Nycholat    -        Travis Ramsey
           Brian Salcido        -           Matt Clark
           Evan Oberg           -           Tom Galvin

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

Moose head coach Scott Arniel went with the same lineup for Game 2 of the North Division Semifinal against Hamilton.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -           Dan Sexton
Peter Olvecky        -   Jordan Schroeder   -   Guillaume Desbiens
Aaron Volpatti       -     Yan Stastny      -           Mike Keane
Dusty Collins        -    Mario Bliznak     -        Tommy Maxwell

           Lawrence Nycholat    -        Travis Ramsey
           Brian Salcido        -           Matt Clark
           Evan Oberg           -           Tom Galvin

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

Who’s Hot

Prior to getting lit up by the Bulldogs on Saturday, goaltender Cory Schneider had gone 7-3-0-1 in his previous 11 starts, with a 1.76 goals-against average, a 0.944 save percentage, and one shutout.

Third/fourth line forward Mario Bliznak has picked up eight points (6-2-8) in his last ten games.

Who’s Not

Forward Sergei Shirokov has picked up two points (1-1-2) in his last seven games, and four points (1-3-4) in his last 13 games.

Forward Marco Rosa has picked up two points (0-2-2) in his last seven games.

Who’s Up

With defenceman Evan Oberg getting sent back down, four players who started the season with the Manitoba Moose are currently up with the parent Vancouver Canucks.

None of the four players have so far played a significant role in Vancouver’s first round matchup against the Los Angeles Kings. Forward Matt Pettinger saw 4:12 of ice time in Game 1 of the Vancouver – Los Angeles series, going pointless. Forward Michael Grabner took Pettinger’s spot in Game 2 of the series, taking one shot in 2:53 minutes of work.

Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner sat out the first two games of the series. The only other player of the foursome, forward Alexandre Bolduc, continues to sit out with a shoulder injury he suffered in a fight against John Scott of the Minnesota Wild on January 13, 2010.

During the 2009-10 regular season, eight Moose players missed a total of 156 games while on recall to the parent Vancouver Canucks. This does not include games by Jannik Hansen (74 games), Aaron Rome (72 games), Mathieu Schneider (39 games), Brad Lukowich (29 games), or Sergei Shirokov (3 games), who all started the season with the Canucks.

Alexandre Bolduc	63 games
Michael Grabner		41 games
Nolan Baumgartner       28 games
Matt Pettinger		11 games
Cory Schneider		 7 games
Mario Bliznak		 3 games
Evan Oberg               2 games
Guillaume Desbiens	 1 game

During the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, four Moose players missed a total of eight games while on recall to the parent Vancouver Canucks.

Nolan Baumgartner        2 games
Alexandre Bolduc	 2 games
Michael Grabner		 2 games
Matt Pettinger		 2 games

Who’s Down

One player who started his season with the Vancouver Canucks currently suits up for the Manitoba Moose.

Forward Sergei Shirokov had two penalty minutes and three shots on net in Manitoba’s 2-0 loss to Hamilton on Thursday. He followed that up with getting no points on one shot in the 8-2 demolition of the Moose by the Bulldogs.

Who’s Hurt

Five players have their names on Manitoba’s injured list as their playoff run started, while two others came back into the lineup after sitting out multiple games with different injuries.

Defenceman Taylor Ellington (leg; missed two games) is currently out day-to-day with an injury he suffered in the final game of the regular season.

There’s still no timetable for the return of defenceman Geoff Waugh (concussion; missed ten games) to the Moose lineup.

Defenceman Nathan McIver (hand; missed 13 games) will miss at least the first round of the playoffs with his third broken hand of the 2009-10 season.

Defenceman Michael Funk (concussion; missed 50 games) has not played a game since getting hurt on November 7, 2009 in a game against the Texas Stars. He will not return to play for the Moose this season, and may see his career end with his fourth concussion in 1 1/2 years.

The other player who will not play for the Moose this season is defenceman Brad Lukowich (shoulder; missed 14 games games). Instead of joining the Moose after clearing waivers just before the NHL Trade Deadline, Lukowich elected to have season-ending surgery.

On the plus side, forward Peter Olvecky (upper body; missed two games) and defenceman Lawrence Nycholat (back; missed eight games) found their way back into the Moose’s lineup as the playoffs started.

During the 2009-10 regular season, 21 Moose players missed a total of 324 games due to injury or illness. These totals do not include any games a player may have missed while they were injured as a member of the Vancouver Canucks or Anaheim Ducks (in the latter case, for those players who are Ducks property), but does include Brad Lukowich’s games, as he’s officially a member of the Manitoba Moose, despite not playing any games for them this season.

Michael Funk		61 games
Nathan McIver           35 games
Geoff Waugh             30 games
Brad Lukowich           14 games
Guillaume Desbiens	12 games
Tommy Maxwell            7 games
Brian Salcido		 7 games
Peter Olvecky            6 games
Marty Murray             5 games
Matt Pettinger           5 games
Daren Machesney          4 games
Alexandre Bolduc	 3 games
Eric Walsky		 2 games
Mario Bliznak		 1 game
Taylor Ellington         1 game

During the 2009-10 Calder Cup playoffs, five players have missed a total of ten games due to injury or illness. These totals do not include any games a player may have missed while they were injured as a member of the Vancouver Canucks or Anaheim Ducks (in the latter case, for those players who are Ducks property), but does include Brad Lukowich’s games, as he’s officially a member of the Manitoba Moose, despite not playing any games for them this season.

Taylor Ellington         2 games
Michael Funk		 2 games
Brad Lukowich            2 games
Nathan McIver            2 games
Geoff Waugh              2 games

Hey, I Remember You!

The only member of the Hamilton Bulldogs who played for the Canucks and Moose is goaltender Curtis Sanford. Unfortunately for Sanford, he suffered an ankle injury late in the regular season and will miss the first round at minimum.

The Week Ahead

The Manitoba Moose continue their Calder Cup run at home at the MTS Centre against the Hamilton Bulldogs. Game 3 takes places on Monday at 7:30 p.m. CT, game 4 will be played on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CT, and in the event the Moose win one of those games, game 5 will be played at 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday.

Anyone who wants to follow the games can listen to them for free on Winnipeg radio station CJOB 68, on Vancouver radio station Team 1410, or you can pay a fee to watch the games through AHL Live.
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That’s it for another edition of the Moose update on The Mattress Line. As always, if you have any suggestions on what I can do to make this better, just let me know in the comments section on this post, or mention it in the relevant thread on The Mattress Line section of The Breakaway Forums.

The Week That Was

The Moose finished up their final road trip of the regular season with a pair of games against the Hamilton Bulldogs. Sunday’s game, which was the third game in as many days for the Moose, didn’t start off on the right note, with Andrew Conboy and Brock Trotter scoring to make it 2-0 Bulldogs partway through the second. Tommy Maxwell made it 2-1 almost a minute after Trotter’s goal, but the Bulldogs capped off the middle frame with a trio of goals to put Hamilton ahead 5-1. Guillaume Desbiens made it 5-2 midway through the third, but Yannick Weber sealed the deal for Hamilton with a goal just 22 seconds later, giving the Bulldogs a 6-2 win.

The rematch didn’t start off much better for Manitoba on Tuesday, as Maxime Lacroix opened up the scoring for Hamilton just 5:32 into the game. It stayed that way until the early stages of the third, as Evan Oberg tied the game up on the power play to make the score 1-1. Almost four minutes later, Sergei Shirokov scored his first goal in nine games to eventually give the Moose a 2-1 victory.

The Manitoba Moose came home to the MTS Centre for their final regular season homestand of 2009-10. The Moose still had a chance to steal away third place in the North Division, but needed to win both games against the Peoria Rivermen, then hope that the Abbotsford Heat dropped their last couple of games. The Moose were able to do their part, first winning Friday’s game against the Rivermen 3-2 on the strength of goals by Yan Stastny, Jordan Schroeder, and Mario Bliznak. Cory Schneider stopped 42 of 44 shots for the win. They cut it close in Saturday’s rematch against Peoria, but pulled off their eight shootout victory of the season with a 2-1 win. Mario Bliznak scored Manitoba’s only regulation goal, while Marco Rosa and Mike Keane put a capper on the regular season with shootout goals.

Unfortunately for Manitoba, it was too little, too late. The Abbotsford Heat won both their games over the weekend, beating the Lake Erie Monsters 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday, then defeated the Toronto Marlies 5-2 on Sunday.

Since the Moose finished in fourth, they will take on the Hamilton Bulldogs in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The schedule for the series is available below.

April 15, 2010     Manitoba at Hamilton     6:30 p.m. CT
April 17, 2010     Manitoba at Hamilton     1:00 p.m. CT
April 19, 2010     Hamilton at Manitoba     7:30 p.m. CT
April 21, 2010     Hamilton at Manitoba     7:30 p.m. CT
April 23, 2010*    Hamilton at Manitoba     7:30 p.m. CT
April 25, 2010*    Manitoba at Hamilton     6:00 p.m. CT
April 27, 2010*    Manitoba at Hamilton     6:30 p.m. CT

The Lines

The Moose opened their week with a few changes to their lineup. Matt Pope came back into the lineup on Manitoba’s third line, in place of veteran Mike Keane, who sat out the third game in three days. Peter Olvecky returned from an upper body injury to play on Manitoba’s fourth line. On defence, Jordan Hill played his first-ever AHL game, playing alongside Brian Salcido in place of fellow rookie Taylor Ellington. The last change came in goal, with Daren Machesney getting the start in place of Cory Schneider.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -          Kevin Clark
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Matt Pettinger    -     Jordan Schroeder
Aaron Volpatti       -     Yan Stastny      -            Matt Pope
Peter Olvecky        -    Mario Bliznak     -        Tommy Maxwell

           Ryan McGinnis        -        Travis Ramsey
           Evan Oberg           -           Tom Galvin
           Jordan Hill          -        Brian Salcido

                         Daren Machesney
                          Cory Schneider

I unfortunately wasn’t around to see what lineup the Moose went with for Tuesday’s game against the Hamilton Bulldogs. Dusty Collins did enter the Moose lineup in place of Matt Pettinger, who was called up by the Vancouver Canucks earlier in the day. Also, Mike Keane came back from his one-game sabbatical, while Matt Pope sat in the press box. On defence, Taylor Ellington took Jordan Hill’s shot. Finally, Cory Schneider made his way back between the pipes.

With Peter Olvecky getting hurt again, Matt Pope was inserted back into the Moose lineup on Friday. Otherwise, the Moose went with basically the same lineup they dressed against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Tuesday.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -          Kevin Clark
Guillaume Desbiens   -   Jordan Schroeder   -            Matt Pope
Aaron Volpatti       -     Yan Stastny      -           Mike Keane
Tommy Maxwell        -    Mario Bliznak     -        Dusty Collins

           Ryan McGinnis        -        Travis Ramsey
           Evan Oberg           -        Brian Salcido
           Tyler Ellington      -           Tom Galvin

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

The Moose finished off their regular season with nearly the same lineup they fielded on Saturday. The only change that came to the lineup happened on defence, as Jordan Hill took the place of Evan Oberg, who went up to Vancouver to play in their final regular season game.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -          Kevin Clark
Guillaume Desbiens   -   Jordan Schroeder   -            Matt Pope
Aaron Volpatti       -     Yan Stastny      -           Mike Keane
Tommy Maxwell        -    Mario Bliznak     -        Dusty Collins

           Ryan McGinnis        -        Travis Ramsey
           Matt Clark           -        Brian Salcido
           Jordan Hill          -           Tom Galvin

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

Who’s Hot

Goaltender Cory Schneider has gone 5-1-0-1 in his last seven starts, with a 1.40 goals-against average and a 0.957 save percentage.

Forward Mario Bliznak has picked up seven points (5-2-7) in his last eight games.

Who’s Not

Forward Sergei Shirokov has picked up four points (1-3-4) in his last 11 games.

Forward Jordan Schroeder has picked up three points (1-2-3) in his last seven games.

Forward Guillaume Desbiens has picked up two points (2-0-2) in his last seven games.

Forward Marco Rosa has picked up two points (0-2-2) in his last five games.

Who’s Up

Five players who started the season with the Manitoba Moose are currently up with the parent Vancouver Canucks.

Forward Michael Grabner had a quiet week offensively, going pointless on seven shots in three games for the Canucks this past week.

Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner played in Vancouver’s final two regular season games, earning himself a +3 plus/minus rating and two penalty minutes.

Forward Alexandre Bolduc continues to sit out with a shoulder injury he suffered in a fight against John Scott of the Minnesota Wild on January 13, 2010. In 15 games for the Canucks this season, Bolduc has picked up no points, 13 penalty minutes, and taken 14 shots on net.

Forward Matt Pettinger was called up by the Canucks on April 6th, and suited up for Vancouver’s last two regular season games. He went pointless against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, but did close out the season with an assist against Calgary on Saturday.

Lastly, defenceman Evan Oberg played in his second-ever NHL game on Saturday, going pointless on ten shifts.

So far this season, eight Moose players have missed a total of 156 games while on recall to the parent Vancouver Canucks. This does not include games by Jannik Hansen (74 games), Aaron Rome (72 games), Mathieu Schneider (39 games), Brad Lukowich (29 games), or Sergei Shirokov (3 games), who all started the season with the Canucks.

Alexandre Bolduc	63 games
Michael Grabner		41 games
Nolan Baumgartner       28 games
Matt Pettinger		11 games
Cory Schneider		 7 games
Mario Bliznak		 3 games
Evan Oberg               2 games
Guillaume Desbiens	 1 game

Who’s Down

One player who started his season with the Vancouver Canucks currently suits up for the Manitoba Moose.

Forward Sergei Shirokov finished off his first regular season in North America with a two-point performance in one of the four games this week, including the game-winner, in Manitoba’s 2-1 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs. He was silent in the other three games he played in, though.

Who’s Hurt

The injured list keeps having names added to it.

Forward Peter Olvecky came back from injury after sitting out four games with an upper body injury, but found his way back on the list two games later. He missed the final two games of the regular season.

Defenceman Taylor Ellington suffered a leg injury during Manitoba’s 3-2 win over the Peoria Rivermen on Friday. It’s unknown how long he’ll be out of the lineup for.

Defenceman Geoff Waugh (head; missed eight games) has sat out the past couple of weeks with a concussion, and there’s no timetable for his return to the Moose lineup.

Defenceman Lawrence Nycholat (back; missed eight games) also missed all of the games the Moose played this past week, but could come back into the Moose lineup as soon as this week.

Defenceman Nathan McIver (hand; missed eleven games) will miss the early part of Manitoba’s playoff run with his third broken hand, which he suffered against the Grand Rapids Griffins on March 19th.

Defenceman Michael Funk (concussion; missed 50 games) has not played a game since getting hurt on November 7, 2009 in a game against the Texas Stars. He will not return to play for the Moose this season, and may see his career end with his fourth concussion in 1 1/2 years.

The other player who will not play for the Moose this season is defenceman Brad Lukowich (shoulder; missed 14 games games). Instead of joining the Moose after clearing waivers just before the NHL Trade Deadline, Lukowich elected to have season-ending surgery.

So far this season, 21 Moose players have missed a total of 324 games due to injury or illness. These totals do not include any games a player may have missed while they were injured as a member of the Vancouver Canucks or Anaheim Ducks (in the latter case, for those players who are Ducks property), but does include Brad Lukowich’s games, as he’s officially a member of the Manitoba Moose, despite not playing any games for them this season.

Michael Funk		61 games
Lawrence Nycholat	43 games
Nathan McIver           35 games
Geoff Waugh             30 games
Matt Pope		22 games
Matt McCue		19 games
Pierre-Cedric Labrie	16 games
Mathieu Schneider       16 games
Nolan Baumgartner	15 games
Brad Lukowich           14 games
Guillaume Desbiens	12 games
Tommy Maxwell            7 games
Brian Salcido		 7 games
Peter Olvecky            6 games
Marty Murray             5 games
Matt Pettinger           5 games
Daren Machesney          4 games
Alexandre Bolduc	 3 games
Eric Walsky		 2 games
Mario Bliznak		 1 game
Taylor Ellington         1 game

Hey, I Remember You!

Two players and one coach with Canucks and/or Moose ties faced off against Manitoba, but only one of them played.

Hamilton Bulldogs goaltender Curtis Sanford, who played with both the Canucks and Moose last season, did not dress for either of the games his team played against Manitoba. Sanford is currently sitting out with an ankle injury that will keep him out of action through at least the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

Peoria Rivermen forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie made his first trip to the MTS Centre since he was traded at the NHL Trade Deadline for forward Yan Stastny. He had two penalty minutes in Friday’s game, then followed that up with two shots on net in the rematch on Saturday.

The other member of the Rivermen who has ties to the Canucks, former defenceman Drake Berehowsky, served as Peoria’s assistant coach.

The Week Ahead

The Manitoba Moose start their run to the Calder Cup with road games against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Thursday and Saturday. Thursday’s game at Copps Coliseum starts at 6:30 p.m. CT, while the puck drops on Saturday’s matchup at 1:00 p.m. CT.

Anyone who wants to follow the games can listen to them for free on Winnipeg radio station CJOB 68, on Vancouver radio station Team 1410, or you can pay a fee to watch the games through AHL Live.
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That’s it for another edition of the Moose update on The Mattress Line. As always, if you have any suggestions on what I can do to make this better, just let me know in the comments section on this post, or mention it in the relevant thread on The Mattress Line section of The Breakaway Forums.

Oberg, 22, has played in 70 games for the Manitoba Moose this season, picking up 26 points (3-23-26) and 64 penalty minutes. The Forestburg, Alberta native leads all Moose defencemen in assists (23) and points (26). Oberg has also suited up for the Canucks on January 9, 2010 against the Calgary Flames. He went pointless in 5:24 of ice time in Calgary’s 3-2 shootout win over Vancouver.

Oberg was signed as a free agent by Vancouver on April 10, 2009.

Clark, 19, has played the past two seasons with the Brampton Battalion of the OHL. In 66 games with the Battalion this season, the Lakewood, Colorado native has picked up 23 points (7-16-23) and 88 penalty minutes. The 6’4″, 218 pound defender added another six points (2-4-6) in seven games during his junior team’s most recent playoff run.

A teammate of Clark’s in Brampton, Canucks prospect Jason Hodgson, could join the Moose as early as today, but most likely won’t play for Manitoba until the playoffs start next week.

Clark was drafted in the 2nd round (37th overall) by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

The Week That Was

The Moose opened up their week on Sunday with the first of two games against the Abbotsford Heat. Heat defenceman Stefan Kronwall opened up the scoring 4:35 into the initial frame, scoring on a five-on-three power play to give Abbotsford a 1-0 lead. Manitoba answered back just over a minute into the second period, as Taylor Ellington scored his first goal of the season to knot the game up at one. That goal sparked a run of five unanswered goal by Manitoba, with Mario Bliznak, Jordan Schroeder, Guillaume Desbiens, and Aaron Volpatti (scoring his first AHL goal) adding their names to the goals column. Andy Delmore added a goal late for the Heat, but Manitoba was able to hang on for a 5-2 win.

Their rematch wasn’t quite as thrilling offensively. Jon Rheault scored late in the first while his team was on the power play to give Abbotsford its second lead of the two-game set. Marco Rosa tied it up at 1-1 just past the seven-minute mark of the second, capitalizing on Manitoba’s own power play opportunity. Rosa’s goal unfortunately didn’t lead to another onslaught of goals by his teammates. Instead, with just over six minutes left in the third, David Van der Gulik scored what turned out to be the game-winner, giving the Heat a split of their most recent series against the Moose.

The Moose moved on to Toronto on Friday, facing off against a Toronto Marlies franchise that is battling with Manitoba for the final playoff spot in the North Division. Moose rookie Kevin Clark opened up the scoring late in the first period, putting his second goal of the season past James Reimer to give Manitoba a 1-0 lead. Mario Bliznak followed that up with a pair of goals of his own to put the Moose ahead 3-0 in the early stages of the third period. With five minutes left in regulation, and the Marlies desperately fighting for the win and two more points to add to their total, Toronto head coach Dallas Eakins pulled Reimer in favour of the extra attacker. This strategy initially worked out, with Ben Ondrus cutting the Moose lead to 3-1. The Marlies couldn’t get any closer though, and the Moose were that much closer to getting the final playoff spot in the North.

Manitoba needed to take at least one point in the rematch between them and the Marlies to go to the playoffs for the sixth season in a row. Things looked good at the start, as Guillaume Desbiens scored on the power play just past the midway mark of the first period to give the Moose a 1-0 lead. Toronto was able to get back into the game at 11:23 of the third. Tim Brent went on a shorthanded break and scored on Cory Schneider to tie the game at one. The Marlies went with the extra attacker late in the third, but to no avail. With the game headed to overtime, the Manitoba Moose punched their ticket for the post-season. Neither team was able to score in overtime, so the game went to the shootout. Tim Brent and Josh Engel each scored on Schneider before Mike Keane responded for the Moose on James Reimer. Ryan Hamilton clinched the game for Toronto with his own goal, while Guillaume Desbiens failed on his attempt.

Going into the final week of the season, the Manitoba Moose are four points back of and have one game in hand on the third place Abbotsford Heat. In the event both teams tie each other in the standings, the tiebreakers go as follows:

Wins

Manitoba (37 wins in 76 games), Abbotsford (37 wins in 77 games)

Points in season series between teams

Manitoba (12 points), Abbotsford (7 points)

Goal differential

Abbotsford (-17 through 77 games), Manitoba (-27 through 76 games)

Goals scored in season series between teams

Manitoba (26 goals), Abbotsford (17 goals)

Intra-conference points percentage

Manitoba (0.592 through 60 of 64 games), Abbotsford (0.531 through 65 of 68 games)

With four of five tiebreakers in favour of Manitoba, the Moose need to win at least two of their last four games, and hope that Abbotsford doesn’t gain any ground on them in the next seven days. If Manitoba gets third place, they’ll play against the Rochester Americans in the first round. If they get fourth place, they’ll face off against the Hamilton Bulldogs, who are the second-best team in the entire AHL.

The Lines

The Manitoba Moose made minor modifications (try saying that three times fast) to their forward lines to start off their week. Matt Pope made his way back into the lineup with the injury to Peter Olvecky. Aaron Volpatti, who recently signed an amateur-tryout (ATO) contract with the Moose, took Kevin Clark’s place on the fourth line.

The defensive pairing were switched around with the injuries to Lawrence Nycholat and Geoff Waugh. Ryan McGinnis, who signed a pro-tryout (PTO) contract with the Moose, was paired up with Travis Ramsey. Tom Galvin, who was playing with Nycholat before he got hurt, played alongside Evan Oberg. The final pairing featured Taylor Ellington and Brian Salcido.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -            Matt Pope
Matt Pettinger       -     Yan Stastny      -     Jordan Schroeder
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Mario Bliznak     -           Mike Keane
Aaron Volpatti       -    Dusty Collins     -        Tommy Maxwell

           Ryan McGinnis        -        Travis Ramsey
           Evan Oberg           -           Tom Galvin
           Taylor Ellington     -        Brian Salcido

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

The Moose went with the exact same lineup in their rematch against the Abbotsford Heat on Tuesday.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -            Matt Pope
Matt Pettinger       -     Yan Stastny      -     Jordan Schroeder
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Mario Bliznak     -           Mike Keane
Aaron Volpatti       -    Dusty Collins     -        Tommy Maxwell

           Ryan McGinnis        -        Travis Ramsey
           Evan Oberg           -           Tom Galvin
           Taylor Ellington     -        Brian Salcido

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

Manitoba went with the same defensive pairings on Friday, but switched around the forward lines. After sitting out the past two games, Kevin Clark was put on the first line in place of Matt Pope. Guillaume Desbiens moved up to the second line in place of Yan Stastny, who shifted down to centre the third line. Also moving to the third line was Aaron Volpatti, who had been playing on the fourth line the past two games. Mario Bliznak moved down to the fourth line with Tommy Maxwell and Dusty Collins to complete the changes.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -          Kevin Clark
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Matt Pettinger    -     Jordan Schroeder
Aaron Volpatti       -     Yan Stastny      -           Mike Keane
Tommy Maxwell        -    Mario Bliznak     -        Dusty Collins

           Ryan McGinnis        -        Travis Ramsey
           Evan Oberg           -           Tom Galvin
           Taylor Ellington     -        Brian Salcido

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

After another win, the Moose kept the same lineup as they played on Friday for Saturday afternoon’s rematch against the Toronto Marlies.

Sergei Shirokov      -      Marco Rosa      -          Kevin Clark
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Matt Pettinger    -     Jordan Schroeder
Aaron Volpatti       -     Yan Stastny      -           Mike Keane
Tommy Maxwell        -    Mario Bliznak     -        Dusty Collins

           Ryan McGinnis        -        Travis Ramsey
           Evan Oberg           -           Tom Galvin
           Taylor Ellington     -        Brian Salcido

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

Who’s Hot

Manitoba’s power play has gone 12-for-50 (24%) in its last ten games.

Goaltender Cory Schneider has gone 4-2-0-1 in his last seven starts, with a 1.93 goals-against average, a 0.938 save percentage, and one shutout.

Forward Jordan Schroeder has picked up seven points (3-4-7) in the seven games since joining the Moose, but only one point (an assist) in his last three.

Forward Mario Bliznak has picked up four points (3-1-4) in his last four games.

Who’s Not

Forward Marco Rosa has picked up four points (2-2-4) in his last nine games.

Foward Sergei Shirokov has picked up two points (both assists) in his last seven games, and four points (2-2-4) in his last 12 games.

Forward Matt Pettinger has one point (an assists) in his last six games.

Forward Yan Stastny has one point (an assist) in his last five games.

Who’s Up

Three players who started the season with the Manitoba Moose are currently up with the parent Vancouver Canucks.

Forward Michael Grabner had a week to remember this past week. Grabner picked up five points (3-2-5) in the three games he played for the Canucks over the past seven days. This included a three-game point streak, as well as Grabner scoring his first career NHL hat-trick on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks.

Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner has not played in an NHL game since March 3rd against Detroit. In ten games with Vancouver this season, Baumgartner has picked up two points (1-1-2) and a +4 rating.

Forward Alexandre Bolduc continues to sit out with a shoulder injury he suffered in a fight against John Scott of the Minnesota Wild on January 13, 2010. In 15 games for the Canucks this season, Bolduc has picked up no points, 13 penalty minutes, and taken 14 shots on net.

So far this season, eight Moose players have missed a total of 140 games while on recall to the parent Vancouver Canucks. This does not include games by Jannik Hansen (70 games), Aaron Rome (68 games), Mathieu Schneider (39 games), Brad Lukowich (29 games), or Sergei Shirokov (3 games), who all started the season with the Canucks.

Alexandre Bolduc	59 games
Michael Grabner		37 games
Nolan Baumgartner       24 games
Matt Pettinger		 8 games
Cory Schneider		 7 games
Mario Bliznak		 3 games
Guillaume Desbiens	 1 game
Evan Oberg               1 game

Who’s Down

One player who started his season with the Vancouver Canucks currently suits up for the Manitoba Moose.

Forward Sergei Shirokov had another so-so week for the Moose the past seven days. Shirokov had two points (both assists) in the four games he suited up for the Moose. So far this season, Shirokov has 43 points (21-22-43) in 72 games.

Who’s Hurt

The injured list grew yet again this week, with a forward adding his name to the list.

Forward Peter Olvecky suffered an upper body injury two Wednesdays ago against the Abbotsford Heat. He missed all four games this past week.

Defenceman Geoff Waugh (head; missed four games) suffered an injury in the same game as Olvecky. Baseline tests conducted by the team suggested he didn’t get a concussion, but he did sit out all four games this past week as a precaution.

Defenceman Lawrence Nycholat (back; missed four games) also missed all of the games the Moose played this past week, and it’s unknown how long he’ll be out of the lineup for.

Defenceman Nathan McIver (hand; missed seven games) will miss the rest of the regular season and at least part of Manitoba’s playoff run with his third broken hand, which he suffered against the Grand Rapids Griffins on March 19th.

Defenceman Michael Funk (concussion; missed 50 games) has not played a game since getting hurt on November 7, 2009 in a game against the Texas Stars. He will not return to play for the Moose this season, and may see his career end with his fourth concussion in 1 1/2 years.

The other player who will not play for the Moose this season is defenceman Brad Lukowich (shoulder; missed three games). Instead of joining the Moose after clearing waivers just before the NHL Trade Deadline, Lukowich elected to have season-ending surgery.

So far this season, 20 Moose players have missed a total of 302 games due to injury or illness. These totals do not include any games a player may have missed while they were injured as a member of the Vancouver Canucks or Anaheim Ducks (in the latter case, for those players who are Ducks property), but does include Brad Lukowich’s games, as he’s officially a member of the Manitoba Moose, despite not playing any games for them this season.

Michael Funk		57 games
Lawrence Nycholat	39 games
Nathan McIver           31 games
Matt Pope		22 games
Geoff Waugh             26 games
Matt McCue		19 games
Pierre-Cedric Labrie	16 games
Mathieu Schneider       16 games
Nolan Baumgartner	15 games
Guillaume Desbiens	12 games
Brad Lukowich           10 games
Tommy Maxwell            7 games
Brian Salcido		 7 games
Marty Murray             5 games
Matt Pettinger           5 games
Daren Machesney          4 games
Peter Olvecky            4 games
Alexandre Bolduc	 3 games
Eric Walsky		 2 games
Mario Bliznak		 1 game

Hey, I Remember You!

The Manitoba Moose didn’t get a chance to play against an old friend to start this past week. Abbotsford Heat forward Jason Jaffray sat out both games against the Moose with a groin injury. Another former Moose, forward Olivier Latendresse, did get to suit up against Manitoba. He had an assist in Manitoba’s 5-2 win over the Heat, then went pointless in Abbotsford’s 2-1 victory over the Moose.

There were no players on the Toronto Marlies that used to play on the Moose, but their head coach did. Dallas Eakins, who played for the Moose during the 2003-04 season, coached his team to a 3-1 loss and 2-1 shootout win on Friday and Saturday respectively.

The Week Ahead

The Manitoba Moose will close out the regular season this week with a pair of games against a division rival, and then two games against a team that plays in the same conference. On Sunday and Tuesday, the Moose will take on the Hamilton Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum. Sunday’s game starts at 3:00 p.m. CT, while Tuesday’s rematch will commence at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Moose will then head home to play their final two games of the regular season against the Peoria Rivermen. The puck drops for Friday’s and Saturday’s games at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Anyone who wants to follow the games can listen to them for free on Winnipeg radio station CJOB 68, on Vancouver radio station Team 1410, or you can pay a fee to watch the games through AHL Live.
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That’s it for another edition of the Moose update on The Mattress Line. As always, if you have any suggestions on what I can do to make this better, just let me know in the comments section on this post, or mention it in the relevant thread on The Mattress Line section of The Breakaway Forums.

The Week That Was

Manitoba started the week with a rematch against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday afternoon. The Moose started off their only afternoon regular season home game with a goal scored by a player making his debut. Forward Jordan Schroeder, the 1st round draft pick of the Canucks in 2009, deflected a Lawrence Nycholat shot past Daniel Larsson to give Manitoba a 1-0 lead just 1:52 into the first. Almost five minutes later, forward Kevin Clark–also making his debut with the Moose–put home a rebound to put the Moose ahead 2-0. The score stayed that way until just past the midway mark of the third period, when Nycholat fired home a slapshot to make the score 3-0 Manitoba. Schroeder added his second of the afternoon in the final minute of regulation, one-timing a Matt Pettinger pass to give Manitoba the win. Cory Schneider stopped all 38 shots he faced to pick up his four shutout of the season. The win, Schneider’s 29th, also set the record for most wins by a Moose goaltender, beating his own record of 28 set last season.

The Moose didn’t get off to a fast start against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Tuesday night, as they ended up falling behind in the early stages of the second period. Alex Henry fired a shot off the post, and just as quickly, Mike Glumac snapped up the rebound and fired the puck past Cory Schneider to make the score 1-0 Hamilton. Not even a minute later, Marco Rosa went top-shelf on Curtis Sanford while his team was on the power play to tie the game up at one. Just 46 seconds later, Glumac put in his second of the game, deking out Schneider to give Hamilton its second lead of the night. It stayed that way until the late stages of the third, when Guillaume Desbiens squeezed the puck past Sanford to knot the game up at two heading into the third. Just past the halfway mark of the third, Evan Oberg scored his first goal in 32 games to put Manitoba ahead for the first time all game. The Moose were able to hang on to pick up their second win in a row.

Manitoba took on the North Division-leading Bulldogs in the rematch on Wednesday night. The Moose had yet to win three games in a row in regulation. They had won three in a row on two separate occasions, but each time had at least one shootout win. Any thoughts the Moose had of picking up their third win in succession seemed to fall flat within the first minute of this game, as Brandon, Manitoba native Brock Trotter fired a shot over a screened Cory Schneider to give Hamilton an early 1-0 lead. Lawrence Nycholat was able to tie the game up at one a few minutes later, converting on a Jordan Schroeder rebound. That’s when the wheels came off of Manitoba’s wagon. Trotter put home his second of the game a few minutes after Nycholat’s goal to start a string of six straight goals by Hamilton. By the end of the game, the Moose had dropped their first game in three with a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the division-leading Bulldogs. The Moose also lost a couple of players in the loss, as Peter Olvecky and Geoff Waugh left the game due to separate injuries. Details for those injuries may be found below in the “Who’s Hurt” section of this update.

In much brighter news, forward Guillaume Desbiens was named Manitoba’s American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year Award for the 2009-10 season. Desbiens received the award for his work with charities and other community events in Winnipeg and the surrounding region. Among the other players who won the American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year Award for their respective AHL teams were former Vancouver Canuck Rory Fitzpatrick and former Canuck/Moose Bryan Helmer. All 29 players are finalists for the 2009-10 Yanick Dupré Memorial Award, named after the late Yanick Dupré, a player with the Hershey Bears who died of leukemia in 1997 at the age of 24.

With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Manitoba Moose sit four points ahead of the Lake Erie Monsters for fifth place in the North Division. They’re also six points behind the second place Rochester Americans and three points behind the third place Abbotsford Heat. In all three cases, the Moose have one game in hand (Manitoba has played 72 games, the other three have played 73).

The Lines

With a couple of new players coming in via amateur tryout (ATO) contracts, the Moose made a few changes to its lineup for Sunday’s game against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Jordan Schroeder slipped into Matt Pope’s place on the second line, while Kevin Clark took Nikita Kashirsky’s spot on the fourth line, with Dusty Collins moving back to play centre on that line. Geoff Waugh entered the Moose lineup to replace Nathan McIver and play alongside Lawrence Nycholat.

Peter Olvecky        -      Marco Rosa      -      Sergei Shirokov
Matt Pettinger       -     Yan Stastny      -     Jordan Schroeder
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Mario Bliznak     -           Mike Keane
Tommy Maxwell        -    Dusty Collins     -          Kevin Clark

           Lawrence Nycholat    -          Geoff Waugh
           Brian Salcido        -           Tom Galvin
           Evan Oberg           -        Travis Ramsey

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

The Moose went with almost the same lineup on Tuesday night. The only exceptions were on defence, where Tom Galvin and Geoff Waugh switched defensive partners. Galvin playing beside Lawrence Nycholat, and Waugh skated alongside Brian Salcido.

Peter Olvecky        -      Marco Rosa      -      Sergei Shirokov
Matt Pettinger       -     Yan Stastny      -     Jordan Schroeder
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Mario Bliznak     -           Mike Keane
Tommy Maxwell        -    Dusty Collins     -          Kevin Clark

           Lawrence Nycholat    -           Tom Galvin
           Brian Salcido        -          Geoff Waugh
           Evan Oberg           -        Travis Ramsey

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

The Moose then ended the week with exactly the same lineup that they had against Hamilton on Tuesday. Unfortunately, they met with different results on Wednesday.

Peter Olvecky        -      Marco Rosa      -      Sergei Shirokov
Matt Pettinger       -     Yan Stastny      -     Jordan Schroeder
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Mario Bliznak     -           Mike Keane
Tommy Maxwell        -    Dusty Collins     -          Kevin Clark

           Lawrence Nycholat    -           Tom Galvin
           Brian Salcido        -          Geoff Waugh
           Evan Oberg           -        Travis Ramsey

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

Who’s Hot

Defenceman Lawrence Nycholat has picked up eight points (3-5-8) in his last eight games.

Defenceman Evan Oberg has picked up four points (2-2-4) in his last four games.

Forward Jordan Schroeder has picked up four points (2-2-4) since joining the Manitoba Moose.

Who’s Not

While forward Marco Rosa has picked up five points (2-3-5) in his last six games, he got those points in two of those games, and only has seven points (2-5-7) in his last 14 games.

Forward Sergei Shirokov only has two points (both goals) in his last eight games, and seven points (5-2-7) in his last 20 games.

Who’s Up

Three players who started the season with the Manitoba Moose are currently up with the parent Vancouver Canucks.

Forward Michael Grabner has been up with the Canucks for the past 1 1/2 weeks. In three games with the team this past week, Grabner had one assist and 12 shots on net. So far this season, the Villach, Austria native has picked up six points (2-4-6) in 14 games with the Canucks.

Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner stayed up with the Canucks for yet another week, but has not played in an NHL game since March 3rd against Detroit. In ten games with Vancouver this season, Baumgartner has picked up two points (1-1-2) and a +4 rating.

Forward Alexandre Bolduc continues to sit out with a shoulder injury he suffered in a fight against John Scott of the Minnesota Wild on January 13, 2010. In 15 games for the Canucks this season, Bolduc has picked up no points, 13 penalty minutes, and taken 14 shots on net.

So far this season, eight Moose players have missed a total of 128 games while on recall to the parent Vancouver Canucks. This does not include games by Jannik Hansen (66 games), Aaron Rome (64 games), Mathieu Schneider (39 games), Brad Lukowich (25 games), or Sergei Shirokov (3 games), who all started the season with the Canucks.

Alexandre Bolduc	55 games
Michael Grabner		33 games
Nolan Baumgartner       20 games
Matt Pettinger		 8 games
Cory Schneider		 7 games
Mario Bliznak		 3 games
Guillaume Desbiens	 1 game
Evan Oberg               1 game

Who’s Down

One player who started his season with the Vancouver Canucks currently suits up for the Manitoba Moose.

Forward Sergei Shirokov went pointless this past week on four shots. So far this season, Shirokov has picked up 41 points (21-20-41) in 68 games with the Moose. His 21 goals ties him for the team lead with forward Marco Rosa, while he sits alone in second place in team points.

Who’s Hurt

The injured list saw three defencemen and one forward add their names to the two that are already there.

Defenceman Nathan McIver makes his fourth appearance on injured reserve, having broken his hand for the third time this season (the same one each time) in the 4-3 loss to Grand Rapids on March 19th. He’ll stay out of action for the next 6-8 weeks, which means at the very least that his regular season is done.

Forward Peter Olvecky also found himself sitting out the end of Wednesday’s game against the Bulldogs, as he suffered an unknown injury. He did not practice with the team on Friday, and is questionable for Monday’s game against Abbotsford.

This past Wednesday, defenceman Geoff Waugh suffered a head injury in a fight against Hamilton Bulldogs forward Andrew Conboy. Conboy threw Waugh down to the ice at the end of their tilt, and Waugh smacked his head on the ice. While the severity of the injury has not yet come out officially, he likely will not play for the Moose on Monday night. If Waugh suffered a concussion, he’ll be out of the lineup for a minimum of one week.

Two days later during practice, defenceman Lawrence Nycholat hurt his back. It’s unknown how bad the injury is, but Manitoba will have to look for another defenceman before Monday, as Manitoba is down to five defencemen.

Defenceman Michael Funk (concussion; missed 50 games) has not played a game since getting hurt on November 7, 2009 in a game against the Texas Stars. He will not return to play for the Moose this season, and may see his career end with his fourth concussion in 1 1/2 years.

The other player who will not play for the Moose this season is defenceman Brad Lukowich (shoulder; missed three games). Instead of joining the Moose after clearing waivers just before the NHL Trade Deadline, Lukowich elected to have season-ending surgery.

So far this season, 19 Moose players have missed a total of 278 games due to injury or illness. These totals do not include any games a player may have missed while they were injured as a member of the Vancouver Canucks or Anaheim Ducks (in the latter case, for those players who are Ducks property), but does include Brad Lukowich’s games, as he’s officially a member of the Manitoba Moose, despite not playing any games for them this season.

Michael Funk		53 games
Lawrence Nycholat	35 games
Nathan McIver           27 games
Matt Pope		22 games
Geoff Waugh             22 games
Matt McCue		19 games
Pierre-Cedric Labrie	16 games
Mathieu Schneider       16 games
Nolan Baumgartner	15 games
Guillaume Desbiens	12 games
Tommy Maxwell            7 games
Brian Salcido		 7 games
Brad Lukowich            6 games
Marty Murray             5 games
Matt Pettinger           5 games
Daren Machesney          4 games
Alexandre Bolduc	 3 games
Eric Walsky		 2 games
Mario Bliznak		 1 game

Hey, I Remember You!

Manitoba took on one former Moose and one former Canuck last Sunday, while another former Moose did not play. Defenceman Jamie Tardif went pointless on two shots, while veteran forward Brad May fought Moose forward Guillaume Desbiens in the second period of Manitoba’s 4-0 win. Defenceman Travis Ehrhardt did not play.

Former Canuck and Moose Curtis Sanford played against his old mates on Tuesday, stopping 22 of 25 shots in Manitoba’s 3-2 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs. Sanford served as Cedric Desjardins’ backup in Hamilton’s 7-1 victory over the Moose on Wednesday.

The Week Ahead

The Manitoba Moose hit the road for six games starting this Monday, with four of those games taking place this week. First, the Moose travel out to Abbotsford, British Columbia, where they will take on the Heat for two games. Monday’s and Tuesday’s games start at 9:30 p.m. CT. They then head over to the Big Smoke, where they will take on the Toronto Marlies on Friday and Saturday. The puck drops on Friday’s game at 6:00 p.m. CT, while the Saturday game is an afternoon affair, taking place at 3:00 p.m. CT.

Anyone who wants to follow the games can listen to them for free on Winnipeg radio station CJOB 68, on Vancouver radio station Team 1410, or you can pay a fee to watch the games through AHL Live.
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That’s it for another edition of the Moose update on The Mattress Line. As always, if you have any suggestions on what I can do to make this better, just let me know in the comments section on this post, or mention it in the relevant thread on The Mattress Line section of The Breakaway Forums.

Rai, 20, has played the entire 2009-10 season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. In 67 games with the ‘Birds, Rai had 69 points (41-28-69). During his five seasons in the Western Hockey League, split between the Thunderbirds and the Prince George Cougars, the Surrey, British Columbia native had 228 points (98-130-228) in 300 career games.

Rai was a 5th round (131st overall) draft pick of the Canucks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Volpatti, 24, has played the past four seasons with the Brown University Bears of the ECAC. In 123 games with the Bears, Volpatti had 62 points (32-30-62) and 236 penalty minutes. The Revelstoke, British Columbia native set a school record for most penalty minutes in one season, picking up 115 in 2009-10. The 6’2″, 212 pound forward served as one of Brown’s alternate captains in 2008-09, and became team captain in 2009-10.

Prior to heading to college, Volpatti played three seasons with the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL. In 137 games with the Vipers, Volpatti had 37 points (13-24-37) and 279 penalty minutes.

As with recently-signed Canucks draft pick Jordan Schroeder, Volpatti will likely join the Manitoba Moose for the rest of the 2009-10 season, though it’s unknown when that will happen. Manitoba’s next game happens tomorrow night, when they will take on the Hamilton Bulldogs at the MTS Centre.

The Week That Was

The Manitoba Moose didn’t get to play this week until Friday night, when they took on the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Griffins–who went into the game sitting in last place in the North Division, ten points behind the fourth place Manitoba Moose–hoped to gain some ground in their playoff hunt, albeit one that they’ll likely lose. The Moose, meanwhile, had a five-point advantage on the fifth place Lake Erie Monsters for the final playoff spot.

The Griffins started off the proceedings just past the four-minute mark of the first, when Brad May took the puck and scored off a bad angle to give Grand Rapids a 1-0 lead. Francis Pare made it 2-0 less than two minutes later, taking a soft pass from Riley Armstrong and firing the puck past Cory Schneider from in the slot. Manitoba finally got on the scoreboard in the latter stages of the initial frame, as Brian Salcido blasted home a shot while the Moose were on the power play to cut the Griffins’ lead to 2-1. The Moose tied the game up at two with just over five minutes left in the second period, as Sergei Shirokov went on a breakaway and beat Daniel Larsson five-hole. The score stayed that way for all of 21 seconds, with Jeremy Williams going high glove-hand on Schneider and beating him to give Grand Rapids a 3-2 lead. The game got back to even terms near the midway mark of the third period, as Mario Bliznak received a behind-the-back pass from Evan Oberg and scored to tie the game again, this time at 3-3. Unfortunately for the Moose, it wasn’t their night, as the Griffins caught Manitoba in the middle of a line change, and John Vigilante capitalize on a one-timer to give Grand Rapids a 4-3 lead with just over four minutes left in regulation. The game stayed that way, and Manitoba suffered its second straight loss, and have only won one game in regulation in their last six games (one regulation win, four regulation losses, and an overtime win).

Before the game, the Moose signed free agent forward Kevin Clark to an amateur tryout (ATO) contract. Clark played four years in the WCHA with the University of Alaska-Anchorage, picking up 108 points (51-57-108) and 325 penalty minutes in 141 games. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native is 5’8″, 155 pounds, and is described as an agitator who apparently plays well above his weight.

The next day, the Moose announced that they have signed Canucks 2009 first round draft pick Jordan Schroeder to an ATO. Schroeder, who signed a entry-level contract with Vancouver on Wednesday, had played the past two seasons with the University of Minnesota, picking up 73 points (22-51-73) in 72 games. Schroeder was a member of the United States team that won the gold medal at the most recent World Juniors in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The Lines

With Michael Grabner heading up to Vancouver, Moose head coach Scott Arniel made a few changes to his forward lines for Friday’s game against Grand Rapids. Sergei Shirokov shifted all the way up to the first line after playing his previous game on the fourth line. Matt Pope moved down from the first to the second line, while Nikita Kashirsky came back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the past four games.

Peter Olvecky        -      Marco Rosa      -      Sergei Shirokov
Matt Pettinger       -     Yan Stastny      -            Matt Pope
Guillaume Desbiens   -    Mario Bliznak     -           Mike Keane
Tommy Maxwell        -   Nikita Kashirsky   -        Dusty Collins

           Nathan McIver        -    Lawrence Nycholat
           Brian Salcido        -           Tom Galvin
           Evan Oberg           -        Travis Ramsey

                          Cory Schneider
                         Daren Machesney

Who’s Hot

Manitoba’s power play, which is near the bottom of the AHL (27th out of 29 teams), has scored four goals on 15 opportunities (26.7%) in the past three games.

Defenceman Lawrence Nycholat has picked up four points (1-3-4) in his last five games.

Forward Peter Olvecky has picked up three points (1-2-3) in the three games he’s played with the Moose since coming over from the Milwaukee Admirals.

Forward Marco Rosa has picked up three points (1-2-3) in his last three games.

Forward Guillaume Desbiens has picked up three points (2-1-3) in his last three games.

Forward Matt Pope has picked up three points (2-1-3) in his last three games.

Who’s Not

Forward Yan Stastny has only picked up one point (an assist) in the five games he’s played since coming over from the Peoria Rivermen.

Forward Dusty Collins has yet to pick up an assist in 60 games this season.

Who’s Up

Three players who started the season with the Manitoba Moose are currently up with the parent Vancouver Canucks.

Forward Michael Grabner got called up by the Canucks on Wednesday, replacing the injured Mikael Samuelsson. In two games with the Canucks this past week, Grabner went pointless on four shots. So far this season with Vancouver, the Villach, Austria native has five points (2-3-5) in 11 games.

Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner stayed up with the Canucks for yet another week, but has not played in an NHL game since March 3rd against Detroit. In ten games with Vancouver this season, Baumgartner has picked up two points (1-1-2) and a +4 rating.

Forward Alexandre Bolduc continues to sit out with a shoulder injury he suffered in a fight against John Scott of the Minnesota Wild on January 13, 2010. In 15 games for the Canucks this season, Bolduc has picked up no points, 13 penalty minutes, and taken 14 shots on net.

So far this season, eight Moose players have missed a total of 119 games while on recall to the parent Vancouver Canucks. This does not include games by Jannik Hansen (63 games), Aaron Rome (61 games), Mathieu Schneider (39 games), Brad Lukowich (25 games), or Sergei Shirokov (3 games), who all started the season with the Canucks.

Alexandre Bolduc	52 games
Michael Grabner		30 games
Nolan Baumgartner       17 games
Matt Pettinger		 8 games
Cory Schneider		 7 games
Mario Bliznak		 3 games
Guillaume Desbiens	 1 game
Evan Oberg               1 game

Who’s Down

One player who started his season with the Vancouver Canucks currently suits up for the Manitoba Moose.

Forward Sergei Shirokov scored a goal this past Friday, but it wasn’t enough to elevate his team over the Grand Rapids Griffins, who won 4-3. So far this season, Shirokov has accumulated 41 points (21-20-41) in 65 games for the Moose. He currently leads his team in goals with 21.

Who’s Hurt

The injured list remained at two players to end the week, with both players out with long-term injuries.

Defenceman Michael Funk (concussion; missed 50 games) has not played a game since getting hurt on November 7, 2009 in a game against the Texas Stars. He will not return to play for the Moose this season, and may see his career end with his fourth concussion in 1 1/2 years.

The other player who will not play for the Moose this season is defenceman Brad Lukowich (shoulder; missed three games). Instead of joining the Moose after clearing waivers just before the NHL Trade Deadline, Lukowich elected to have season-ending surgery.

So far this season, 19 Moose players have missed a total of 269 games due to injury or illness. These totals do not include any games a player may have missed while they were injured as a member of the Vancouver Canucks or Anaheim Ducks (in the latter case, for those players who are Ducks property), but does include Brad Lukowich’s games, as he’s officially a member of the Manitoba Moose, despite not playing any games for them this season.

Michael Funk		50 games
Lawrence Nycholat	35 games
Nathan McIver           24 games
Matt Pope		22 games
Geoff Waugh             22 games
Matt McCue		19 games
Pierre-Cedric Labrie	16 games
Mathieu Schneider       16 games
Nolan Baumgartner	15 games
Guillaume Desbiens	12 games
Tommy Maxwell            7 games
Brian Salcido		 7 games
Marty Murray             5 games
Matt Pettinger           5 games
Daren Machesney          4 games
Alexandre Bolduc	 3 games
Brad Lukowich            3 games
Eric Walsky		 2 games
Mario Bliznak		 1 game

Hey, I Remember You!

The Manitoba Moose took on a former member of their team, as well as a former Vancouver Canuck this past week. Forward Jamie Tardif, who played one game for the Moose during the 2006-07 season, went pointless, but did get into a fight to earn himself five minutes in the sin bin on Friday. Veteran forward Brad May, who had two different stints with the Canucks, scored his first-ever goal at the AHL level on Friday, and added another three shots on top of that in the Griffins’ 4-3 victory over the Moose.

The Week Ahead

After only playing one game the previous week, the Moose ramp it up with a three-game schedule coming up. They start their week on Sunday afternoon with a home game against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The puck drops for that game on 2:00 p.m. CT. They will end their homestand at the MTS Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday with games against the Hamilton Bulldogs. Both games start at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Anyone who wants to follow the games can listen to them for free on Winnipeg radio station CJOB 68, on Vancouver radio station Team 1410, or you can pay a fee to watch the games through AHL Live.
_________________________

That’s it for another edition of the Moose update on The Mattress Line. As always, if you have any suggestions on what I can do to make this better, just let me know in the comments section on this post, or mention it in the relevant thread on The Mattress Line section of The Breakaway Forums.

Kesler, 25, has played in 71 games this season with the Canucks, picking up 66 points (21-45-66) and 66 penalty minutes. So far this season, Kesler has set personal records for assists (45), points (66), power play goals (12), game-winning goals (4), and shots on net (189).

The Livonia, Michigan has played his entire NHL career with Vancouver, picking up 206 points (86-120-206) and 341 penalty minutes in 391 games.

Prior to becoming a full-time member of the Canucks, Kesler spent parts of two seasons with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. In 111 career AHL games, Kesler had 68 points (33-35-68). Before that, he played one year at Ohio State University, as well as two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program. Kesler was a part of the first-ever United States team to win a gold medal at the World Juniors, doing so at the 2004 championships in Finland. He also won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Kesler was drafted in the 1st round (23rd overall) by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Grabner, 22, has played the majority of his season with the Manitoba Moose. In 38 games with Vancouver’s farm team, the Villach, Austria native has picked up 26 points (15-11-26), three power play goals, and a team-leading four game-winning goals. Grabner has also appeared in nine games with the Canucks in 2009-10, picking up 5 points (2-3-5) before suffering a broken ankle in an off-ice incident in early November.

Grabner was drafted in the 1st round (14th overall) in the NHL Entry Draft.

Schroeder, 19, has played the past two seasons with the NCAA’s University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. In 37 games with the Gophers this season, the Burnsville, Minnesota native picked up 28 points (9-19-28). Schroeder accumulated a total of 73 points (22-51-73) in 72 games with Minnesota during his two years there.

Schroeder also made three appearances for the United States at the World Juniors (2008, 2009, 2010). In his most recent appearance with the U.S. squad, Schroeder had eight points (3-5-8) in seven games to help his team win the Gold Medal. His 27 points (7-20-27) at the World Juniors made him the all-time leader in points by an American at the tournament (Former NHLer Jeremy Roenick held the old record with 25 points). Schroeder also won silver (2007) and bronze (2008) medals at the Under-18 World Junior Championships.

Now that Schroeder has turned pro, thereby making him ineligible to play in the NCAA anymore, he’ll likely get sent down to the Manitoba Moose to help them as they work towards earning a playoff spot. Currently, Manitoba is five points up on the Lake Erie Monsters for fourth spot in the North Division, and six points back of the Rochester Americans and Abbotsford Heat for 2nd/3rd place.