Rivermen Report 3-13-11: Staying Alive
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Amid their own injury issues and recalls from St. Louis, the Peoria Rivermen are keeping a playoff pace.
How They Fared
Tuesday, March 8th: Griffins shutout Rivermen 3-0.
Wednesday, March 9th: Wolves beat the buzzer, win in Shootout.
Friday, March 11th: Rivermen return the buzzer beating favor, top Wolves in Shootout.
Sunday, March 13th: Rivermen take on Milwaukee.
The Week Ahead
After taking on the Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday, the Riverman have just two games.
At home against the Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton) on Tuesday and at the Rockford Ice Hogs (Chicago) on Saturday.
In 7 games against the Barons the Rivermen are 3-3-1 and own a 6-3-0 record against the Ice Hogs.
Standings Watch
The Rivermen hold 4th place in the Western Conference and 3rd in the West Division with 79 points. There is an excellent resource on the AHL’s website called “Playoff Primer”. The post dated 3-13-11 has a break down on who is where, who would play who as of today and the playoff positioning rules.
If the season ended today the Rivermen would take on the Houston Aeros in round one of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Former Blues defenseman Daryl Sydor is an assistance coach for the Aeros.
Rivermen Set Calder Cup Playoff Roster on Clear Day
Many St. Louis Blues fans questioned why goalie Ben Bishop was returned to Peoria when Jaroslav Halak returned from his hand injury, well there is a very good reason many may not have thought of. They wanted him to gain more experience in the AHL playoffs.
Per AHL rules, a team’s playoff roster is set by who is on the roster as of Clear Day. On March 8th, the Rivermen set the following lineup going forward.
Goaltenders (2): Ben Bishop, Jake Allen
Skaters (20): Dean Arsene, Ian Cole, Adam Cracknell, Mark Cundari, Steffan Della Rovere, Nick Drazenovic, Brennan Evans, Jake Gannon, T.J. Hensick, Graham Mink, Derek Nesbitt, Anthony Nigro, Nathan Oystrick, Derek Peltier, Anthony Peluso, Dave Scatchard, Tyler Shattock, Brett Sonne, Dave Spina, Tyson Strachan.
In Residence (5): Akim Aliu, Chris Langkow, Rob Ricci, Blair Riley, Jared Ross
Note that defenseman Nikita Nikitin and forwards Ryan Reaves and Chris Porter are all not eligible to appear in the playoffs for the Rivs. In Residence forward Chris Langkow comes from the Blues ECHL Affiliate, the Alaska Aces. In 53 games with the Aces, Langkow has 15 goals and 36 points. Atlanta Thrashers prospect forward Akim Aliu has been reassigned from their ECHL affiliate, Gwinnett Gladiators, to the Rivermen. He will be available to play for the Blues as an In Residence reserve as well. His name may ring a bell as a Chicago Blackhawks prospect and part of the deal that sent Dustin Byfuglien to Atlanta.
Forward Rob Ricci and defenseman Jared Ross were signed to Professional Tryouts (PTO) on the 8th in order to be listed as part of the Clear Day roster.
Aces goalie Gerlad Coleman was returned to Alaska prior to setting the roster. He was brought up to cover the hole left by Bishop while he filled in for Halak in St. Louis.
To clarify, In Residence basically means, “those eligible to fill in if a listed player is injured, ill or recalled to the NHL”. Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts (ATO) after their respective junior or college seasons have completed.
The Blues milked these rules previously to get Alex Pietrangelo and Cole additional playtime after their amateur seasons ended. Could the same play out with Vladimir Tarasenko or Jaden Schwartz? Possibly, but not likely. Had Portland Winterhawk defenseman Brett Ponich not been injured earlier this season, he could have been a late addition.
Rivermen Unveil Their Third Jersey
From the Rivermen’s official Facebook page:
We have reached 3,200 “Likes” which means it is time to release the 3rd specialty jersey of the season! This jersey will be worn during the final weekend of the regular season on April 8th and 9th. The jerseys will be auctioned off after the game on April 9th. Proceeds from the auction go to Children’s Hospital of Illinois.
Looks pretty sharp.
Chatting with Draz
St. Louis Blues and Peoria Rivermen forward Nick Drazenovic was the guest for a live chat on pjstar.com last Monday. The chat was hosted by Rivermen PBP voice Brenden Burke.
Have to love players with as much honesty (and quirks) as Nick:
[Comment From RossRoss: ]
Which Jerseys have you liked the best this year?Nick Drazenovic:
the throwback ones were pretty neat. yes i said neat haha
On Video
Check out Derek Nesbitt’s amazing late 3rd period goal to push the game on Friday in to OT.
&nbs
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