Saint
John Weekend Wrap Up
New
Season ... Same Result
Aaron McCracken
October
9th, 2001
Many Saint
John Flames fans were upset with the dismantling of last year’s
Calder Cup winning team. Â
However if this weekend’s performance is any indication,
the fans may change their minds very soon.Â
The Flames swept the opening weekend of the season against
the division rival Manitoba Moose with two convincing victories.
Â
On Friday
night, the Flames opened with a dominating 3-1 win over the Moose. Â
Blair Betts, David Huntzicker, and Alan Letang scored for the
Flames, while Kay Whitmore made 17 saves for his first win as a
Flames. Â
On Saturday
night, both teams switched goaltenders, but the result was
essentially the same. The Moose looked much better in their
2nd game of the season, but still ended up on the short side of a
4-2 Flames’ win.  Levente Szuper stopped 36 shots, many
of them in dazzling fashion, while Betts, Jukka Hentunen, Jason
Botterill, and Dwayne Hay all notched markers for the Flames.Â
While the Flames looked good this
weekend, they will need to work on their penalty kill (3 goals in 12
chances) and their play in the 3rd period.Â
Who’s Hot…
·
    Â
Jukka Hentunen -Â Nominated
for AHL player of the week. An
impressive debut, which will likely make him the Flames’ first
call-up.
Saint
John’s Line-up
Wright
– Betts – Hentunen
Botterill
– Murray – Bembridge
Hay
– Morgan – Christie
Mitchell
– Stayzer
Â
 Dupont
– Mrozik
Martin
– Letang
Huntzicker
- Roy
 Scratches:Â
Henry (knee), Montador (eye), and Sutter (healthy) |
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
Blair Betts – Played like a confident #1 center.
·Â Â Â Â Â
Jamie Wright – Played with Betts and Hentunen and recorded
3 assists.
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
Alan Letang – Should make Saint John fans forget about
Derrick Walser.
Who’s Not…
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
Ryan Christie – Barely noticeable…
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
Blair Stayzer and Jeff Mitchell --Â
Saw limited icetime this weekend as Playfair consistently
rolled three lines.
By the
Numbers…
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
Hentunen leads all AHL rookies with 3 points.
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
Szuper is 5th in the AHL with a save percentage of
.947.
News and Notes…
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
Steve Montador took a stick to the eye in practice on
Thursday. He’ll be
out for about a week, and will return wearing a visor.Â
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
The Flames haven’t named a captain yet.Â
Rob Murray, Mike Martin, and Jamie Wright are all serving as
assistants.Â
·Â Â Â Â Â Â
The AHL has implemented a new faceoff procedure this year
where the puck is dropped within 15 seconds. Â
As a result, both games on the weekend were took less than 2
hours and 15 minutes to play.
Aaron
covers the Saint John Flames for Calgary Puck / Fire on Ice. He can
be reached at aaron@canoemail.com.
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