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AHL News by Tricia McMillan, AHL Correspondent
Yanic Dupre Memorial Award: The equivalent of the NHL's King Clancey Award, the AHL presents this award to the player deemed most valuable to the local community and charities. So far, Connecticut has a lock on this: New Haven's John Jakopin won it last season and this year, Hartford's Brent Thompson is the man. Thompson spends considerable time working with the Connecticut Children's Medical Center and teaches hockey to youngsters in the Hartford area, when not working with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Science Center of Connecticut. Usually I don't list runners-up, but in this case all of these guys, who were nominated for the award by their teams, are extremely deserving of mention for their good works. The other nominees: Adirondack's Jesse Wallin, Lowell's Ray Giroux, New Haven's Ashlin Halfnight, Philadelphia's Jean-Marc Pelletier, Portland's Mark Major, Providence's Aaron Downey, Rochester's Mike Harder, Springfield's Peter Hogan, Syracuse's Darren Sinclair and Worcester's Bryce Salvador. The League also gave out a pair of college scholarships through the CCM AHL Scholarship Fund to students nominated by their local AHL teams as best exemplifying academics, athletics and community service. New Haven submitted Nicholas Mingione of East Haven, CT. Mingione scored 17 points as a defenseman for his high school hockey team, but also finished with an 'A' average, and was a member of the Student Council, National Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America and the computer club. Saint John submitted Timothy Breen, a student at Hampton High School who was not only in the varsity hockey and football programs, but also math and business competitions. He scored 58 points in 21 games for his school and was the conference player of the year. He will be attending the University of New Brunswick next year.
Rookie of the Month (Apr.): A couple more awards were handed out, including this one. Saint John's Sergei Varlamov won this honor after picking up eight points in six games for the Flames in April. He led the Flames in scoring in both March and April and finished third in the AHL rookie scoring chart. Player of the Week (Apr. 18): The final POTW went to the player who drove hard down the stretch to also come away with the Sollenberger Trophy: Rochester's Domenic Pittis. Pittis was feeling heat from John Madden and Randy Robitaille and responded with six points in the three game week to cement his place as the league's scoring leader. The points included a game-winning goal against Albany.
Goaltender of the Month (Apr.): The temporary recall of Jose Theodore to Montreal gave Mathieu Garon a chance to get back in the spotlight of Fredericton and he took it. Garon was undefeated in April, with a 4-0-0 record, 2.50 GAA and a whopping .934 save percentage. The rookie twice stopped 43 shots from Lowell, turning the trick in two nights. Plus/Minus Player of the Month (Apr.): A POTW added this award to his portfolio: Rochester's Mike Harder was a +10 during the Amerks' ten April games for the AHL's best mark in the month. Harder finished 12th in the overall scoring race as well as picking up a weekly award. The Plus/Minus Player of the Year never won the award for the month, indicative of his steady and consistent play all season whether in Providence or Boston. The Bruins' Antti Laaksonen finished the year with a +40 mark in 66 games to win the award. Laaksonen started the season in Boston but put together an impressive package of points and defense for Providence the rest of the season. Some leaders at the end of the season: Scoring: Domenic Pittis, Rochester, 104 Goals: Jeff Williams, Albany, 46 Assists: Randy Robitaille, Providence, 74 Plus/Minus: Antti Laaksonen, Providence, +40 Rookie Goals: Jean-Pierre Dumont, Portland, 32 Rookie Assists: Shane Willis, New Haven, 50 Rookie Scoring: Shane Willis, New Haven, 81 Defense Goals: Francis Bouillon, Fredericton, 19 Defense Assists: Terry Virtue, Providence, 48 Defense Scoring: Brandon Smith, Providence, 62 Shots Taken: John Madden, Albany, 334 Shooting %: Mark Deyell, St. John's, .225 Wins: John Grahame, Providence, 37 Losses: Jason Elliott, Adirondack, 27 GAA: Martin Biron, Rochester, 2.08 Save %: Martin Biron, Rochester, .934 Minutes: JF Labbe, Hartford, 3392 Saves: JF Labbe, Hartford, 1606 Shutouts: Martin Biron, 6 PiMs: Aaron Downey, Providence, 401 Majors: Martin Laitre, Adirondack, 37 Minors: Sean Gagnon, Springfield, 68 Team PiMs: Providence Power Play Goals: Scott Levins, New Haven, 20 Shorthanded Goals: Richard Park, Philadelphia, 8 Power Play: Rochester Americans, 22.6% Penalty Killing: Hamilton Bulldogs, 87.2% Team Goals: Providence, 321 Team Assists: Providence, 535 Team Scoring: Providence, 856 Penalty Minutes: Providence, 2332 Minor Penalty: Providence, 641 Major Penalty: Philadelphia, 129 Misconducts: Providence & St. John's, 38 Game Misconducts: Albany, 27 Match Penalties: Saint John, Albany, Philadelphia, 3 Power Play Goals: Providence, 103 Shorthanded Goals: Philadelphia, 26
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