September 5, 2008 at 12:26 pm
· Filed under AHL News
Last season, when the Flames were looking for much needed fourth line scoring (isn't that always the story) the likes of Mike Smith were kept around, and two point producers in the Quad City AHL affiliate were kept below. Not much has been written on why the Flames never brought up their number one and two point producers in Grant Stevenson and Krys Kolanos. Stevenson was a late camp cut and Kolanos -- along with some attitude problems -- joined the AHL team 20 games in and put up point a game production numbers.
Note to Flames, do your jersey giveaways like the Quad City Flames (AHL affiliate of the big club). Seriously, all these look entertaining. Too bad only like 400 people showed up. The highlight? And Eric Nystrom striptease, seriously.
Ken King announced announced the relocation of the AHL team from Omaha, Nebraska to the Quad Cities (Moline, IL). The move remains subject to AHL Board of Governor approval at a meeting and is also subject to ratification by the Illinois Quad City Civic Center Authority.
Despite finishing first in their division the Omaha Knights could not advance past the first round of the AHL playoffs against the Iowa Stars. In the brief history of the franchise the minor league team of the Calgary Flames have out performed most expectations this year. For more info visit the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights page.
The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights have made the playoffs! And to make things even better, they won some nice hardware for finishing atop their division. The Knights will play the Iowa Stars in the West Division Quarterfinal Series beginning Friday, April 20th in Omaha. The Knights finished the 2006-07 season with the John D. Chick Trophy as the West Division Regular Season Champions and the Norman R. “Bud” Poile Trophy as the Western Conference Regular Season Champions
The Knights embark on their first Calder Cup Playoff campaign and finished the regular season with a record of 49-25-5-1, good for 104 points. The win and point totals are franchise records.
2007 CALDER CUP PLAYOFFS:
West Division Semifinal—Series “G”
W1 Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights vs. W4 Iowa Stars
Game 1 – Fri., April 20 – Iowa at Omaha, 7:00 p.m.
Game 2 – Sat., April 21 – Iowa at Omaha, 7:00 p.m.
Game 3 – Mon., April 23 – Omaha at Iowa, 7:05 p.m.
Game 4 – Wed., April 25 – Omaha at Iowa, 7:05 p.m.
*Game 5 – Fri., April 27 – Iowa at Omaha, 7:00 p.m.
*Game 6 – Sat., April 28 – Omaha at Iowa, 7:05 p.m.
*Game 7 – Tue., May 1 – Iowa at Omaha, 7:00 p.m.
Season Series vs. Iowa: 8-4-0-0 Home: 3-3-0-0 Road: 5-1-0-0
The history is deep between the two teams. In the NHL division play teams square off eight times. The Ak-Sar-Ben Knights played the Stars 12 times during the 2006-07 season. Including the pre-season, the two teams have squared off 14 times this year. The Knights were 8-4-0-0 against the Stars this season. Five of the eight wins came at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA. All time, the Knights are 13-7-1-1 against the Stars including a record of 9-2-0-0 on the road. Carsen Germyn led the Knights in scoring against the Stars this season with five goals and five assists for ten points in twelve games. Both goalies earned four wins against the Stars this season. Curtis McElhinney was 4-1-0 in five appearances with a 1.20 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage in head-to-head play. Brent Krahn was 4-3-0 in seven appearances with a 2.28 goals-against and a .917 save percentage.
Go Knights! Hope you fair better than the beleaguered Flames.
The AHL announced Knights’ goaltender Curtis McElhinney has been named to the 2006-07 AHL Second All-Star Team.
A second year pro, McElhinney has helped the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights to their first Calder Cup Playoff berth. In 52 appearances this year, the native of Calgary, Alberta has posted a record of 31-16-1. He ranks third in the AHL in wins and goals-against average (2.24). He is tied for second in shutouts (6) and fourth in minutes played (2,871). McElhinney has twice been selected the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week and represented the Knights in the 2007 Rbk Hockey/AHL All-Star Classic in Toronto in January.
A guess a bit of a goaltending controversy brewing in the AHL? Good for us, we need a backup for next year.
